One of the characteristics of ‘Telly Addicts’ was a specially made ‘remote’, which Noel Edmonds would use to cue the clips for the contestants. This device was called the ‘hooferdoofer’.
The ‘hooferdoofer’ was built by Dave Pick from engineering, ‘It was unusual in that it didn’t use infra red light like a TV remote, it used low frequency radio picked up by a wire loop that ran all round the set. This meant that Noel didn’t have to point it in any particular direction. The three buttons operated three lights in the gallery via tie-lines from the studio floor.’
Louis Robinson came up with the name of the remote: ‘”Hooferdoofer” was a word I stole from my grandmother to describe the remote.The requirement was – if I remember – Jules May wanted Noel’s hooferdoofer to signal her as the director giving her freedom to cue the clips thus keeping her control of the studio. The tightness of the relationship between Noel’s intro and the start of the clip was 90% done by the excellent editing in post production.’