''Spatz'' is a children's comedy series that ran on Children's ITV during the 1990s, produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and created by Andrew Bethell. The show originally ran from 21 February 1990 to 10 April 1992. The show centred on a

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

restaurant situated in a fictional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

Cricklewood Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of three London boroughs: Barnet to the east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was operated by two Canadians, Karen Hansson ( Jennifer Calvert), Spatz International's self-centered European Co-ordinator, and Thomas "TJ" Strickland (

Paul Michael Paul Michael (August 15, 1926 – July 8, 2011) was an American actor. He was a regular guest star on American television appearing in ''Kojak'', ''Hill Street Blues'', ''Alias'' and ''Frasier''. He also played King Johnny Romano on ''Dark Sha ...

), the restaurant's kind-hearted manager.

Vas Blackwood Vasta Roy "Vas" Blackwood (born 19 October 1962) is a British actor from London. Blackwood played Lenny Henry's sidekick Winston Churchill in '' The Lenny Henry Show'' (1987) and David Sinclair in '' Casualty'' (1996–97). Since playing R ...

, Stephanie Charles, Jonathan Copestake,

Sue Devaney Sue Devaney (born Susan Barber, 2 July 1967) is an English actress. Her roles include Debbie Webster in ''Coronation Street'', Rita in ''Jonny Briggs'', Liz Harker in '' Casualty'' and Jane in '' Dinnerladies''. Career Devaney has played variou ...

, Joe Greco,

Katy Murphy Katy Murphy (born 8 December 1962) is a Scottish actress and teacher who has appeared in many television programs, most of them for the BBC and ITV. While most associated with television drama, she has worked across a variety of genres, includin ...

Ling Tai Ling Tai is a Chinese actress, remembered for being a presenter on the final year of children's programme '' Crackerjack!'' as well as playing Lily in the first series of children's comedy '' Spatz''. Early life In 1960, she was found abandon ...

and

Samantha Womack Samantha Zoe Womack (''née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom i ...

appeared as Spatz restaurant employees. Guest stars included

David Harewood David Harewood MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / ...

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...

Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Milton Wordsworth in The Story Makers and ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington which are both children's series. Also he played in ''Maid Maria ...

and Nicholas Parsons.

History

''Spatz'' was devised by Andrew Bethell as a drama for

teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

set in a 1930s themed burger bar, so named because spats might have been worn there. Alan Horrox at

bought the concept and title and passed them to Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman, already established at Thames Television as the writers of ''

T-Bag ''T-Bag'' is a British television series about the eponymous witch-like character and her assistant, T-Shirt. The series ran from 1985 to 1992 on ''Children's ITV''. Written by Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman, each series adopted a different tit ...

'' and creators of '' Mike and Angelo'', to develop ''Spatz'' as a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

. While updating the setting to a standard fast food restaurant, the name ''Spatz'' was retained, with the writers noting that it suggested spats or disagreements. Series 1 of ''Spatz'' was a co-production between

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

's YTV. From Series 2 onwards, ''Spatz'' was produced solely by Thames Television.

Old Skool Weekend

On 6 January 2013, an episode of ''Spatz'' from 1992 ("Tango", the third episode of Series 3) was repeated on CITV as part of its 30th anniversary.

Transmissions

References

External links

*
Glad You Remember - Spatz
1990 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series ITV children's television shows 1990s British teen sitcoms Fictional restaurants Television series by FremantleMedia Kids & Family Television shows set in London English-language television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series set in restaurants {{UK-tv-prog-stub