Cool It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos and drawing from costume designer, Janice Rider, no reproduction without permission.  The main photo is of Phil Cool performing a Rolf Harris sketch.

‘Cool It’ was a 1985 comedy series, presented by Phil Cool.  It was directed in Studio A by David Weir, and produced at Pebble Mill by Steve Weddle.  The script was written by Phil Cool, along with Jasper Carrott.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook group about ‘Cool It’:

Stuart Gandy: ‘It was the programmes he made at Pebble Mill that brought him to stardom.’

Lynda Kettle: ‘I remember this! Phil Cool was so stressed out spent ages pulling faces in the mirror! Needed a stiff drink!’

Denny Hodge: ‘I did the warm up on the show and Phil had the same manager as Jasper. Steve Weddell was the producer.’

Jane Green: ‘Oh crumbs I worked on this too. Must dig out the end of run photos. I playfully ‘punched’ Phil in the tummy as we joked about something. He then said he’d just had a hernia op. I laughed louder thinking it was a joke and then he said it was true. And it was. :-/ I was alone in a sound room with Jasper Carrott for this programme too, and Jasper just didn’t stop cracking jokes. My sides hurt from laughing. Great fun this programme. Loved it. I remember Denny’s audience warm ups – hysterical!!!’

Julian Hitchock: ‘I remember that Steve was very keen to give Phil Cool this opportunity. Now I hear nothing of him, or Steve, who I hope is well,- and haven’t seen Jaspar C for ages. As Jane said, he was hysterical and very clever indeed. Please come back, all of you.’

3 comments on “Cool It
  1. Phil is alive and well and living in a beautiful converted barn in the Ribble Valley, Lancs. And he has just completed his farewell national theatre tour, although he will continue to perform locally in the North West. He performed his final Birmingham Show at the MAC in Cannon Hill Park in February 2013 to the acclaim of a sell out audience. The three series of Cool It and a Cool It special provided him with an excellent springboard for a hugely successful career touring theatres and arts centres across the UK. Although he hasn’t been a regular on tv for years he has continued to make a good living through live stand up shows, even if the theatres booked have become smaller in more recent times. He often begins his shows by commenting on the fact that he hasn’t been on telly recently, saying “that’s because I can’t cook and I don’t like gardening!” I see Phil regularly, and he’s the first to say that Cool It at Pebble Mill gave him the chance to do what he does best – to perform live stand up for a living. And I’m fine too, and didn’t we have great fun making that show?

  2. And another thing… a whole new generation of people have discovered Cool It on YouTube. There are plenty of clips available there and they do stand the test of time really well. You get commments from kids in America such as,who is this guy, he’s totally brilliant?! Maybe if YouTube had been around in the 80’s he would have cracked it in the States! Anyway, it’s true what Stuart says that it was the programmes he made at Pebble Mill that brought Phil Cool to stardom. And thanks Julian for asking after my well being. I’m fine and hope you are too. I’ve been devising

  3. ooops…quiz show formats, and have just completed my first novel, set in the world of television! Watch this space!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.