Children’s TV icon could be revived using AI six years after his death-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

ChuckleVision could be coming back… (Picture: BBC)

ChuckleVision could be set for a return to screens, six years after the death of one beloved sibling.

Paul and Barry Chuckle starred in the children’s sitcom from 1987 until 2009, filming 21 series and a whopping 292 episodes.

Voted as one of the greatest children’s TV shows of all time by a Radio Times panel in 2018, it’s no understatement to say ChuckleVision is a classic kids’ show, with many still quoting its ‘to me, to you’ catchphrase to this day.

Sadly, in 2018, Barry Chuckle – real name Barry Elliott – died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with bone cancer.

Paul, 76, has continued to keep his beloved brother’s legacy alive by speaking about him and their work together – and it now seems he has plans for a ChuckleVision revival… with Barry.

Speaking about his loss to Johnny Seifert for the Secure The Insecure podcast, Paul teased that Barry could be immortalised thanks to the power of AI in a cartoon spin-off.

Barry Chuckle (left) sadly died in 2018 after being diagnosed with bone cancer (Picture: Gareth Davies/Getty Images)

‘It may be coming now, with a cartoon series. It will theoretically be ChuckleVision with cartoon characters playing me and Barry, doing very similar stuff,’ the entertainer shared.

‘With AI, they can actually use Barry’s voice, so it will be talking exactly the same as him.’

Paul also spoke about how he still feels Barry’s presence.

‘I still feel he’s with me all the time. Before he passed away, he was very rarely in any dreams, but from the day he died, he’s almost every single night in the dreams with me.

‘Wherever I am, Barry’s with me.’

Adding that Barry is ‘obviously sorely missed by everybody’, Paul said what he longs for most is to work with Barry again.

‘We were brothers, yeah, but we were also colleagues on stage, on TV, on screen.’

Paul still feels the full impact of his loss (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

He recalled the ‘fun’ they had stemmed from how well they could predict one another’s antics.

‘We knew exactly what each other was going to do. How we talk, I knew exactly when he was going to say something funny and I would stop talking and vice-versa.

‘Well, after 55 years of working together, it’s going to happen.’

Determined to continue performing for as long as possible, Barry kept his health issues a secret from those closest to him before he died.

He did not tell his manager, fans, or even Paul himself, as he wanted to carry on working.

Paul was with him on his last night, previously telling the Telegraph that he and his four grown-up sons went to visit Barry at his home in Ravensfield.

‘He was really struggling but he was conscious and communicating with us,’ he told the publication.

The entertainer is in talks for a cartoon spin-off, which would use Barry’s voice (Picture: WireImage)

ChuckleVision ran for 22 years (Picture: David Bagnall/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I remember that Rotherham United, our football team that we had followed since childhood, won the game they played that day 3-0. He was really chuffed, especially since they had also made it back into the Championship League.’

The next day, Paul received a phone call from Barry’s wife, Anne, to tell him he had gone.

‘It was too soon for him to go, and I wish he’d told me earlier; we were so close, so we would have had more time to say goodbye, but I think he went out on a high,’ he reflected.

Barry was given a stellar final send-off with a funeral held at the New York Stadium, where Rotherham United play their home matches, with many fans and showbiz stars showing up to pay their respects.

Since losing his other half, Paul has performed in panto and also works as a DJ – but recently, it surfaced that the TV legend has been lined up for something special.

Paul is reportedly being eyed up for Celebrity Big Brother 2025 (Picture: Sofi Adams/REX/Shutterstock for Big Brother)

Following its first celebrity series on ITV earlier this year, Celebrity Big Brother has been confirmed for another outing in 2025 – and Paul is rumoured to have been in talks for a while.

A source claimed: ‘After Louis and Kate Middleton’s “Uncle Gary” Goldsmith were booked, the cast was skewed a little in terms of age. So Paul was dropped.’

They added to The Sun: ‘It’s early days as the Big Brother team is still busy with October’s civilian series but Paul’s name is in the mix for the celeb version in March.’

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