Ornithophobia

It was quite often that the kids of the members of the Byker Grove crew would come in to the set on weekends and after school and hang out with the child actors. They were all wonderful and everyone got on with everyone in an almost fairy-tale way.

Darren - Matthew's middle son, the same age as many of the younger kids on the show (about ten or eleven) - was often the centre of everyone's attention. For one thing, he was a natural performer - always doing some cool new trick or showing off a new dance move - but he was also known for bringing in his animals on the weekends and the kids of the Grove would often play with them and him for the hours that they weren't shooting the show.

 For the most part, everyone - including Ant and Dec, just having started becoming friends at this point - loved it when Darren brought his animals into the Grove. But there was one time that one of his visits went a little south.

He'd been charged with looking after his class' pet cockatoo for the weekend, and Matthew had agreed to let him bring it along to the filming of that day's scenes - "Provided you take him away when we start shooting, we don't need the shots ruined by Cracker shouting that he wants a Polly!"

Cracker - for that was actually the cockatoo's name - was a friendly-enough beast, and reveled in the awe and attention that was fixed on him as soon as the cover was lifted off his cage. In a way, he and Darren were a perfect match - they were both natural performers, and very much fond of showing off.

While the next scene was being set up, the kids all sat in the pool room relaxing, and Cracker was being passed around by the younger kids.

Ant had taken hold of the bird and was currently stroking the pearly white feathers. He really was in fantastic condition - the class clearly loved him and looked after him very well. He'd laughed when Cracker had tried to grab his cap in his beak and - when he'd succeeded - he'd started throwing it around like a toy.

"Hey, give that back!" Ant managed to get out around his laughter, the bird pulling his red cap out of his reach every time he went to grab it.

"Oi! Feather-brain, give us me cap back, alright?" he pleaded, trying the well-used puppy dog eyes on the cheeky feathered menace.

Cracker just stared at him, before Darren laughed and took the cap from the bird while he was distracted.

Chuckling, he gave it back to the older boy, who laughed and ruffled his hair fondly.

"Thanks Dare" Ant smiled, getting a bright grin in response.

Cracker was passed over to the next person, and he looked very pleased when he got offered a piece of Lyndyann's sandwich. The bird looked particularly fascinated by her shock of red hair, and spent many minutes trying to figure it out - even pecking at the strands occasionally. This just made everyone laugh, and Lyndyann squealed hilariously and pulled her hair away.

Eventually, she went to pass him onto the next person when the door to the room opened rather suddenly. Cracker took off into the air, startled by the noise, and everyone turned to see who was arriving.

Expecting to see Matthew or one of the other producers - coming to tell them that they were ready to start filming - everyone was quickly reassured when they saw that it was just Declan who walked into the room.

Cracker - spotting the new arrival - flapped his wings and cawed in greeting, having settled back on Darren's shoulder.

Catching sight of the bird, Dec froze and his eyes went wide. 

"Is- is that-?" he stammered, pointing shakily at the cockatoo.

Darren grinned at him, eyes glinting with pride as he looked at the proud bird on his shoulder.