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 Tiswas © 1974 ATV Network Limited, © 2004 Granada Media . This is a non-profit site intended for education about the British televison series Tiswas. This site acknowledges all copyrights and presents material under the 'Fair Use' clause of international copyright law, for the purpose of review. . |
Tis-what? How did they make the pies? What happened to Bob Carolgees? Why did the show end? How do I get hold of videos of the show? Will it be released on DVD? Tiswasonline gets asked a lot of questions about the show, usually the same ones crop up. We try to update the site regularly and we find it hard to do that if we have to keep replying to "What's Sally James up to now?" a dozen times a week. So, please please please read this Frequently Asked Questions guide, because it's got the answers. Read it even if you think you know it all about Tiswas...  [Where is Chris Tarrant?] Where is Chris Tarrant? Chris Tarrant left at the end of the 1980-81 series in order to make a late-night version of Tiswas with new ITV midlands franschisee Central (who also kept Tiswas going). The show was O.T.T., it didn't last long, and the complaints came in thick and fast. Central wanted to distance themselves from it, so the series was hastily cancelled, with the last episode being a highlights-of-the-series package. Later on, the "adult Tiswas" idea was resurrected as Saturday Stayback, but this wasn't deemed good enough by the viewers, as dismal ratings meant the show's life was short-lived. Chris then went onto various presenting jobs, mostly on short-lived game shows, but his biggest earner of the period was joining TV-am. In the mid-80s, a series of Tiswas-ian adverts (for Kelloggs' Rice Krispies) appeared with Tarrant gunging any child who failed to make a bigger noise than " Britain's noisiest breakfast". Sometime in the late 80s, Chris joined London-based radio station Capital as a DJ, and earned his crust there successfully as their morning DJ, up until 2004 when Johnny Vaughan took over. In the early 90s, Chris was to be found on fledgling satellite channel Sky One, as he fronted a series of home video bloopers called The Secret Home Video Show, which predated You've Been Framed and Caught In The Act. Tarrant also took over from Clive James for the "...On TV" series on ITV - compilations of weird clips from television around the world, mostly sadistic Japanese gameshows. In the late 90s, Tarrant struck gold by hosting a new quiz format called Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for ITV, which was heavily hyped and fortunately became a success. He continues as question-master for this show today. Where is Sally James? After leaving Tiswas to have children, Sally struggled to get back into mainstream television in the mid 80s. Around 1984, she hosted TVS' Ultra Quiz on the ITV Network. She helped front BBC's Pebble Mill spin-off 6-5 Special, but no other consistant TV work was forthcoming. She decided to go into business with a friend, designing and manufacturing school uniforms. She has been highly successful at this, has bought out her partner, and has a chain of stores selling school uniforms in the Surrey area, controlled by her and her husband. She keeps a low profile, although she planned a Tiswas website in 2001. Where is Lenny Henry? After Tiswas, and the failure of O.T.T, Lenny found a home with the alternative comedy scene, then in its infancy. Lenny kept his TV profile up by appearing as one of "Three Of A Kind", a BBC comedy sketch show which also featured Tracy Ullman and David Copperfield. It was also had sketches contributed by ex-Tiswas writers such as Kim Fuller. During his flirtation with the alternative comedy scene, Lenny got bit parts in the Comic Strip films and a guest appearance in the cult TV sitcom The Young Ones. In 1984, primetime came calling when Lenny gained his own series, The Lenny Henry Show, on BBC1, which exhibited his stand-up routines as well as long-running sketches. He introduced a whole new range of characters, including pirate radio DJ Delbert Wilkins. The show was a success, and continued to be repeated for the rest of the 80s. The last ever series of the 80s saw the show turn into a sitcom dedicated around Delbert Wilkins. In the mid-80s, he married Dawn French, one of the stars of the alternative comedy scene of the 80s. In 1987, he fronted, along with Griff Rhys-Jones and Jonathan Ross, the first Comic Relief all-night comedy telethon on BBC1, a tradition