Legendary kids' TV star begs BBC to bring back his show 23 years on from debut - pleading 'if ever there was a time, it's now!'
A legendary kids' TV star has begged the BBC to bring back his show 23 years from his debut - pleading 'if ever there was a time, it's now!'
James Mackenzie, 45, hosted CBBC's much-loved Raven between 2002 and 2010.
In the early 2000s, James took on the role of Raven - a character who could shapeshift from a Raven into a human.
He would take six warriors on a number of challenges in a bid to be crowned the Ultimate Warrior.
After seeing that The Traitors - which is filmed in the same place as Raven - he's keen for the hit programme to make an epic return.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, James wrote: 'Come on @bbcpress if there was ever a time for Raven 3.0 it’s now!! Letthechallengebegin #traitors @the_traitors_ @BBCiPlayer @BBCScotland.'
Raven star James Mackenzie has pleaded the BBC to reboot the iconic CBBC show Raven
It comes after the huge success of the current season of The Traitors - which was filmed in Scotland, like Raven
He also shared a picture of him on the hit show, as well as Claudia on the iconic programme The Traitors.
His tweet sent fans into a frenzy, as one replied: 'Would absolutely love to see this happen.'
Another said: 'Our daughter would be beside herself with excitement. She was thrilled to see you in the CBeebies panto (or pants as autocorrect had it).'
A third tweeted: 'Couldn’t agree more. Absolutely loved Raven on CBBC back then. Even brought the dvd game. Never could complete The Way of The Warrior final part. BBC really should bring it back but an adult version.
'I’d definitely give that a watch!!,' a fourth chimed in.
While a fifth pleaded: 'Can you call the producer of original series and make it happen.'
A sixth demanded: 'We need Raven back on tv.'
Many rushed to reply to James' tweet to share their excitement at the thought of a reboot
'It's been too long. The BBC needs to reboot this. I wonder if they had Raven in mind with this Traitors series starting,' another confessed.
His tweet certainly left a mark on the social media plaform.
Two days later he tweeted: 'How have over 1M people viewed a tweet I posted?! Mental!!'
One fan replied: 'Because you are THE Raven of my generation (Millennials).'
Another said: 'You’re legendary and a part of all of our childhoods! I genuinely feared as a kid whether those who failed the challenges were dead!! Same with those left imprisoned on the floors on Trapped!'
A third said: 'Maybe it's time the beeb listened.'
Raven did return to our screens after five years after it ended in 2017.
The reboot saw Aisha Toussaint, 29, present the programme for series 11 and 12.
Aisha Toussaint presented Raven series 11 and 12 between 2017 and 2018
In that time, James did return to our screens as character Raven of Old.
The reboot lasted just two years before it was axed.
Before James' stint on Raven, he appeared in ITV's Taggart as Keith Burns between 1997 and 1999.
Then in 2001 he played Pete in ITV's Rebus.
Between 2006 and 2009 he starred in three Raven spin-offs - Raven: The Island Raven, Raven: The Secret Temple Raven and Raven: The Dragon's Eye.
Since Raven he has appeared in a number of other TV shows.
These include CBBC's Dani's House, CBeebies' Molly and Mack, Outlander and Swashbuckle.
Most recently he appeared in A Scottish Love Scheme.
