Comedian Tom Mayhew pays homage to Chuckle Brothers on fifth anniversary of Barry Elliot's passing

Tom Mayhew, a critically acclaimed comedian whose material often touches on serious issues like austerity, housing issues and politics, says the ChuckleVision children's television series topped his “Perfect Playlist” of favourites to this day.

The highly-popular show included almost 300 episodes from 1987 to 2009.

Mayhew is only 30, so he grew up in the Chucklevision era.

He told the Chortle comedy website: “I absolutely love Chucklevision.

“Whenever people on podcasts ask: ‘Who were your early comedy influences?’,  as a stand-up, it is easy to jump to the first stand-up you saw live, or the first ones you watch on YouTube over and over.

“But really, my love of comedy started from when I was too young to know what stand-up was, and the Chuckle Brothers are a prime example of that.

“The pure silliness of the Chuckle Brothers is something that can’t fail to make me laugh, even now.

“Is Barry the silly one for always following Paul’s orders, or is Paul the silly one for always coming up with such ridiculous plans?

“How on earth did Paul saying ‘Adadadadada!’ become a catchphrase? And why is their mid-90s album so under-rated? I just love ‘em.”

The Watford comedian added: “My love of comedy was seeded by the likes of Chucklevision – but those seeds were watered and allowed to bloom by watching sitcoms with my parents growing up. My Family, My Hero, Keeping Up Appearances, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, The Vicar of Dibley...”

Barry died on August 5, 2018, after suffering from bone cancer, a disease he kept to himself for around two years.

He was 73.

Paul (75) explained at the time: ”He wanted to work until he died. He wanted to die on stage like Tommy Cooper. He just loved working and making people laugh. He was a lovely guy.”

The Advertiser campaigned for a permanent “Chuckle Square” tribute in Rotherham town centre, but the idea was rejected by the council.