that has been upheld in all subsequent telethons. The early 90s saw Lenny set up his own production company, Crucial Films. BBC1 was home to his new sitcom "Chef!" around this time. In 1997, after a low-profile, Lenny returned with a comedy show on BBC1, although it is felt it was not a patch on his earlier efforts. The show was dropped, and there wasn't any more Lenny on BBC1 (outside of Comic Relief, that is) until 2004, when the Lenny Henry Show was revived, but updated, joined by three black comediennes (3 Non Blondes) and the show aimed itself at a new generation with parodies of Beyonce Knowles. Where is Bob Carolgees? After Tiswas, Bob wasn't seen on our screens until 1984, when he became the roving reporter for LWT's Cilla Black vehicle Surprise Surprise, often doing silly stunts live outside the LWT building. Surprisingly, he wasn't accompanied by his puppets for this one. He also fronted pop/game show Hold Tight!, produced by Granada for Children's ITV. There hasn't been regular television work for Bob recently. He set up a gift shop near Frodsham in Cheshire, involved with candlemaking, and has an associated website - http://www.carolgeescandles.com. True to his Tiswas roots, there's a Spit The Dog related game there - http://www.carolgeescandles.com/games There have been a few appearances of Bob, most notable being when he resurrected Spit the Dog for a cameo on Channel 4 sitcom Phoenix Nights, where he was the host of a sensitive discussion show. In 2004, Bob decided to sell off his Spit the Dog puppet in auction, with the starting price set at ?1,500. He has two other Spit replicas made, so he won't miss him! The TiswasOnline team interviewed Bob in July 2005 - the interview will be on this site shortly. Where is John Gorman? Contrary to mistaken belief, John Gorman was never the producer of LWT's Blind Date! Just a namesake! John stuck with children's television after Tiswas. In 1984, he and Clive Webb (himself a Tiswas refugee) put together a messy gunge-based game show for Tyne Tees called 'How Dare You!'. Aside from being an excuse to pie and gunge children and each other, a good amount of comedy was to be had, mostly due to Clive's magic tricks. Musical guests (such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood) were common on the show. It was Tiswas in all but name. The second-last series was filled with a lot of comedy sketches, and by the final series, the game format was dropped entirely for back-to-back sketches. John and Clive continued their gungy games routine on television - a one- off spot on ITV Saturday morning kids show Get Fresh proved popular (the subsequent series included a gunge- based game slot in every show, although Messrs Gorman and Webb weren't presenting it), as did more of the same on ITV's Telethon. Kids' pop music show Razmatazz was treated to the delights of Gorman/Webb-front gunge games for one series, at one point John even gunged his own son. In the 1990s, John retired to run a farm in France, but in 2002, John was back in Britain, planning a musical about Manchester United FC, which got mentions in the national press, due to John being a hardened fan of Liverpool FC. I believe he is in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, working in theatre at the moment. Where is Trevor East? Continued with sports broadcasting, like he did back in his Tiswas days. Stayed with ATV when it morphed into Central, and he joined the east midlands operations. In the 1990s, sports reporter Trevor was recruited by BSkyB to be a producer for various programmes on the Sky Sports channels. Recently, Trevor was poached by rival digital sports broadcaster Setanta, to work on their own sports channels. Where is John Asher? One half of the first presenting team. John was present for the first series and a lot of the second. Chris Tarrant, speaking in Later magazine, in 1999, said he last heard John was selling insurance in Wolverhampton, but this is not the case. An e-mail from John's son Laurie states that John never sold insurance! We hope to be covering an interview with John himself on this site soon. John Asher is now directing musical theatre and is Artistic Director for Big Dog Theatre, based in Chesham, Bucks. Their website is www.bigdogtheatre.org.uk Where is Matthew Butler? Matthew Butler left the show towards the end of the 1980-81 series. He has changed his surname to Lewis after a family split, and is now a fireman in Staffordshire. He was reunited with Chris Tarrant on ITV1's Frank Skinner Show in 