Chute! (television programme)

Chute!
Presented by	Ross Lee
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Release
Original network	CBBC
Original release	27 September 2007 – 20 December 2007

Chute! was a British children's television series broadcast on CBBC and presented by Ross Lee. It was originally broadcast between September and December 2007 and was cancelled after its first series. Lee played a version of himself trapped inside a rubbish tip at BBC Television Centre containing approximately 83,000 video cassettes covering the floor of the room.

Overview

Trapped in a rubbish tip with approximately 83,000 video cassettes, Lee's sole purpose seems to be to sort through the videos and share them with whoever comes to visit him (the viewer in this case - the episode's are shown through their point of view). The theme music seems to indicate that he fell down the Chute and got trapped in the rubbish tip. Down in the rubbish tip is also a monster who, at the end of every episode, drags away the viewer. Although the monster can not be seen directly a green tentacle with purple spots is draped over the side of the camera to indicate the monster's presence.

Clips usually shown include:

• Stitch Up
• Raven
• Dick and Dom in da bungalow
• Cheese Rolling Championships
• BBC News Headlines
• BBC Foul Ups
• Match of the Day, where unusual sporting events are highlighted
• The Flashing Blade, a series with the original soundtrack removed and voice-over artists provide the new soundtrack. The re-voiced clips were taken from On the Waterfront and written by Russell T Davies.

and others.

• In the Sarah Jane episode, "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" from The Potter Puppet Pals was shown as a clip. This may be its first appearance on television.

Episode list

In total 13 episodes were produced an broadcast.

#	Guest(s)	Original air date
1	James MacKenzie (as Raven)	27 September 2007
The first episode of the series stars the guest Raven (James MacKenzie, star of CBBC show Raven). In the episode, Raven set Ross the challenge of removing a faulty tape from the video recorder in a limited amount of time, taking after what type of challenges appear on the show Raven itself.
2	Bill Oddie	4 October 2007
Ornithologist and presenter Bill Oddie is the guest in the chute, and some of the video tapes feature birds, as Oddie is a bird-watcher. Bill ends up as a cardboard cut-out and Ross tries to perform magic, but fails.
3	Ben Major	11 October 2007
Ben Major, star of the Serious TV series ends up in the chute after one of his expeditions went wrong. Ben is comfronted with a giant guinea pig chasing after him.
4	Chuckle Brothers	18 October 2007
Comedians Paul and Barry Chuckle are the guests in the chute. Ross is found doing silly impressions of them, and a giant moustache monster chases after them all, nearly eating Barry. Paul and barry chuckle. When the first fell down the chute the picked up a tape. That tape had some cats sing O-ZONES Numa Numa after that a video tape of chuckle vision series 6 that never made it on air. Then they escaped!
5	Lizo Mzimba	25 October 2007
Lizo Mzimba from Newsround, arrives in the chute on the trail of lost treasure.
6	James and Oliver Phelps (as the Weasley Twins)	1 November 2007
James and Oliver Phelps, who portray the Weasley Twins in the Harry Potter film series end up down the chute. The twins are after a valuable tape featuring the preview to the next Harry Potter film and try to bribe Ross into giving it to them with a sack of new tapes. Ross is miserable that he has seen every tape in the chute. He tried reading about magic, but that was not interesting either.
7	Dick and Dom	8 November 2007
Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood (stars from Dick and Dom in da Bungalow) appeared in the chute after being thrown in there for being "naughty". They try to escape by persuading the public to vote them out. Also, Ross tries to escape as well, but fails.
8	Ian McNeice	15 November 2007
Trapped in the depths of BBC Television Centre, Ross Lee shares some hilarious clips. He is joined by movie actor Ian McNeice, who is desperate to be given an award.
9	Dan Anthony and Tom Knight (as Clyde Langer and Luke Smith)	22 November 2007
Trapped in the depths of Television Centre, Ross Lee shares hilarious clips. Dan Anthony and Tom Knight, better known as Clyde and Luke from The Sarah Jane Adventures, join Ross in the basement as he is invaded by an unwelcome alien.
10	Arlene Phillips	29 November 2007
Children's mayhem with Ross Lee. Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing arrives in Ross's basement to teach him some moves, but is he paying attention?
11	Danny John-Jules (as Lenny Bicknall)	6 December 2007
Ross Lee presents some hilarious clips. He is joined in the tip by Lenny from MI High, who is on a mission to protect the world from an evil force.
12	Ted Robbins (as Lee's brother Malcolm)	13 December 2007
Ross Lee with some hilarious clips. It is Ross' birthday and he is joined by his brother Malcolm (Ted Robbins), who plans a fight with the basement monster.
13	Bobby Ball	20 December 2007
Ross Lee is joined by a mysterious guest. Neither of them are feeling festive. Can Ross lift their moods before Christmas?

Recurring segments

Throughout the show there are gags which are featured in every or most shows:

• Lee would refer to his family and go, "Ah mummy pie. I bet you she'll be looking for me right now". Then it goes briefly to a scene showing Lee's mother enjoying herself (e.g. playing a video game, dancing in the park).
• During some point in the show Lee would grab the keyboard and start singing a song, often out of tune. If he is about to cry or is crying while he does this, his song includes the lyric, "Rossington don't cry". This is put to an end when the viewer grabs a bucket and throws it over Lee's head, muffling his voice.
• In the wall is a tiny gap between two bricks which Lee first looks through before telling the viewer to look through. On the other side is an event which takes place before the viewer is caught looking. Someone then pokes he/she in the eye and they go back into the tip. On numerous occasions, it is the viewer who looks through first, then gestures for Ross to look.
• Sometimes Lee would go slightly crazy and a segment of Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson would play in the background. This happens randomly.
• When the monster takes away the viewer, Lee gets a camera and takes a picture of the viewer. He then tells the viewer to give his love to the viewer's family and gives two random pieces of advice. At the very end of the program, after the credits, a picture of the viewer is shown, followed by a burp which could possibly indicate that the viewer has been eaten.
• Occasionally, the lights in the Chute go out, then when they come back on, something strange has happened.(e.g. his clothes have gone, etc.)

External links

• Chute! at BBC Programmes
• Chute! at Bungalow Online