Jigsaw (British TV series)

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This article is about the children's BBC puzzle show. For the unrelated 1987 quiz show, see .

Jigsaw
GenreChildren's Game show
Created byClive Doig
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series6
No. of episodes50
Production
Running time25 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC1
Picture format4:3
Original release16 July 1979 (1979-07-16) –
15 June 1984 (1984-06-15) (re-runs aired until 13th June 1985)
Chronology
Related showsSee It Saw It

Jigsaw is a BBC 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, with re-runs continued to air until 13th June 1985.[1]

Written and directed by Clive Doig, the show was presented by mime artist , Janet Ellis and "Jigg" - a giant floating orange jigsaw piece, voiced by John Leeson.

Ellis left in 1983 to become a Blue Peter presenter, at which point she was replaced by Dot, played by .

Featured supporting cast also included Paul Clayton, Biggum the giant and Wilf Lunn who appeared as a mad inventor. Other unusual characters included Pterry, a puppet Pterodactyl (operated by Joe Barton), Cid Sleuth (played by David Cleveland), a Sherlock Holmes-looking bumbling detective plagued by a mysterious burglar (David Wyatt), Hector The Hedgehog, Dot (played by Julia Binsted) - an anthropomorphism of the "cursor dot" (the dot made by the raster-scanning beam in the analogue CRT television sets of the time), the O-Men (Sylvester McCoy and David Rappaport), 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) and debuting in Series 2, Mr. Noseybonk, (also known as Noseybonk) 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 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.

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.

Noseybonk's theme was actually named "A Hippo Called Hubert," composed by Joe Griffiths, the theme was also used in Kentucky Fried Chicken's Charlie Chickenhawk and Frederick Fox advertising from Australia in 1984 until 1987.

Transmissions[]

Series Episodes Start date End date
1 6 16 July 1979[2] 20 August 1979[3]
2 6 20 May 1980[4] 24 June 1980[5]
3 13 21 September 1981[6] 14 December 1981[7]
4 7 10 January 1983[8] 21 February 1983[9]
5 6 17 January 1984[10] 21 February 1984[11]
6 12 5 April 1984[12] 15 June 1984[13]

References[]

  1. ^ "The last re-run of Jigsaw aired on BBC One on 13th June 1985".
  2. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 16 July 1979". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 20 August 1979". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 20 May 1980". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 20 May 1980". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 21 September 1981". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 14 December 1981". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 10 January 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 21 February 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 17 January 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 21 February 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 5 April 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Jigsaw - BBC One London - 15 June 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 15 July 2019.

External links[]

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