2002. Matthew Lewis and Chris Tarrant continue to be friends. Internet bootleg remixer Osymyso remixed Matthew's cover of Bright Eyes back in 2003. In December 2005, through an arrangement with this website, Matthew managed to appear live on Tiswas-inspired Saturday morning show 'Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow' doing the same act he did on Tiswas - singing Bright Eyes. For comedy effect, he attempted to put on his original rabbit costume while doing the act, which didn't fit him too well (a suit made for a six year old boy seems rather too small when he reaches his thirties). Despite being rated rather low by the studio-based child audience, the presenters Dominic Wood and Richard McCourt hailed the performance and a brief repeat of it ran on the following show. Matthew Lewis runs a Tiswas mailing list on the web at Yahoo groups ( http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/matthewbutlerstiswasgroup ), and is one of the moderators on this site's web-forums. On Saturday mornings, Matthew is a DJ with his friend 'Savage' on Wolverhampton based radio station WCR1350, for the 'Matt and Savage Show', which has an indie/rock-based playlist with some football-based chat. Where is Frank Carson? A regular guest on Tiswas, Frank was already famed for his Irish-themed jokes and shaggy-dog stories on the cabaret circuit, which is what he continues to do now. One of his best friends is controversial stand-up comedian Bernard Manning. Frank has not had much regular TV work, but has made lots of appearances in various shows, most notable being Noel's House Party in the 1990s. 2004 saw him lined up for ITV1 reality show "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here", only to be dropped by the producers at the last minute for fear of his aged condition proving to be an insurance hazard! Where is Jim Davidson? Initially planned to be a regular member of the Tisteam, Jim was introduced at the same time as Sally James, in 1977. However, Jim left after only a number of shows, and only made sporadic guest appearances from then on. It's recently been claimed by Jim himself, in a letter to the Daily Mail in July 2004, that he was the first ever Phantom Flan Flinger. Jim went on to cultivate his controversial brand of stand-up comedy, which has drawn criticism due to its right-wing leanings and racial caricatures. In the early 1980s, Jim's big break (if you excuse the pun) on TV was when Thames gave him a sitcom - "Up The Elephant & Round The Castle". The Thames management warmed to him, as he got regular specials to showcase his often blue stand-up routines. In 1991, Jim switched sides to the BBC, having devised Big Break, a snooker-based game show he fronted with snooker-player John Virgo as his sidekick. Having toned down his style of comedy for this show (it was early evening viewing), his profile rose once again. Unashamedly Tory and heavily patriotic, he set up a charity laying on entertainment for British soldiers serving abroad. He also established his name as a theatre producer in the mid 1990s, by setting up a production services company for pantomimes. He eventually got a near-monopoly on pantos in the UK. Having fronted a few Generation Games when Bruce Forsyth was away, the BBC found him fit to front the series proper when Forsyth walked out on the Beeb in 1997. The early times of Jim Davidsons' Generation Game were quite calm, but as it went on, the comedy content went up, with less and less time devoted to the game. A lot of the comedy was very Tiswas-inspired, involving liberal quantities of pies and gunge. At one time, what appeared to be the Phantom Flan Flinger himself was a guest (although it was a cheap knock-off costume). 2003 saw the show dropped due to flagging ratings, and Jim's financial woes made the papers when he revealed he owed huge debts to the Inland Revenue. The year continued with more gloom, as he controversially ordered out disabled people from his live stand-up shows (his defence being that he makes fun of the audience, and couldn't do that to the disabled). Despite all his controversy, he has been awarded the OBE. In 2004, Jim made public his intention to quit Britain, due to his hatred of the Labour government. The Mirror newspaper in July gleefully reported his migration to Dubai, although a letter sent to the Daily Mail later on that month by Jim (on the subject of Tiswas), was stated as coming from London. Where is Gordon Astley? Having presented the 1981-82 series of Tiswas (the final