''Paperplay'' is a British children's television programme, produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network between 1974 and 1981.British Film Institute Film & TV Database
/ref> The show was devised and presented by

Susan Stranks Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress and TV presenter. Career Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949). S ...

, a former ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

'' presenter. In each show, Stranks would make simple creations from paper and other household waste. Assisting her would be two mischievous

hand puppet A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet.Sinclair, A, ''The Puppetry Handbook'', p.15 A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppetee ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s named Itsy and Bitsy. Itsy was the red male, growling spider and Bitsy the yellow female, squeaking spider. Occasionally they were joined by other

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 ...

s, such as Boris the

ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

, Cardew the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

and Katie the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. The puppets were operated by Norman Beardsley, who was hidden by a black backdrop.

References

External links

Itsy and Bitsy at Toonhound''Paperplay'' at sausageNet
British television shows featuring puppetry ITV children's television shows 1974 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings Arts and crafts television series {{UK-kids-tv-prog-stub