Richard Wattis: 1912 - 1975

Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 and was an English character actor.

Richard attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut at Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage appearances in the West End. His first appearance in a film was A Yank at Oxford in 1938, but war service interrupted his career as an actor. Wattis served as a Second Lieutenant with the Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at Station V1 during World War 2.

He is best known for his appearances in British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s, typically as the "Man from the Ministry" or similar character, with trademark thick-rimmed round spectacles.

This included the St Trinian's films (The Belles of St Trinian's, Blue Murder at St Trinian's and The Grteat St Trinain's Train Robbery), as "Manton Bassett", a Civil Servant who was the Deputy Director of Schools in the Ministry of Education, where he was often seen frowning and expressing indignation at the outrageous behaviour of other characters.

Other films included Hay Fever, Hobson's Choice, Chitty, Chitty,Bang, Bang, Carry On Spying, The Colditz Story, Dentist on the Job, Very Important Person, The Happiest Days of your Life and even The Longest Day, among many others.

Richard Wattis also appeared on television, including a long-running role opposite Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques in Sykes as their next-door neighbour, and appearances in Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Goodies, Hancock's Half Hour and Father Dear Father. In 1957-1958, he appeared as Peter Jamison in three episodes of an American Sitcom filmed in England, Dick and the Duchess, starring Patrick O'Neal and Hazel Court.

Richard was a gay man in an era when this was a taboo subject. He died of a heart attack in a Kensington restaurant in 1975 aged 62 years, in the middle of his favourite meal and claret.

The Doctor Series - Doctor In The House (1969)

Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series (including sequels), based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.

The first five series (Doctor in the House, Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge, Doctor at Sea and Doctor on the Go), were produced by London Weekend Television between 1969 and 1977.

The series (Doctor Down Under), which was filmed and based in Australia, was produced by Australia's Seven Network in 1979-80.

The final series (Doctor at the Top) was produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1991.

The same theme music was played for all of the "Doctor" television series, including the Australian series Doctor Down Under.

Michael Upton (Barry Evans), an easy-going, serious and somewhat anxious son of a doctor who is essentially following in his father's footsteps.

Duncan Waring (Robin Nedwell), Michael's best friend and roommate. He is just as bright as Upton, but far less serious in his studies, although he generally does well. After Barry Evans left the show, Nedwell returned as Waring to become the focus of the show.

Paul Collier (George Layton), a less competent student and friend of Upton and Waring.

Dick Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies), a thirtyish student who deliberately fails his courses in order to take advantage of his late grandmother's will, which bequeathed him a large sum of money for each year he is in medical school.

Lawrence Bingham (Richard O'Sullivan), a brilliant, but arrogant and irritating doctor who believes he is the best of all possible doctors. He marries the equally obnoxious Dr. Mary Parsons (Helen Fraser) in the series Doctor in Charge. His need to continually impress her is the source of much comedy.

The main antagonist is the famous, well-respected and ill-tempered surgeon Professor Geoffrey Loftus (Ernest Clark). Most of the plot lines revolve around the students' attempts to meet his demanding expectations.

Unusually for a British situation comedy series Doctor in the House did not depend on a single writer or partnership to write the scripts. The writers who worked on the series are often better known for their other work. Monty Python's Graham Chapman and John Cleese and The Goodies Graham Garden and Bill Oddie were among the regular writers. Chapman and Garden both trained as doctors. Graeme Garden also appeared as a "Television Presenter" in the episode "Doctor on the Box".

While keeping mostly to the conventions of the situation comedy genre, the shows occasionally stretched the boundaries of what was seen on television. One script by Cleese called for Michael Upton to rip away a woman's dress in a single movement (she was hiding a key he needed in her cleavage). A script by Garden and Oddie included a scene played out using cartoon drawings of the performers, in the style of a teenage romance magazine, while the actors voiced their lines.

Is this the Pitts for Mission Impossible?

