Pied Pipers

Just a few tests here at the moment, based on our episode guide database... No biographies or pics here yet.

Oliver Spencer

Ollie Spencer was the odd job man on Tiswas. He did the pre-show warm ups, appeared as Frank Spencer, Barbara Woodshed, and most important of all, he was the Phantom Flan Flinger's wife Flanderella.

In fact the Spencer family were regulars on Tiswas. Ollie junior appeared in the Nappy Wanderers, a group of kids whose classics include 'Soldier Soldier', and the finale of Chris and co's last ever show. Ollie junior frequently appeared as a Baby Bucket Bunger!

Ollie junior appeared with Den Hegarty in the final series as Nosey Parkin on News at Den. Big Ollie continued as Flanderella and Barbara Woodshed.

Ollie continues to do gigs in the midlands and the Tiswas Online team hope to meet him one day.

There are 302 editions of Tiswas in total.

Oliver Spencer's first edition was 11/2/1978 (Series 4)
Oliver Spencer's final edition was 3/4/1982 (Series 8)

Oliver Spencer appeared in 30 editions of Tiswas.
That's 9.93% appearance rate, based on there being 302 editions of Tiswas.

Series 1
Did not appear at all in this series.
Series 2
Did not appear at all in this series.
Series 3
Did not appear at all in this series.
Series 4
11/2/1978
8/4/1978
15/4/1978
Series 5
7/10/1978
28/10/1978
11/11/1978
23/12/1978
Series 6
Did not appear at all in this series.
Series 7
11/10/1980
18/10/1980
25/10/1980
Series 8
5/9/1981
12/9/1981
19/9/1981
3/10/1981
10/10/1981
17/10/1981
24/10/1981
31/10/1981
7/11/1981
14/11/1981
28/11/1981
5/12/1981
12/12/1981
19/12/1981
26/12/1981
2/1/1982
13/2/1982
27/2/1982
27/3/1982
3/4/1982

Chris Tarrant The main man, the most familiar face with the series - host and producer for the majority of Tiswas editions.
Sally James The main female presenter of the show, and the second longest serving of any Tiswas regular.
Trevor East Tiswas's footballed-obsessed presenter, a familiar face throughout the 1970s.
Peter Tomlinson Posh-voiced and smooth-talking, this ATV announcer was regularly seen during Tiswas' early years.
John Gorman Hailing from Merseyside, this ex-Scaffold singer/writer, served as resident comic performer during Tiswas' peak.
John Asher The first ever main presenter of Tiswas, chirpy, affable and up for a laugh.
Bob Carolgees Resident puppeteer during Tiswas's peak, with a few comic characters too.
Lenny Henry Dudley-born funnyman and New Faces refugee, who could and would impersonate Trevor MacDonald and David Bellamy at the drop of the hat.
Paul "The Kid" Hardin Tiswas's only child regular, who specialized in impersonating Frank Spencer and a few others.
Frank Carson Northern Ireland comedian, famed for his immortal line "it's a cracker" and "it's the way I tell 'em".
Sylveste McCoy Comic performer on many shows, with a great gift for facial expression.
Terry Thomas Tiswas's main animal expert when it came to the IBA-pleasing wildlife/environmental slots.
Den Hegarty Ex-Darts singer/founder who was the manic and off-the-wall presenter in Tiswas' final series.
Oliver Spencer Warm-up man for the show, and on-screen comedy performer, specialising in being 'Barbara Woodshed'.
Gordon Astley From a background of many local radio stations, he was the main male host for the final series with an affable approach to being at the helm of Tiswas.
Peter Matthews Although kept off screen in the very early days as main duty was to look after pre-recorded items, this guy made a few appearances in the mid 1970s.
Fogwell Flax Winner of LWT's 'Search For A Star' competition, performed many impersonations as resident comic performer of the final series.

Jim Davidson Stand-up comedian of the old school variety, appearing sporadically, and claims to be the first ever Phantom Flan Flinger.
Clive Webb Oddball magician whose tricks would either work perfectly, or get someone completely messy.
Ian "Sludge" Lees Old school comic with huge bubble-perm hairdo and striking suit.
Terry Coates Seen many times in the final series, this guy, giving more than just a nod to Monty Python, was an old time announcer in a 1930s BBC Home Service mould, to bring a serious tone to juxtapose against the general ensuing chaos that is Tiswas.
Trevor James Possibly intended to be the final series' answer to Bob Carolgees, as he had Sid the Parrot, although when he didn't do that, he shouted a lot in his guise as a CB-radio-owning nerd.
David Rappaport Midget actor/performer who was seen in many final series editions, usually in the role of some comic character.
Norman Collier Comedian famed for his "broken microphone" routine.
Joan Palmer A female presenter/announcer who occasionally helped out on Tiswas in pre-Sally-James days.
Helen Piddock Apparently the first person to play the Phantom Flan Flinger, although her main roles on Tiswas were research and competition-setting, which would be normally done off-screen as the show hit its peak.
Emil Wolk Comic performer and mime artist, used early on in the final series alongside Fogwell Flax.
Richard Barnes Announcer and occasional helping hand in the early days of ATV-only Tiswas, usually ended up as the target of water buckets.

Tiswas Reunited is now available on DVD - an extended version of the show seen on ITV1 in 2007, with plenty of extras. TiswasOnline has been covering this revival project and has contributed to it. See the official blog and other show details at our Tiswas Reunited minisite!

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Random Tiswas quote:
"This is the song, We lovers of water sing" - The Four Bucketeers, Bucket Of Water Song.

Random Tiswas fact:
By the time the show was breathing its last in 1982, it was being broadcast all over ITV, except in the south-west of England, and the Channel Islands, as both TSW and Channel Television opted out of the Tiswas feed.