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Mooncat was a puppet character who, as his name suggests, was a cat from the moon. He appeared on ITV from 1981 to 1985 in the series Get Up and Go! and the follow-up Mooncat and Co produced by Yorkshire Television.

Mooncat was created, designed, and initially operated and voiced by David Claridge, who later went on to create, voice and operate Roland Rat.

Get Up and Go!
Get Up and Go! is a children's television show created by Rick Vanes for ITV. It follows the life of Mooncat, a cat from the moon. 89 episodes were aired between 1981 and 1983.

Overview
The format regularly included Reid and Boxer explaining an everyday subject to Mooncat and looking at a film about it on his Moon Machine through either the round, square or triangle screen. Then there would be a story about Billie, a little girl who had toys which came to life - these were Woodley, a dog; Monkey, a monkey; Mrs Pinkerton-Trunks, an elephant; and Mr Milford Haven, a lion. This was usually narrated by Reid but occasionally by Boxer who accompanied the story with dramatic piano riffs in the style of an old black-and-white movie.

A song would then follow with music composed and played by Stephen Boxer on guitar before the episode was wrapped. Initially, Reid, Boxer and Mooncat lived in the same house but, as the series progressed with Stephen going to live and work in a playgroup. Despite this, Boxer continued as a co-presenter often talking about his work at the playgroup with an accompanying short film of this.

Transmission Guide

 * Series 1: 27 editions - 9 April 1981 – 24 December 1981
 * Series 2: 20 editions - 25 February 1982 – 8 July 1982
 * Series 3: 9 editions - 6 January 1983 – 3 March 1983

Series 1 (1981)

 * 1) Starting the Day – 9 April 1981
 * 2) Having a Pet – 16 April 1981
 * 3) Girls and Boys - 23 April 1981
 * 4) Age - 30 April 1981
 * 5) Weather - 7 May 1981
 * 6) Water - 14 May 1981
 * 7) Making Friends - 21 May 1981
 * 8) New Baby - 28 May 1981
 * 9) Family - 4 June 1981
 * 10) Games - 11 June 1981
 * 11) Shopping - 18 June 1981
 * 12) Housework - 25 June 1981
 * 13) Starting School (1) - 20 August 1981
 * 14) Starting School (2) - 27 August 1981
 * 15) Books - 3 September 1981
 * 16) Letter - 10 September 1981
 * 17) Manners - 17 September 1981
 * 18) Picnic - 24 September 1981
 * 19) Body - 1 October 1981
 * 20) Feeling Ill - 8 October 1981
 * 21) Clothes - 15 October 1981
 * 22) Voice Sounds - 22 October 1981
 * 23) Funny - 29 October 1981
 * 24) Angry - 5 November 1981
 * 25) Pretending - 12 November 1981
 * 26) Lost and Found - 17 December 1981
 * 27) Christmas - 24 December 1981

Series 2 (1982)

 * 1) Where We Live – 25 February 1982
 * 2) Decorating – 4 March 1982
 * 3) Which Room? – 11 March 1982
 * 4) Shapes – 18 March 1982
 * 5) Spaces - 25 March 1982
 * 6) Measuring - 1 April 1982
 * 7) Growing Things - 8 April 1982
 * 8) Springtime - 15 April 1982
 * 9) Being Careful - 22 April 1982
 * 10) Using Tools - 29 April 1982
 * 11) Weighing - 6 May 1982
 * 12) Rubbish and Jumble - 13 May 1982
 * 13) Washday - 20 May 1982
 * 14) Movement - 27 May 1982
 * 15) Busy - 3 June 1982
 * 16) Creepy Crawlies - 10 June 1982
 * 17) Food - 17 June 1982
 * 18) Milk - 24 June 1982
 * 19) Money - 1 July 1982
 * 20) Broken - 8 July 1982

Series 3 (1983)

 * 1) Just a Minute - 6 January 1983
 * 2) Dreams - 13 January 1983
 * 3) Dressing Up - 20 January 1983
 * 4) I Wish - 27 January 1983
 * 5) Choosing - 3 February 1983
 * 6) Alone - 10 February 1983
 * 7) Surprises - 17 February 1983
 * 8) Happy - 24 February 1983
 * 9) New Job - 19 May 1983
 * 10) Moving Out - 26 May 1983
 * 11) Asking Questions - 2 June 1983
 * 12) Window Cleaner - 9 June 1983
 * 13) Which One? - 16 June 1983
 * 14) Rainy Day - 23 June 1983
 * 15) Taking Turns - 30 June 1983
 * 16) A Day Out - 7 July 1983
 * 17) Glass - 14 July 1983
 * 18) Everything In Its Place - 21 July 1983
 * 19) Night - 28 July 1983
 * 20) Mistakes - 4 August 1983
 * 21) Party-11 August 1983
 * 22) Upside Down - 18 August 1983
 * 23) Push and Pull - 25 August 1983
 * 24) Singing - 1 September 1983
 * 25) Parcels - 8 September 1983
 * 26) Wheels - 15 September 1983
 * 27) Printing - 22 September 1983
 * 28) Flying - 29 September 1983
 * 29) Policeman-6 October 1983
 * 30) Collecting Things-13 October 1983
 * 31) Sounds and Noises - 20 October 1983
 * 32) Machines - 27 October 1983
 * 33) Winter - 3 November 1983

Mooncat and Co
In June 1984 the format changed. Reid left and Claridge also departed the series, as by this time he was now providing the voice and puppeteering for Roland Rat on the (then) recently-launched TV-am service; he was replaced by Christopher Leith (later notable for his work in the blockbuster film Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as the puppeteer and voice of Mooncat.

In order to accommodate these changes, the series title was changed to Mooncat and Co. and a new format was devised. The storyline now had Stephen and Mooncat living in a junk shop which Stephen ran. The Moon Machine was abolished, and Mooncat now had regular contact with the outside world - for example, trips out to purchase the subject of the episode such as a telephone or a new carpet. The 'Beryl' role was filled by a different guest in every episode; these guests included Pam Ayres, Patsy Rowlands, Wilf Lunn and Kenny Lynch. But probably the most memorable was Pat Coombs whose eponymous character was a WPC. The stories continued to be written by Shirley Isherwood who had written the Billie stories but now featured other characters which changed from week to week though there were some regulars such as Robert and his pet alien Grimond.

Stephen Boxer eventually left and was replaced by Opportunity Knocks finalist Berni Flint, although Boxer's face remained on the opening credits as the storyline gave a reason for his prolonged absence. The series ended on 26 September 1985, in part due to declining viewing figures following Boxer's departure; with Boxer expressing no desire to return or make any further episodes in 1986, the Mooncat character was discontinued completely. A week later, Mooncat and Co was replaced by Puddle Lane.


 * Series 1: 25 editions - 5 July 1984 – 20 December 1984
 * Series 2: 7 editions - 14 March 1985 – 25 April 1985