It was the show that was banned in many households. The IBA criticised it for lack of educational content. The RSPCA tried to get us off the air after Chris demonstrated how to wash a mouse and nearly roasted it to death. Mothers complained about Spit the Dog. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents claimed The Dying Fly was one of the Top Ten most dangerous pursuits. Whatever we did seemed to get us in to trouble, yet stars were queuing up to appear on this groundbreaking show. There was such a range of them: Duran, Duran; Dexy’s Midnight Runners; The Clash; The Nolans; The Tourists (who later became the Eurythmics); Sir Bob Geldof; Barry Sheen; Queen; Wings; Jackie Chan; Bob Monkhouse and Spike Milligan. The list just goes on and on.Tiswas or ‘Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile’ is the show I am so proud have been a part of. It was ground breaking in so many ways, is still talked about, and is back on your screens this Saturday evening at 9.15 on ITV.Where else on a Saturday morning could you find members of top rock bands prepared to stand in a bucket, dressed in a leotard with a flower on their head, yelling Compost Corner?Yet Phil Collins, Rick Parfitt, Robert Plant and many others did just that.In fact Robert Plant approached Chris and I in the Holiday Inn, one night, and introduced himself to us (no introduction necessary, Robert) and asked if he could appear. He had nothing to promote he just wanted to be part of the madness.Chris often talks about the mornings he spent rolling around in custard with Chrissie Hynde, Sheena Easton, Toyah Wilcox and Annie Lennox. He says he’ll never forget it nor does he ever want to! Tiswas was billed as a children’s show yet 54% of our audience were over 18. Tiswas Appreciation Societies met in pubs, we did a sell out tour of universities and frequently had to virtually swim our way out after drenching entire audiences as we performed The Bucket of Water Song.A big part of Tiswas was the mess. We got through an average of 150 pies a show; somewhere in the region of 100 buckets were thrown and the waiting list for a place in the Cage went up to 3 years.
When ITV decided they wanted a reunion show we were all delighted and the excitement really started to mount on the Tiswas website where they ran a countdown. On the day before the recording the announcement, “Only one more sleep until the big day”, and on the day itself it proclaimed, “The day we have waited 25 years for has finally arrived.”
Yes, it really is 25 years since the last show. Although I have remained good friends with Chris over the years, it has not been so easy to see John, Bob and Lenny. We all got together for a photoshoot a few weeks ago and that was hysterical. The boys were all outdoing each other with the jokes and the banter and I was trying to quieten them down so that the poor photographer could actually be heard. It had been just like old times with them misbehaving and me keeping them in check.
What was going to be included in the show has been so difficult from the beginning. Everyone has their favourite memory from the show. We hope we have included something for everyone and I think we have.
The show for me was quite a family affair. My husband, Mike, was the Producer and my eldest son, Adam, who works at Sky Sports, managed to get a day off as he really wanted to work on this production.
Probably one of the most challenging aspects of Tiswas Reunited was getting permission to throw just about anything at anybody. The programme certainly highlighted just how strict the Health and Safety laws have become in this country.
I can just imagine the reaction now to a breakdown of a typical week’s show:
“What we are doing this week is asking a group of fairly young children to sing a song and at the end of it we will be pelting them with numerous buckets of water. They will then sit in their drenched clothes for the rest of the show in the audience area and when the show is over they will make their way across a slippery floor where approximately 75 custard pies have been thrown throughout the morning.
Also in this show there will be an item where a cow will walk round the studio with the Tiswas address attached to its side. It is hoped that the trainer will have full control of the animal. Following this, three children, all under 8-years-old, will be put under the desk to be pulled up by their ears by Chris and Sally. We should mention that in the cage several hapless members of the public will be pelted at regular intervals with buckets of water/semolina/soot. The cage is quite rickety but we are reasonably sure that it will withstand the barrage.”