Brad Pitt has confirmed he is set to replace Tom Cruise in the next Mission Impossible film. Tom has played secret agent Ethan Hunt in four big screen spin-offs of the cult TV series, the latest of which Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is due out later this year, but Brad revealed in Cannes this week he is taking on the action role.

He said: "Don't count me out of Mission Impossible, I'll be there." The Hollywood heartthrob was at the French film festival to promote his new movie, The Tree Of Life which directed by Terrence Malick and is in the running for the coveted Palme d'Or.

Brad said he had started thinking about the direction of his career about 10 years ago and realised his favourite films "weren't the big commercial things, they were things that had a little more depth, that were asking bigger questions or really, really funny." But he added: "The point is to keep messing it up, I figure I've only got so many more things that I'll get to do and I want to make sure it has some worth for me and have some work out there instead of some that's more disposable."

When a finger of Fudge was just enough!

Who can forget this cracking advert from the 1980s of the school kids trying to having a conker fight? I just love the way the other lad screws his face up at the end of this advert with nothing but sheer frustration.

A finger o` Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat,
A finger o` Fudge is just enough until it`s time to eat,
It`s full of Cadbury`s goodness, and very small and neat,
A finger o` Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat`

Zap, Pow, Kerpunch! Remembering Batman: 1966 - 1968

Batman’ was one of the most popular television series of the Sixties, a tongue-in-the-cheek treatment of the adventures of a costumed superhero who had made his debut in Detective Comics in 1939 and had previously been the subject of two Columbia Pictures’ series, ‘Batman’ and ‘Batman and Robin.’

ABC television was interested in featuring a series based on a comic strip character in their 7.30 pm slot. They’d drawn up a list of five possible choices, based on popularity: Dick Tracy, Superman, Batman, The Green Hornet and Little Orphan Annie. As the rights to the first two character on the list weren’t available, they decided to go ahead with a ‘Batman’ project.

The Batman character was originally created for detective Comics in 1939 by Bob Kane. Produced by American network ABC, the first television series exploded on to prime time television on January 12th 1966 after a multi-million dollar advertising campaign. The show was originally transmitted twice a week, on consecutive nights, with the first night always leaving either or both the Dynamic Duo in mortal danger at the hands of one of their outrageous arch-enemies. This was a ploy also used in the comic book version, the plot of which was, in nearly all ways, followed closely by the TV programme creators......

Criminals had murdered teenage Bruce Wayne's parents, leaving him the sole beneficiary of a massive fortune which he used, over time, to create high-tech crime-fighting gadgetry, such as the implements contained in the famous 'utility belt', allowing him to adopt the alter-ego of the mysterious caped crusader, the Batman, whilst retaining the outward appearance of a casual rich 'playboy'. His secret base, the Bat Cave, was located underground beneath his opulent mansion Wayne Manor, 14 miles outside Gotham City, and was reached by means of the Bat-poles.

Batman was a 1960s American television series, based on the DC Comic of the same name. It starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) network for two and a half seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968. The show was aired twice weekly for its first two seasons, resulting in the production of a total of 120 episodes.

In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the television rights to the Comic strip Batman and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like Adventures of Batman and The Lone Ranger, to air on CBS on Saturday mornings. Former American football linebacker and actor Mike Henry was set to star as Batman.

Reportedly, DC Comics commissioned publicity photos of Henry in a Batman costume. Around this same time, the Playboy Club in Chicago was screening the Batmanserials (1943's Batman and 1949's Batman and Robin) on Saturday nights. It became very popular. East coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in his childhood, attended one of these parties at the Playboy Club and was impressed with the reaction the serials were eliciting. He contacted ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar J.Scherick, who were already considering developing a television series based on a comic strip action hero, to suggest a prime time Batman series in the hip and fun style of The Man form U.N.C.L.E. .When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC Comics quickly reobtained rights and made the deal with ABC, who farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series.

