Your Mother Wouldn't Like It
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''Your Mother Wouldn't Like It'' was a children's sketch show broadcast on ITV between 1985 and 1988. A unique aspect of the show was that the performing cast were almost entirely children. The show was produced by Central Television at their Lenton Lane studios in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. The children used on the show were part of the
Central Junior Television Workshop The Television Workshop, formerly known as the Central Junior Television Workshop, is a British organisation that offers training for young people in performance skills for television, film, radio and theatre. Open to anybody between the ages of 7 ...
, an initiative founded by Central Television. The show won a
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
award but has never been issued on DVD.


Overview

It is thought that a TV producer asked members of the Central Junior Television Workshop what type of show they would like to make, and the majority decision was comedy. The first series of ''Your Mother Wouldn't Like It'' were mainly based on the conceit of a few of the children—Loaf, Lonnie, Cans, Mary Rose and Pam—running and writing the show itself, interspersed with sketches. The second and third series did away with most of this narrative, but retained Loaf as an essential linking device. Loaf (played by
Ian Kirkby Ian Kirkby is a British actor and writer. He is best known for his role as DI Harry Batt on the children's programme ''Dick & Dom in da Bungalow'' & '' Diddy TV'' and Sandy Toes on '' Swashbuckle.'' Additionally, he has appeared in Diddy Movies ...
) was a dogsbody character, with Cans (Tom Anderson) as the main boss to everyone. 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. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...
—named Tapeworm—would interrupt proceedings now and then with a sneery comment. In the last episode, it was revealed to the audience that Loaf was the
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
and voice behind Tapeworm, although the puppet's voice really belonged to performer
Karl Collins Karl Collins is a British actor. He is known for his television roles as Danny Glaze in ''The Bill'', Louis Loveday in ''Hollyoaks'', and Shaun Temple in ''Doctor Who''. He played Noah in the Apple TV series Trying, Lennox in the BBC Series Cham ...
throughout the show's life. The second series introduced Richard Allenson playing the part of Mr. Briefcase, the sneering man from the Ministry of Wholesome Television who repeatedly tried to close down the show and invariably ended up failing. Richard Allenson went on to create the character Professor McGinty, a time-travelling detective who tours the country with his mobile museum. Loaf's mother (also played by Kirkby) was added in the third series. This character would interact with Loaf and the presenters, and served tea to the actors during the teabreak that replaced the "Ad Attack" (parodies of then current commercials) segment from the first two series. Familiar concepts from anarchic children's programmes were present, such as slapstick humour featuring
custard pie A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture placed in an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, "custard pie" commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and some ...
s and
gunge Gunge as it is known in the United Kingdom, or slime as it is known in the United States and most English-speaking areas of the world, is a thick, gooey, yet runny substance with a consistency somewhere between that of paint and custard. It ha ...
as visual punchlines, and a healthy disrespect towards authority. Each episode of series two and three was hosted by a guest presenter from other children's programmes. These were all played by one of the young actors in the cast, and included parodies of
Timmy Mallett Timmy Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, author and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses and shirts, and a giant pink foam mallet (known as "Mallett's Mallet"), as we ...
,
Cannon and Ball Cannon and Ball were an English double act comprising Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball, who met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire. They started as singers working the pubs and clubs of Greater Manchester and switched ...
,
Grotbags ''Grotbags'' was a children's television programme which ran for three series between 1991 and 1993 about a fictional witch named Grotbags, a spin-off of multiple earlier Rod Hull and Emu shows. Very much in the mould of the traditional panto ...
,
Jimmy Cricket James Mulgrew (born 17 October 1945), known professionally as Jimmy Cricket, is a Northern Irish comedian. He first came to prominence as a comedian in the 1970s and has had his own shows on television and radio. Early life and career Cricket ...
,
Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...
,
Mr. T Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A ...
,
Bonnie Langford Bonita Melody Lysette Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series '' Just William''. In the 1980s, she played companio ...
and the presenters of '' Splash!.'' In one episode the guest presenter was
David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...
and he was played by a different child actor each time he appeared. There were roughly 100 members in the Central Junior Television Workshop, which was split into two branches, one based in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, the other based in Nottingham. With a wide range of talent, different kids could be focused on each week for their own comedy routines. Impressions were quite popular, as were parodies of television programmes of the time.


