It is possible, I suppose, that you didn't spend your childhood mornings the way I did - watching a surly masked man in a black tunic abuse a monkey puppet in a dungeon. Poor you. Still, to get you up to speed, here's a little Boris 101.

Boris's Breakfast Club was a weekday morning cartoon show that ran on Channel 7 from 1976 to 1993. Filmed in Brisbane, the show was hosted by Boris the Black Knight (Eric Summons), an ill-tempered baddie whose favoured expression was "whooshka!". The show's memorable theme song was actually the William Tell Overture. Finally, when he wasn't begrudgingly announcing birthdays, introducing the Smurfs or being playfully sabotaged by an enthusiastic camera crew (they once fired a cannon at him - live on air - and set his nylon suit on fire), Boris was hurling vicious one-liners at his sidekicks, O'Toole the monkey, Spook the Ghost and Nigel the Dragon.

Boris worked so well because he was a baddie. He would say things like: "If mum wants you to wear your brown shoes and you want to wear your black shoes, wear your black shoes. What would she know? She's just a mother." And people would complain, but the show worked and kids loved him. The show ran for 17 years - longer than The Alice, Hamish and Andy, Marshall Law, Australian Queer Eye, Young Lions, Let Loose Live, Paradise Beach and Secret Life of Us combined.

Back in the '70s and '80s, Brisbane was the hub of children's television in Australia and shows seemed to last. Mt Coot-tha was churning out hours of local programming including Wombat, Seven Super Saturday, The Channel Niners, Now You See It, Bush Beat, Boris's Breakfast Club and a kooky early-morning show involving Jackie Mac, her great dane and members of Wickety Wak. It was during this period, as clich�d as it sounds, that Welsh-born Summons was literally King of the Kids.

A professional magician for 30 years, Summons is part of the famed Magic Circle. When he wasn't daubed in black shoe polish for Boris, he was starring in that other much-loved, multi-award winning children's show, Wombat. Summons created Wombat in 1977 when network executives asked him to devise a kids' show to meet the new C Class Classification.

These days he still works as a magician and comp�re. There are plans to write a children's book, perhaps. But his main gig is on the corporate circuit. "The Magic of Laughter" is a motivational talk Summons gives to jaded "suits" encouraging them to stop and see the lighter side of life.

On his website (ericsummons.com), he is asked in an interview if he ever gets tired of talking about Australia's favourite Black Knight. He answers: "No, never. I love it. It was a major part of my life and I met some of the most wonderful people and just had so much fun. I walked past a string quartet in the Mall the other day and they suddenly started playing the Boris theme song. I love it!"