The typical story began with a villain (often one of a short list of recurring villains) committing a crime, such as stealing a fabulous gem or taking over Gotham City. This was followed by a scene inside Commisioner Grodan's office, where he and Chief O'Hara would deduce which villain was responsible. Commissioner Gordon would press a button on the Batphone, a bright red telephone located on a pedestal in his office. The scene would then cut to stately Wayne Manor where Alfred (the butler) would answer the Batphone, which sat like a normal everyday telephone on the desk in Bruce Wayne's study. Frequently, Wayne and his ward, Dick Grayson, would be found talking with Dick's Aunt Harriet Cooper, who was completely unaware of Bruce's and Dick's secret identities. Alfred would discreetly interrupt so they could excuse themselves to go to the Batphone. Upon learning which criminal he would face, Wayne would push a button concealed within a bust of Shakespeare that stood on his desk. This would cause a bookcase to slide back and reveal two Fireman's poles. "To the Batpoles!" Wayne would exclaim, and he and Grayson would slide down to the Batcave, activating an unseen mechanism on the way that dressed them as their alter egos. The title sequence often began at this point.

Similar in style and content to the 1940s serials, Batman and Robin would arrive in the Batcave in full costume and jump into the Batmobile, with Batman in the driver's seat. Robin would say, "Atomic batteries to power...turbines to speed." Batman would respond, "Roger, ready to move out," and the two would drive out of the cave at high speed. As the Batmobile approached the mouth of the cave (actually a tunnel entrance in Los Angeles's Bronson Canyon) a hinged barrier dropped down to allow the car to exit onto the road. Scenes of Batman and Robin sliding down the Batpoles in the Batcave, to the arrival at Commissioner Gordon's building in the Batmobile (while the episode credits are shown), are reused footage that is used in nearly all part-one and single episodes.

After arriving at Commissioner Gordon's office, the initial discussion of the crime usually led to Batman and Robin conducting their investigation alone. This investigation usually resulted in a meeting with the villain, with the heroes getting involved in a fight and the villain getting away, leaving a series of unlikely clues for the two to investigate. Later, they would face the villain again, and he or she would capture one or both of the heroes and place them in a death trap with a cliffhanger ending which was usually resolved in the first few minutes of the next episode.

Near the end of the third season, ABC planned to cut the budget even further by eliminating Robin and Chief O'Hara, and making Bat girl Batman's full-time partner. Both Dozier and West were against this idea, and ABC cancelled the show. Weeks later, NBC offered to pick the show up for a fourth season and even restore it to its original twice-a-week format, if the sets were still available for use. However, Fox had already demolished the sets a week before. NBC had no interest in paying the $800,000 for the rebuild, so the offer was withdrawn.

The American series ‘Laugh-In’, which made its debut on the NBC network in 1968 (later aired in the UK on BBC2), was one of the most innovative comedy programmes to be screened up to that date. It was a fast-paced show which relied heavily on electronic editing to maintain the snappy quality. The prime-time show was hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was replete with punch-lines, one-liner jokes, slogans and tightly-edited routines.

British actress Judy Carne became known as the ‘Sock-it-to-me girl’, as she appeared with the familiar phrase ‘sock-it-to-me’, which led her to be hit in the face by water from a bucket or a custard pie. Another ‘Laugh-In’ girl was Goldie Hawn, who wore tiny bikinis decorated with slogans. Other regulars included Henry Gibson, Joanne Worley and Ruth Buzzi.

Gary Owens was the announcer, opening the show in front of a large mike, with a hand cupped over his ear, announcing, “This is beautiful downtown Burbank,’ a reference to the area where NBS Studios was located. Pigmeat Markham appeared in a judge’s wig to repeat the phrase “Here come de judge” and Lily Tomlin played Ernestine, the switchboard operator, whose catch-phrase was “Is this the party to whom I am speaking?” A heavily-accented Arte Johnson peeked out from plant fronds, wearing a German helmet, quoting lines such as “Verrry interesting…but stupid!” Other catch-phrases included Goldie Hawn saying, “I forgot the question' and Dick Martin saying “I’ll drink to that”, or “You bet your sweet bippy!”