I can honestly say that in all our Tiswas shows no one had a serious accident (unless you count the strongest man in the world falling over when he dropped Big Daddy and Bernard Manning) and all the kids had a ball. There was also the small matter of Sham 69’s Jimmy Pursey throwing a pie at Frank Carson and breaking one of his teeth!
On the day itself Chris and I spent the morning in the studio rehearsing. We were really looking forward to the others arriving and it wasn’t long until we heard Lenny’s unmistakable bellow as he came into the studio.
He too was excited; he perched himself on the sofa and began to guffaw at all the clips. Watching one where Chris was holding a small child upside down while smacking its bottom caused much merriment.
Bob and John followed soon after. Chris had spent the previous afternoon on the phone to Bob saying, “Now come on Carolgees, talk me through your item.” Chris was then heard yelling, “Bloody hell, this wasn’t funny 25 years ago, same old stuff”, then he yelled, “Sal listen to this, Bob requires a busty blond from the audience to assist in this routine!” Why she had to be busty and blond we cannot be sure but we can make a pretty informed guess.
It was good to hear that the gentle sending up (or downright insulting banter) was still in place.
All my children attended the show and I must say I was a little embarrassed at some of the footage Chris had unearthed. Did I really dress like that? What on earth will my boys think of their Mother?
The last 25 years just rolled away. We all seemed to slip back into our old relationship. We are so fond of each other and comment was made after the show as to how relaxed we all appeared. I have always said that one of the reasons the show was so successful was down to the interaction of us as a team. Ant and Dec also referred to the fact that we seemed to be having so much fun and as a viewer you wanted to be part of that.
In the afternoon we resumed going through each item with Lenny jumping around saying, “We never used to rehearse this much, or sometimes not even at all”.
Then at 2.45pm Frank Carson arrived. Frank is an amazing man who literally never stops telling gags. Whenever he used to appear on the show in the old days he would arrive in the production office and just tell jokes non-stop. Sometimes we would all quietly creep out of the room and still he would carry on.
Chris actually adores Frank and thinks he is the funniest man on the planet. This adoration took the form of, “Bloody hell Frank, why have you arrived so early? We can’t possibly concentrate if you’re here. Look at your tie; it’s funnier than your act!”
Comedians queued up to be on the original show. We even received a letter from Spike Milligan one day saying, “I think you are all mad; can I please join you?” Of course we said yes. Michael Palin and Terry Jones appeared a few times saying we appealed to their Python sense of humour. Watching the footage of Michael Palin is hysterical, as you will see on Saturday.
At 7.30pm we were all finally ready to begin the recording. It was quite strange not to be doing the show live as we did back in the old days and at several times during the day Lenny remarked, “Good grief, 25 years ago we’d have been in the bar by now.“ As Chris and I stood waiting to make our entrances we were marvelling at how excited the audience were. When the Tiswas music started, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The atmosphere in the studio was truly electric. The audience greeted each of us with real fervour. Chris has since said, ” It was one of the most amazing atmospheres of any TV show I have ever done in my life.”
Often on TV shows the audience gets tired as the recordings can sometimes drag on but on this evening they got more and more enthusiastic. I am trying to commit every detail to memory, as I don’t want to ever forget it.
I can’t say too much about the content of the show as it is under wraps but I will reveal that we did break a few rules (as you would expect). John Gorman did unmentionable things to Jilly Johnson, some well respected members of the establishment were seen in a totally different light, and there was a huge dose of political incorrectness.
It was great to see Chris in his absolute element. He has had some awful press recently and I feel so sorry for him as a lot of it is inaccurate and unfounded. He gets them laughing and joking.
At the aftershow party, Chris and I spent ages having photos taken with fans and guests.
So many people had helped make the original show a success, and they all came to support us. I am thrilled that the reaction to the show has been amazing. The buzz was incredible.
It is a night I will never ever forget and I agree with Chris when he says, “I can’t wait for the next reunion in 2032.”