Queen’s Brian May Makes Acting Debut In BBC Children’s Show ‘Andy & The Band’
Spin-off single, ‘Planet Rock’, by Andy & The Odd Socks featuring Brian May will be released on 18 February.
CBBC comedy drama, Andy & The Band, returns with a bigger, brighter and even funnier second series, featuring kid’s favourite Andy Day, his band the Odd Socks, and a spectacular all-star line-up of guests including the legendary Queen guitarist Brian May – arriving on CBBC and iPlayer from January 24, 2022.
Andy & The Band features a band like no other. The Odd Socks can sing, they can play instruments, and they can completely ‘rock out’ until all their hair stands on end. But the Odd Socks are also, well, odd. And that’s exactly how Andy, Moxy, Rio, Blu and Cousin Mac like it because being an Odd Sock means digging your differences, bigging-up your bizarre bits, taking on the world AND helping everyone else in the world be whatever kind of Odd Sock they want to be too.
Queen legend Brian May makes his acting debut as he stars as the Godfather of Rock in brand new episode ‘Planet Rock.’ He joins Andy and his band the Odd Socks for the ‘best jam ever’ while also helping them overcome a global ‘rocktastrophe’!
The episode airs on CBBC on Thursday 27 January and is available on BBC iPlayer from Monday January 24. The single, “Planet Rock”, by Andy and the Odd Socks featuring Brian May will be released on 18 February.
In ‘Planet Rock’, the Odd Socks seek the Godfather on Planet Rock for an emotional reunion with the band’s guitarist, Rio, after he loses his confidence and even his air guitar. When the Godfather reminds Rio how much he loves to play with the Odd Socks, his belief returns and the cave is filled with dazzlingly beautiful air guitars. The Odd Socks then jam with the Godfather of Rock, and whilst they’re playing he magically shows Rio how all his fans across the world have also regained their confidence and in turn their air guitars.
Brian May comments: “I have loved working with the Odd Socks! Playing the role of their Godfather of Rock was actually a very emotional experience. The episode is a wonderful message of hope to kids who lose their self-confidence. The symbolic use of air guitar is beautifully apt. And on a broader scale I absolutely align with Andy and the Band in their quest for every kid to feel proud of their individual qualities.
“I’m backing their anti-buIlying campaign to the hilt! Watch out for the magic of ‘Planet Rock’!!!”
BAFTA nominated presenter and actor Andy Day (Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures, Andy’s Safari Adventures) comments: “Andy and the Band is a show about celebrating differences, and taking on the world in your very own way. It features my real life band, Andy and the Odd Socks, and truly is a family show, packed full of musical references for parents to enjoy along with their kids.
“We famously played our very first gig at Glastonbury festival, so of course the next step was to invite Brian May, one of the world’s greatest guitarists, to join us for a special episode of the TV show. Working with Brian has been a musical dream come true, as I am huge Queen fan, but most importantly he completely understood the ethos and message of inclusivity we share in everything we do.”
In each episode of the show, Andy and his band undertake ever more ridiculous and complicated odd jobs to help their fans and save the day while still having the time to bang out an awesome song to help things along!
Other adventures include accidentally shutting down the BBC, time travelling back to the days of Robin Hood, and saving Andy from a scientific experiment, jobs so ‘odd’ that Andy has to get out his ‘little black book’ of celebrity friends to help them along the way including Craig Revel-Horwood, Steve Backshall and Zoe Ball.
Further guest appearances come in the form of the wonderful Anita Dobson who pops up in a spooky encounter, and the hilarious duo Sam & Mark who are out to prank the Odd Socks, and finally a cheeky turn from the band’s friends and legendary pooches, Hacker and Dodge.
The series is a co-production from Ninja Pig Productions and Three Arrows Media. Executive Producers for Ninja Pig / Three Arrows are Tamsin Skan, Jon Turner, Dave Hallam and Jon Hancock. Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Michael Towner.
Listen to the best of Queen on Apple Music and Spotify.