The show always closed with the same signing-off routine, Dan Rowan saying “Say goodnight, Dick” and Martin saying, “Goodnight, Dick.” In between there were other regular words and phrases such as “Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls” and “Walnuttos.” Regular routines included a cocktail party scene, a joke wall in which the cast opened and shut windows while quoting one-liners and the presentation of a ‘Fickly Finger of Fate’ award.

A host of celebrities popped up to quote one-liners including Mae West, Jack Lemmon, Kirk Douglas and Jimmy Durante. John Wayne once appeared saying, “Well, I don’t think that is funny” and Sammy Davis Jr was featured several times... but each time he tried to sing he disappeared through a trap door. Even President Richard Nixon appeared on one show, saying “Sock-it-to-me.” The show was also controversial and one item in its ‘News of the Future’ slot caused the switchboard to be inundated with complaints. The item proclaimed: “Dateline the Vatican, 1988 – With marriage in the church now an accepted practice, the Archbishop and his lovely bride, the former sister Mary Catherine, both announced that this time it’s for keeps – if only for the sake of the children.”
‘Laugh-In’ ran for five years, ending its run in 1973. (The theme tune to the show was 'Inquisitive Tango')

Retro 60s - The Toys!

Toys from the sixties were very much simpler than today. There was no electronics; the most sophisticated products were probably model racing cars. The choice of toys for children in the 60s was influenced by the times. Popular subjects television programmes and cinematic films were well represented in children's toys. More basic games, such as darts and table tennis were popular. This was also the era of Airfix models and cap guns.

The picture above is a classic selection of toys from the 60s. The influence of the times can be seen in the toys people bought for children in the sixties. There are from top to bottom and left to right:

• A slide projector, echoing the adult liking for slide film in the 60s;
• Model aircraft kits;
• Water colour paints;
• Toy gun and holster set, the popularity of Westerns as a film genre made this a favourite boy's toy;
• A building set for toddlers, which resembles sixties tower blocks;
• A plastic tea set in contemporary style;
• Xylophone;
• A compendium of games;
• A table tennis set;
• A learn and play set for toddlers;
• A dart board;
• A western style toy rifle;
• A cricket bat and stumps;
• A model car racing circuit - still popular today and
• A model railway set for toddlers

Most are very much a product of their times. The model cars have continue to have alluring appeal Scalectrix recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Is it still popular with children, or are fathers just recalling their youth?

This selection of boy's and girl's bikes and a pedal car are also from the sixties. The bikes are very simple models without gears. The bike in the foreground has very dated leaver brakes. The other two bikes have cable brakes. Styling is based on adult bikes of the era, which was derived from the two-tone look of sixties cars. Note the two tone saddles and paintwork. The tyres are either white, or white-walled; again derived from automotive styling. The pedal car is clearly inspired by the Z-Cars TV programme. It also has white walled tyres.

Simon Says!....

The Milton Bradley Simon game was available in the shops from 1978. It was MB's second electronic game. Their MB Logic 5 was launched a year earlier in 1977. Logic 5 resembled a calculator and presented the user with a numerical sequence he had to guess.

Simon's bright four colour layout made it stand out in toyshops and it was a big seller. The game itself was fairly simple. You had to follow a sequence of colour combinations selected by the game's computer. There were four skill levels, thus giving it the addictive quality of all computer games: the challenge to rise to the next level.

Simon was soon joined by a pocket version, Pocket Simon and a multi player version, Super Simon. The pocket version was also known as Mini Senso and Pocket Senso.

Yes folks, it's time to pay homage to the saturday morning legend that was TISWAS. Tiswas was a Saturday morning children's British Television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network LTD.

