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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. . |
Times of slime! Tiswas is the landmark Saturday morning show. Fierce feuds against Swap Shop devotees rage on even to this day. But how many of you knew the show was a midlands-only spectacle in its first three years? Can you recall the much lamented final series? So much stuff has been written about the legendary show, but we're delving into many areas left untouched by others. Brush up on the facts that brought about Tiswas... [Overview of Tiswas' legacy] Introduction Tiswas Reunited ITV Telethon 1988 The first ever national charity telethon on ITV took place in 1988 for a whole 24 hours, and was hosted by Michael Aspel. It was similar to the BBC's 'Children In Need' in that ITV made full use of their 15 regional areas, and would take breaks so that your own ITV region could give you an update on their fund-raising total and some of the wacky events going on in your area. Part of the novelty was that many stars were giving up their time for free. Previously, charity telethons with these premise were done by the BBC, such as 'Comic Relief' and the aforementioned Children In Need. One particular highlight was a promised Tiswas reunion, plugged throughout the evening. It did end up taking place rather late into the night, as two live segments in the main ITV Telethon studio at LWT. The reunion was based around the 'golden era' of Tiswas - namely the 1979-80 and 1980-81 series. The roster of presenters were the familiar line-up of Chris Tarrant, Sally James, Bob Carolgees and John Gorman. Sadly, Lenny Henry was not available to join them, so his part was taken by boxer Frank Bruno. Semi-regular Sylvester McCoy helped make up the numbers. Various celebrities, some of whom missed Tiswas the first time round, were present to take part in some of the fun, which involved being on the receiving end of some water and pies in the Cage and in Flan Your Folks. A brief rehash of the "water cycle" sketch was performed by John Gorman in front of the rest of the Tiswas crew, putting in a few twists to make it a little different. In the early hours of the morning, in what seemed like an impromptu performance, the Tiswas gang, the celebrities and a huge crowd of onlookers had gathered in Upper Ground, the road outside LWT's studio complex, and for the delight of the cameras, sang along to the Bucket Of Water Song. |
  
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