Jigsaw (British TV Series) on:
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''Jigsaw'' is a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
show aimed at children between the ages of
4 and
7 that combined elements of puzzle solving and entertainment, which was broadcast from 16 July 1979 until 15 June 1984.
Written and directed by
, the show was presented by mime artist
Adrian Hedley
Adrian John Hedley (born 8 December 1978) is a former English cricketer. Hedley was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born at Durham, County Durham.
Hedley represented the Durham Cricket Board in 3 List A mat ...
,
Janet Ellis and "Jigg" - a giant floating orange jigsaw piece, voiced by
John Leeson
John Francis Christopher Ducker (born 16 March 1943), known professionally as John Leeson, is an English actor, voice artist and freelance wine educator. He is known for portraying Bungle in ''Rainbow'' and voicing K9 in ''Doctor Who'' and s ...
.
Ellis left in 1983 to become a ''
Blue Peter'' presenter, at which point she was replaced by Dot, played by
Julia Binsted
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...
- an
anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
of the "cursor dot" (the dot made by the
raster-scanning beam in the
analogue CRT television sets of the time).
Featured supporting cast also included
Paul Clayton, Biggum the giant (played by Leeson) and
Wilf Lunn
Wilfred Makepeace Lunn (born 1942 in Rastrick, West Yorkshire, England) is an English inventor, prop maker and TV presenter. He is best known for his regular appearances on the 1960s and 1970s UK children's television show '' Vision On''.
Early ...
who appeared as a mad inventor. Other unusual characters included Pterry, a
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
Pterodactyl
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 6 ...
(operated by Joe Barton); Cid Sleuth (played by David Cleveland), a
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
-looking bumbling detective plagued by a mysterious burglar (David Wyatt); Hector The
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...
; and the O-Men (
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
and
David Rappaport
David Stephen Rappaport (23 November 1951 – 2 May 1990) was an English actor with achondroplasia. He appeared in the films '' Time Bandits'' and '' The Bride'', and television series '' L.A. Law'', '' The Wizard'' and ''Captain Planet and the ...
), a pair of hapless superheroes summoned by saying any six consecutive words containing a double-O (even the same word repeated six times counted once, albeit inadvertently - Dot said 'coo' four times imitating a pigeon, then Adrian mocked her attempt, saying it twice more to trigger the summon). Arguably the most memorable supporting character made his debuting in Series 2. Mr. Noseybonk (also known as Noseybonk) was performed by Hedley in a dinner suit and a white face mask with a prominent nose and toothy grin. This last character has proved the most enduring due to him allegedly terrifying children as much as amusing them, and has been popularised by
Stuart Ashen's series of Noseybonk Returns videos as well as later his appearance as Mr. Noseybonk in
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and was satirised as Mr Chuckleteeth in the
X-Files episode ''
Familiar
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...
''.
Throughout the show, the presenters and supporting characters came together to solve a number of puzzles; these puzzles would then contribute to one larger conundrum that would be revealed at the end of the show. The viewer was encouraged to take part and solve the puzzles at home.
The theme music for 'Jigsaw' was composed by Martin Cook and Richard Denton (also responsible for the theme for ''Tomorrow's World'') using a mixture of electronic keyboards and
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
. Cook would later compose a revised theme on his own. The theme used for the Noseybonk segments was "A Hippo Called Hubert," composed by Joe Griffiths and also used in
Kentucky Fried Chicken's Charlie Chickenhawk and Frederick Fox advertising in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
between 1984 and 1987.
Transmissions
References
External links
* {{UKGameshow, Jigsaw_(1)
1979 British television series debuts
1984 British television series endings
1970s British children's television series
1980s British children's television series
BBC children's television shows
British children's education television series
British television shows featuring puppetry
English-language television shows
Television series by BBC Studios