Dave Willson

Dave Willson (14 August 1946 - 4 February 2009), aka Weazel (and often credited as Weasel), was a member of the studio lighting crew and noted for his appearances on such shows as Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive — in the latter doubling for June Sarpong after she failed to appear. Originally nicknamed "Catweazel" because of his resemblance to the children's television character, he shortened this and adopted the sobriquet Weazel (an archaic spelling of weasel).
Although specialising in comedy shows as a freelance in recent years, he had also been a member of the lighting team of Eastenders. Prior to 2001, as a BBC staffer, he had contributed to the success of drama series The House of Eliott with lighting director Chris Townsend, both having also worked on the 1993 TV recording of the Trevor Nunn production of Porgy and Bess.
There were also numerous one-off dramas where he assisted Duncan Brown, another award-winning television lighting director — including Henry IV, Two Oranges and a Mango and others in the BBC Performance series such as: Tales from Hollywood and A Summer Day's Dream — plus sitcom classics ', You Rang, M'Lord? and Nice Day at the Office. Others in the Performance strand, directed by Simon Curtis, included The Entertainer and The Deep Blue Sea. He had worked for the BBC since 1965, and had been a member of the BFI and BAFTA.
His first, unscheduled, appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks came in September 2004 when a running gag using a lightning flash effect triggered by Mark Lamarr suddenly ran out of control during the recording. The show continued as Weazel crawled under Lamarr's desk in front of the studio audience to reset it — as he emerged Bill Bailey embraced him, greeting him as "Daddy" — with all this being included in the final edit.
His appearance on Annually Retentive (Series 2, Show 2) recorded in January 2007 and aired in May 2007 (where he is credited under the stage name of Weasel), was quite deliberate, however. Several sources misspell Willson's surname as Wilson.

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