It was created by ATV Continuity Announcer Peter Tomlinson (later to become a regular presenter on the show) following a test period in 1973 when he tried out a few competitions and daft stuff between the programmes. It had a fanatical following among students and parents.

The word 'tiswas' means a state of confusion or commotion, but the show's name 'officially' stood for "Today Is Saturday, Watch And Smile

Tiswas began life as a 'links' strand between many 'filler' programmes, such as cartoons and old films. The popularity of the presenters' links soon eclipsed the staple diet of filler.

It was originally produced as a Midlands regional programme by ATV and was first broadcast live on 5 January 1974. The then federal structure of ITV, with its independent regional companies, meant that not all of these operations broadcast the show when it became available for networked transmission. Over a period of time, most ITV regions did, with Granada Television and Southern Television being the last in 1979. Tyne Tees finally decided to take Tiswas for its final series in 1981. The smallest broadcaster in the network, Channel Television, did not carry the programme.

(Sally James with Jeremy Beadle way back in 1982)

Most famously hosted by Chris Tarrant between 1974 and 1981, and later Sally James, it also featured the young Lenny Henry and occasionally Jim Davidson together with Bob Carolgees and his puppet, Spit the Dog. John Gorman, former member of 1960s cult band The Scaffold, was also in regular attendance. On the programme, Birmingham folk-singer and comedian Jasper Carrott was to introduce the nation to the Dying Fly Dance and also to many local hospital casualty wards as the dance at one point soared high in the RoSPA list of common causes of household injury. Like its cleaner BBC counterpart, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, it had a running order but no script (with the exception of some specific sketches). The programme was broadcast from Studio 3 at ATV Centre in Birmingham; this was the weekday home for the company's regional news magazine, ATV Today.

The show was a stitch-together of competitions, film clips and pop promos, just about held together by sketches and links from the cast. The show also regularly featured spoofs of BBC children's programming.

A feature of Tiswas was The Cage wherein initially the child audience, and later their fathers, were confined and periodically doused in water (one spin-off of the series was the hit The Bucket of Water Song, performed by the Four Bucketeers), whilst the series was also frequently visited by the Phantom Flan Flinger, who would throw flans around the studio at all and sundry. Both Tarrant and the Flan Flinger would take great delight in trying to 'flan' cameramen who would go to great lengths to avoid being hit.

The original logo features the word "TISWAS" in chunky letters. A later version of this logo featured a circle going round the edge with "Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile" embossed upon it. The classic 'Zig-zag' logo appeared in 1977 designed by Stuart Kettle - this initially featured a mechanical bird flying above it, but later, Chris Wroe (who drew all of the classic caricatures of the Tiswas team) replaced this with a drawing of the Phantom Flan Flinger.

The first series was intended to be eleven episodes, purely acting as links between the usual staple fillers of old films and cartoons that ATV would transmit on Saturday mornings. Presented by Chris Tarrant and John Asher from just a desk in a continuity studio, the pair had to rely on ad-libs and jokes sent in by viewers. Within a few weeks, the show was moved to studio 3 at ATV Centre (a studio usually reserved for amongst other programmes, the news magazine programme, ATV Today) from which Tiswas was produced for the majority of its run.

Due to an industrial dispute by technicians at Associated Television, this initial run was only nine programmes in all, but was so well received that a second series was commissioned.

Billed in TV Times as "Today Is Saturday or the Tis-was Show", the title sequence features both "Today Is Saturday" and the original "Tiswas" chunky letters logo, shown over a background very similar to that of The Golden Shot. The sequence featured clips from various films and Disney cartoons, backed by a funky jazz number known as "Atomic Butterfly" (which also seems to have been used for Sports Arena, an HTV Wales sports programme in the early 70s).