one!), the last Tiswas fans saw of him was in the final show where he announced he'd be running a Save Tiswas campaign. Since Tiswas, Gordon has continued to be a DJ of a rather nomadic stance, having performed stints all over the country at local radio stations, both commercial and BBC-run. Around the beginning of the 00's, he was doing a Saturday morning radio show on BBC Radio Northampton, but left in 2003 to go to the States with his wife, former Radio 1 DJ Femi Oke (who now works for CNN). Gordon has his own website, http://www.gordonastley.com, which goes into detail about his work as a magician. Where is Den Hegarty? Den left his 50s doo-wop band Darts in 1979, due to wanting one day a fortnight off to see his ill father, which his manager denied. After Tiswas, he still spent time in the rockabilly scene and made a few solo albums. Was believed to be working for the Citizens' Advice Bureau sometime in the 1990s, but is now a lecturer at Exeter College. Where is Fogwell Flax? Since Tiswas finished, Foggy went back to the cabaret circuit, and made occasional appearances at holiday camps such as Butlin's. Where is David Rappaport? Before his Tiswas role, midget- actor David Rappaport already had played a part in many films. Film and TV work continued for David well after Tiswas, and the biggest project he played a part in was American drama series L.A. Law. Unfortunately, he was afflicted with a bout of depression during this time, and took his own life, using a gun he bought several days earlier in Los Angeles, at the age of 38. He is buried at Waltham Abbey cemetery. Where is Clive Webb? Semi-regular Tiswas wizard Clive apparently married TV-am aerobics girl 'Mad Lizzy'. Clive continued in children's television, usually with Tiswas' John Gorman. Most of his work with John consisted of gunge-based game shows, so there's a little bit of Tiswas still left in him. Last seen on TV, as far as we know, in 2002 working as a circus clown. He appeared on Sky News of all places, in a trivial news story about clowns taking insurance in case they are sued for assault due to custard-pie throwing. Clive Webb continues to work as a clown, alongside his son, Danny Adams, who are a respected clown act. You can catch them at various circusses and pantos throughout Britain. Where is the Phantom Flan Flinger? Driving cabs in the west midlands! Benny Mills, who played the Phantom Flan Flinger for the majority of the series, took part in an interview with a Birmingham's Express and Star newspaper recently, to provide an answer to the oft-asked question - "Who was the Phantom Flan Flinger?". Where is Glyn Edwards? Tiswas producer Glyn oversaw some 70s editions, but returned in 1981 to produce the last series (1981-82). Glyn stayed with midlands ITV franchise Central Independant Television, producing more children's shows, including an idea for a midweek magazine show developed with Tiswas writer David McKellar. Central liked it so much, they decided to have it replace Tiswas. The show was 'Big Daddy's Saturday Show', which quickly became 'The Saturday Show' when wrestler Big Daddy pulled out of the presenting due to ill health. Glyn is still active in the Punch And Judy scene, as he was before the Tiswas offer came knocking on his door, and is known as the 'Professor' among the community. You can see his website - http://www.punchandjudy.org - which shows off what he does.. Where is Peter Harris? Producer of many early Tiswas editions, Peter went on to direct The Muppet Show at ATV's studios in Borehamwood. When ATV morphed into Central, Peter Harris stayed with the company, directing many TV shows, into the new millennium. Where is Bob Blackman? One the most notable of Tiswas' guests, Bob Blackman had won ATV talent show 'New Faces' by er... banging a metal tray on his head, while singing 'Mule Train'. Aside from his appearance on the show in the 1979-80 series (shown on one of the commercial compilation video releases), we believe he resurfaced for a 1981-82 show. Bob Blackman has sadly passed away. His son Ray has spoken to one of the web team about supplying info about his father.  Where you'll find how they made the pies, who the Phantom Flan Flinger was, details of where it was filmed, and a lot other stuff.  If you've ever wanted to get your hands on Tiswas stuff, such as videos, DVDs, t-shirts, or maybe you're a TV broadcaster/researcher/producer wanting to show clips of Tiswas - this is the section for you! |
  
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