Wacaday's Timmy Mallett pays tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev

‘Thank you for your part in bringing down the Iron Curtain’: Social media users react with shock as Timmy Mallet recalls 1990 Wacaday trip to Moscow to entertain Russians with ‘Mallett’s Mallet’ in Red Square

• Former presenter visited The Kremlin in Moscow in Wacaday episode in 1990
• Paid tribute last night to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died at 91
• Star referred to Gorbachev’s landmark reforms of ‘perestroika’ – and ‘glasnost’ 
• He called him ‘brave’ and praised reforms of glasnost and perestroika 

Influential figures from the worlds of politics and diplomacy have paid tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev after his death was announced last night. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was ‘saddened’ to hear about the death of the former leader of the Soviet Union. 

But one man who you might not have expected to add warm words is the 1980s children’s TV star Timmy Mallett. 

The former presenter, 66, who is remembered by millions for his madcap fun, practical jokes and silly catchphrases on shows including the Wide Awake Club and Wacaday, paid tribute to Mr Gorbachev before Mr Johnson posted his own message. 

The star referred to Gorbachev’s landmark reforms of ‘perestroika’ – restructuring – and ‘glasnost’ – openness- that ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.  

Gorbachev’s reforms inspired Mallett to visit Russia in a 1990 episode of Wacaday, in which he was seen touring the outside of the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow.

He wrote: ‘Thinking about brave Mikael Gorbachev and how his perestroika and glasnost inspired our Wacaday fun trip to Russia 1990.

‘To explain Glasnost I stepped out of the shadows into the light and entertained Red Square with Mallett’s Mallet Thank you Gorby #RIP’.

Fans of Mallet quickly responded to his tribute with their own warm words for Wacaday, with one saying the star had helped to ‘bring down the Iron Curtain’.  

Former children’s TV star Timmy Mallett posted his own tribute to Mikhaile Gorbachev today after the former Soviet leader’s death aged 91

The star referred to Gorbachev’s landmark reforms of ‘perestroika’ – restructuring – and ‘glasnost’ – openness- that ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union

Gorbachev implemented perestroika after becoming the head of the Communist party in 1985. 

The programme of capital investment that was its main plank was intended to match Western nations economically. 

It also saw the introduction of market reforms that had the intention of making the Soviet economy more efficient. 

The reforms also saw the creation of a new parliament, the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies, which allowed Russians to vote for elected represntatives, including non-Communists. 

Glasnost, introduced later in the 1980s, was the second plank of Gorbachev’s reform agenda. 

It involved granting greater freedom to the media and the criticism of government officials. 

The measure ultimately reduced the power of the Communist party in Russia and won Gorbachev no fans among the organisation’s hardliners. 

Gorbachev’s reforms inspired Mallett to visit Russia in a 1990 episode of Wacaday, in which he was seen touring the outside of the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow. The 1990 episode of Wacaday where Mallett went to the Soviet Union was titled ‘Tales from Russia: “Gremlins in the Kremlin”‘

In a clip from the episode that was posted on social media after his tribute, Mallett is seen touring the grounds of the Kremlin

The 1990 episode of Wacaday where Mallett went to the Soviet Union was titled ‘Tales from Russia: “Gremlins in the Kremlin”‘. 

In a clip from the episode that was posted on social media after his tribute, Mallett is seen touring the grounds of the Kremlin. 

He says: ‘I always thought the Kremlin was a big old building full of boring men making boring decisions, but in fact there’s more to it that.

‘It’s got huge big walls, it goes two and a half kilometres all the way around, with a great big tower right in the middle.’

He said that viewers would be ‘amazed by what’s inside’.

Once inside the Kremlin walls, he said: ‘I suppose it’s a bit like rolling the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament all into one.’

The star then described the famous 20-foot-high Tsar Bell in the grounds of the Kremlin, saying: ‘Just imagine what noise this bell must make.’

Fans of Mallet quickly responded to his tribute with their own warm words for Mallett

He was also seen jokingly attempting to ‘ring’ it with his trademark mallet.

Fans of Mallet quickly responded to his tribute with their own warm words for Wacaday.

One wrote: ‘I was living in Moscow at the time and chatted with you briefly in Red Square.

‘At a time when it took 6 weeks to book a phone call to the UK, you were the only contact I’d had with home in ages.’

Another said: ‘I remember that episode. It was still Leningrad when you went and I recounted the episode 12 years later when I saw you at my University. 

The star’s main prop was simply known as ‘Mallett’s Mallett’. He is pictured above with the pink toy in 1991

Wacaday was a spin-off of the Wide Awake Club. Mallet is seen posing with children who featured on the show in 1984

‘It was great that you brought history to young people. 

A fourth user added: ‘He did a good job at entertaining and educating kids at the same time though.’ 

Mallett was also praised by users for his 1991 visit to South Africa, shortly after the Apartheid system had begun to be abandoned. 

He was seen on the show explaining the system of racial segregation, which oppressed the majority black population. One user said Wacaday did ‘political history well’.

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