Channel 5 look into the life and times of Noel Edmonds

The Rise and Fall of Mr Saturday Night TV airs this weekend.

From playing dark practical jokes on colleagues at Radio Luxembourg and stealing Tony Blackburn’s Radio 1 show in the 1970s to innovating childrens’ TV with Swap Shop, and televising dangerous stunts in the 80s, by the time Edmonds reaches his peak with Noel’s House Party and Mr Blobby in the 90s, he’s the nation’s favourite prankster.

His fall from grace begins with his eccentric personal ventures — from his failed Blobbyland theme parks to his attempt to buy the BBC — and ends with him entering I’m A Celebrity… only to be voted out in the first week.

For all his calculated silliness, Edmonds’ story is a surprisingly serious one.

Beyond the mystery boxes, the wild shirts and the fluorescent gunge, there is a powerful untold story — the accidental death on set that forced him to resign from an early show.

A feature-length biopic, produced by ITN, is packed with golden TV moments, drama reconstructions and an A-list cast of Edmonds’ contemporaries, such as Tony Blackburn, Kid Jensen, Nick Ferrari, creator of Noel’s House Party and Mr Blobby Michael Leggo, and journalist/filmmaker Jon Ronson, who infiltrated Deal or No Deal in the early noughties.

This film covers it all in an epic saga of light entertainment and heavy drama with a powerful portrait of an extraordinary character who innovated television: the king of Saturday night.

The Rise and Fall of Mr Saturday Night TV, Channel 5, Saturday at 9 pm on Channel 5.