Tricky Business - late 80s/early 90s BBC Kids Comedy

So many kids' programmes from the mid 80s through to the mid 90s don't seem to be remembered as much as those from the 70s and early 80s. I can remember a very funny and original BBC kids sitcom called Tricky Business that ran in 1989 and 1990. It was set in a magic shop and had a group of kids who helped out and there was a talking puppet rabbit called Crabtree who had magic powers - he could make himself disappear.

Tricky Business's humour was much less cheesy than the humour in later episodes of Rentaghost (I can't believe that programme ran for nearly 10 years) and was also slightly more grown-up. Although there were cast changes between Series 1 and 2 of Tricky Business, Crabtree Rabbit appeared in both.

Then, in 1991, when CBBC announced there was going to be a third series of Tricky Business I was very excited. But...it was a totally different programme with the Tricky Business name featuring Bernie Clifton. Why the BBC had to completely change the format like this totally beats me. At least no more series of this version were made. Can anyone else remember Tricky Business?

You might be better off posting at tvcream.co.uk, though I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to find out. Yes, I remember Tricky Business. There were three series and Paul Zenon was in it. I have moderate-to-decent research skills, if there's anything else you want to know.

I was just seeing if anyone else remembered Tricky Business as well as other programmes from the late 80s/early 90s era. It seems that this era of kids TV is not recognised or remembered in the same way is the "cult" era of the 70s and early 80s.

Does anyone know why the format was changed so much in Series 3?