A Saturday institution...
MARION MCMULLEN remembers how all the custard pie-flinging and water bucket-throwing came to an ended 40 years ago with the final episode of Tiswas
BY all accounts Tiswas was the badboy alternative to BBC’S wholesome Noel Edmonds’ Multi-coloured Swap Shop.
It was ITV’S Saturday morning children’s show that adults loved to watch and offered buckets of water, custard pies, crazy dances and anarchic comedy, all served up with a large helping of bemused guests.
The final episode was broadcast 40 years ago on April 3, 1982, and ended with everyone in the studio singing Auld Flang Syne.
The end came after more than 300 live episodes of the show and by then Chris Tarrant had left to present late night show OTT. Tiswas originally launched in 1974 and, at its height, was being watched by up to four million viewers a week. Tiswas – This Is Saturday, Watch And Smile – helped launch the careers of Chris and comedian Sir Lenny Henry. Lenny famously parodied newsreader Sir Trevor Mcdonald with a comedy character called Trevor Mcdough
and Chris surprised him during one show by bringing Sir Trevor onto the set when he was performing. Sally James completed the lineup in the loosely scripted show and Bob Carolgees, with Spit The Dog, and John Gorman from The Scaffold, were among regular faces.
There was a cage that contained any adults brave enough to appear in the studio and they were regularly drenched with buckets of water, gunge and custard pies courtesy of the Phantom Flan Flinger.
Actor Sylvester Mccoy, comic Frank Carson as well as music acts
like Sir Bob Geldof, Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motörhead, and The Pretenders all appeared on Tisnut was. The Bucket Of Water Song by The Four Bucketeers featured on Top Of The Pops, while comedian Jasper Carrott had everyone doing The Dying Fly dance craze.
Sally once said: “I remember getting a letter from Spike Milligan, saying he wanted to be on. I thought it was a wind-up, but it wasn’t.
“He did come on. People have become very fond of Tiswas.”