Regular sketches

Some of the regular sketches are detailed below.


Palace Hill

'' Palace Hill'' was a spoof of the BBC's long-running children's drama ''
Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
'' with characters based on members of the
British Royal Family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
. Introduced in the second series, it returned in series 3 under the title "Return to Palace Hill". This proved so popular that it became a spin-off show, also broadcast on ITV, running for three series, and targeted politicians such as
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
for satire. The spin-off show had a surreal, almost post-apocalyptic feel to it. The characters, such as school bully Nick Knuckle and his girlfriend Binky Spoon, spent their time roaming the seemingly-abandoned corridors of the school, often stopping to address the camera directly. The character based on Prince Charles had a doomed love affair with a girl from another planet, who eventually went back to her home planet. There was also a character who was a schoolboy from the WW2 era.


The Wimp Reports

The Wimp was a socially inadequate and unpopular character, played by
Simon Schatzberger Simon Schatzberger (born 1968) is an English actor, known for his role as David Klarfeld on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' and for appearing in the iconic "French Polisher" TV advert for Yellow Pages in the 1990s. Career Schatzberger has appea ...
, who would investigate a different youth trend each week, only to be humiliated by his peers. The sketches were written by
Sue Townsend Susan Lillian Townsend (; 2 April 194610 April 2014) was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing in secret from the a ...
, best known as author and creator of the ''
Adrian Mole Adrian Albert Mole is the fictional protagonist in a series of epistolary novels by English author Sue Townsend. The character first appeared (as "Nigel") as part of a comic diary featured in a short-lived arts magazine (called simply ''mag ...
'' books. Only appeared in series 1.


Twee Man, Disaster of the Universe

A parody of American action cartoon ''
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (often referred to simply as ''He-Man'') is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show was one of the most popular an ...
'' but played in 'real life' by costumed actors on the more realistic (and cheaper) setting of present-day Earth. As the title suggests, Twee-Man is a more cowardly and feeble version of ''
He-Man He-Man is a superhero and the protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books, and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman s ...
'' who would face his arch enemy Toilet Door (a parody of Skeletor) each time while a chorus (visible on screen) sings his name and various variations depending upon the situation.


Sharon, Karen, Darrin and Gary

Four friends meet in a different location each time and talk about life, leading to various misunderstanding. Gary never interacts with the others, but listens to his headphones instead. A muffled version of the
Bucks Fizz Bucks Fizz were an English pop group, that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and c ...
song ''
The Land of Make Believe "The Land of Make Believe" is a 1981 single by British band Bucks Fizz. It reached No.1 in the UK in early 1982 - the second single by the band to do so. The song was produced by Andy Hill with music by Hill and lyrics by ex-King Crimson membe ...
'' can usually be heard coming from Gary's headphones. Only appeared in series 2.


Cast

Among the cast were Steven Ryde, who went on to produce ''
Dick and Dom in da Bungalow ''Dick & Dom in da Bungalow'' is a British children's television series presented by the duo Dick and Dom ( Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood). The series was broadcast on weekend mornings for five series on the CBBC Channel, BBC One and BBC Tw ...
'' for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, Ian Kirkby, who also performed on ''Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'', and Karen Murden, who went on to play Beverly Grice in the ITV soap opera ''
Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...
''. Tayla Goodman went on to write the
rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...
''Virus'', which had its world premiere at Nottingham's Theatre Royal, and is currently writing a film script, ''The Edge Of Goodbye'', with her business partner
Peter Everett Peter Cyril Everett is an Australian television host. He is probably best known for hosting the Australian adaptation of cook show ''Ready Steady Cook'', which aired on Network Ten. He is known for appearing on ''Changing Rooms'' which aired ...
.


Transmission guide

*Series 1: 7 editions from 8 November 1985 – 20 December 1985 *Series 2: 7 editions from 22 August 1986 – 3 October 1986 *Series 3: 7 editions from 18 November 1987 – 13 January 1988


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 0159228 1985 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series BAFTA winners (television series) British television shows featuring puppetry British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows ITV sketch shows Television series featuring gunge Television shows produced by Central Independent Television