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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. . |
Pied Pipers Just a few tests here at the moment, based on our episode guide database... No biographies or pics here yet. Sally James An actress of some experience (she starred in The Railway Children and a few TV dramas), and a former ballet student, Sally James became the best known female presenter of a Saturday morning TV show. Before being plucked for flan-target duties on Tiswas, Sally had already experienced getting up early on a Saturday morning to interview pop stars live on television. She had cut her teeth on 'Saturday Scene' - Saturday morning kids TV show made by London Weekend Television, which was broadcast in the London area. Sally tells us that it was the first ever Saturday morning kids TV program, predating even the first ever Tiswas by just a matter of weeks. Miss James left LWT for ATV in the middle of 1977, to be the first regular female presenter of Tiswas, anchoring the show with Chris Tarrant. Chris was initially shell-shocked by ATV's decision to include a woman as presenter, as Tiswas was quite a "boys' club" at the time. However, due to Sally's talent, and her good looks, she won over audiences, and importantly, Chris himself. Aside from being a magnet for water, pies, beans and other mucky delights inflicted on her by the other presenters, Sally's roles on the show had her interviewing many famous musical acts, like Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motorhead, The Pretenders, etc. The fame of Tiswas propelled Sally to the forefront of the nation's conciousness. Her tight clothing gave dads a reason to forego the usual lie-in on a Saturday morning, and many a prepubescent male had their first crush on the big-haired denim-clad hostess! It was bad news for any wild-eyed Sally fan when she tied the knot with Mike Smith, a record producer who she met at a studio back in the 'Saturday Scene' days when she sang on an album tied in with the show. Mike himself did have a hand in Tiswas' success, he was assigned to be the manager of Chris, Sally, Bob and John when they formed the Four Bucketeers, and helped produce their album. When Chris, Lenny, Bob and John departed the show at its peak in early 1981, Sally was left with another series to begin later on in the year with a brand new team. Unknown to most viewers at the time, Sally had taken over Chris' role in the final series, having more of a say of how the show went on, and being credited as its music editor. People assumed that Gordon Astley, one of the newcomers, was there to fill in the Tarrant-sized gap. As this series went along, Tiswas veterans were annoyed at the lack of the familiar faces, with only Sally there from the 'golden age', and this affected ratings a little, although the show had now reached its biggest potential audience, as remaining far-flung ITV regions such as Tyne Tees had decided to broadcast ATV's flan-flinging antics for the first time. For Sally though, she had given in her notice in, and news had reached the national press in 1982, Tiswas' final year, that she was quitting. The final show of this series was billed as Sally's last ever Tiswas, and there was an air of uncertainty about Tiswas itself. Even the other presenters remarked on-air that they were unsure whether Tiswas would be returning, although it was known backstage that Central (who had taken over from ATV in running the midlands ITV operations) had decided to pull the plug. Whether this is due to the absence of Sally's dad-attracting charms, we'll never know, but it wasn't quite the end of Tiswas... During Tiswas' final series, Chris Tarrant, John Gorman, Lenny Henry and Bob Carolgees had presided over 'O.T.T.', a "late night Tiswas" with an adult appeal in early 1982, with up and coming alternative comedienne Helen Atkinson-Wood performing in a Sally-esque role. This live experimental series took a lot of heavy flak from the critics, and Central bowed to pressure by ensuring that 'Saturday Stayback' - something of a follow-up to 'O.T.T.' - was prerecorded in advance and vetted by the powers-that-be before transmission. Even fewer Tiswas faces were involved in 'Stayback', with just Chris and Bob on screen, and John Gorman contributing to writing duties. However, in the third show, in a brief magician sketch, Sally James was reunited with Chris Tarrant, with little fanfare. This was short-lived though, just a quick one-off performance, with a brief appearance at the end as part of the pub crowd cheering on the resident band. In 1984, Sally teamed back up with Gordon Astley and Den Hegarty, the regular presenters from the final series of Tiswas, along with Sylvester McCoy (a Tiswas veteran), for a talk show aimed at children. Not much is known about this, as it was made and screened by The Children's Channel, virtually exclusive to the UK's then microscopic cable market. However, this Nottingham-based show did give the fledgling channel its biggest ratings at the time. When Ant and Dec began their TV comeback by creating SM:TV, they picked a good-looking female presenter There were a few TV appearances and hosting jobs elsewhere in her post-Tiswas career, but ultimately Sally quit the business in order to raise a family with her husband Mike. Sally, with a friend, began a business making and selling school uniforms in her native Surrey, which still goes from strength to strength. Mike, still in the media industry, keeps in touch with Tiswas alumni, and was the executive producer of the three Tiswas compilation videos released in the 1990s. There are 302 editions of Tiswas in total. Sally James's first edition was 10/9/1977 (Series 4) Sally James appeared in 164 editions of Tiswas. Series 1 Chris Tarrant The main man, the most familiar face with the series - host and producer for the majority of Tiswas editions. Jim Davidson Stand-up comedian of the old school variety, appearing sporadically, and claims to be the first ever Phantom Flan Flinger. |
  
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