Series 2 of Tiswas began from late 1974, and spanned almost every Saturday in 1975, finishing in early 1976. The presenting team was doubled to four presenters, and these were usually culled from ATV's presentation department. Chris Tarrant and John Asher retained their roles as the main presenters, although John would leave during this series. From the ranks at ATV, other regular presenters were established, notably sports reporter Trevor East (later director of sport at Setanta Sports) and announcer Peter Tomlinson (later to become managing director of Saga Radio West Midlands and High Sheriff of the West Midlands).

Producer Peter Harris would leave the show in the summer to help produce another cult TV success - The Muppet Show, at ATV's London-orientated operation in Elstree.

Running from late 1976 to early 1977, Chris Tarrant, Peter Tomlinson and Trevor East were the main presenters. Almost all these shows were produced by Sid Kilbey. The 2 April 1977 show was a landmark edition, as part of the programme was broadcast outside the Midlands for the first time, on HTV Cymru Wales and HTV West, filling up their 'round-the-regions' compilation of Saturday morning programmes called Ten On Saturday. The series, running from late 1977 to early 1978, marked an end to the provincial macro-budget shows of the previous shows, as the initial edition of this series began with some significant changes. Sally James was drafted in as the series' first regular female presenter. She had been the presenter of a regional Saturday morning show in London called Saturday Scene, produced by LWT. Comedian Jim Davidson was intended to be a regular presenter, but left after only a few editions, although he would return for cameo appearances. Peter Tomlinson was axed as a regular, which came as a surprise to him.

Chris Tarrant was still retained as the anchor presenter, and behind the scenes was annoyed with the changes, particularly the inclusion of a woman as presenter. However, he later retracted this viewpoint, having witnessed the progress Tiswas had made with Sally's contribution.

One significant change almost never happened. ATV management were displeased with the visual slapstick element - the hurling of custard pies and water. They believed this was setting a bad example to the young viewers. Newly-drafted producer/director Glyn Edwards managed to retain this vital, messy element by drawing on his experience as a Punch & Judy puppeteer to create a 'villain' character called 'The Phantom Flan Flinger', who would be the black-clad masked nemesis of the presenting team, and the main instigator of pie-throwing chaos. The "phantom" was later revealed to be Ben Mills, a taxi driver from Cheswick Green, Solihull.

Series 5 ran from late 1978 to early 1979. John Gorman became a regular performer from November onwards. Bob Carolgees made his debut in early 1979, having been told to go on the programme by Irish comic Frank Carson. Carolgees appeared again two weeks later, and Chris was so pleased with his contribution that he decided to make a regular fixture out of Bob. Lenny Henry made sporadic appearances throughout this series, but was not established as a regular. Child performer Paul Hardin increased his visits to the studios, and could well be considered as a series 5 team member, likewise Sylvester McCoy (who added an "r" to his first name later in his career) who performed surreal comic interludes.

ITV had been off the air across the nation since August due to a massive strike by technicians. Tiswas returned to the screens in November 1979 for its sixth series, as part of ITV's comeback; this was directly referenced in the first edition of the new series, when the "Welcome Home To ITV" jingle was played to usher the programme in and out of the advert breaks, albeit replacing the vocals by the Mike Sammes Singers with a group of deliberately out-of-tune children. Many ITV regions took the programme for the first time, establishing the show strongly in the nation's consciousness. London-based viewers tended to complain to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) about some of the edgier moments the show had.

With an almost national audience, the show became inclusive of its increased viewership by making a bigger role out of specially invited viewer performances. Many of these were children who sang songs or performed dance routines. Chris Tarrant, now producer as well as presenter, found most of these contributions to be of little value, until he came across a unique act by a five year old boy called Matthew Butler. Encouraged by his Tiswas-obsessed mother, Matthew auditioned for the series wearing a rabbit costume and sang the song 'Bright Eyes' made famous by the animated film Watership Down, although his own singing ability was rather poor. Chris found this so amusing that he arranged for him to appear on the following Tiswas, as well as many subsequent editions. Also appearing a number of times in this series was Norman Collier, the Yorkshire comedian best known for his broken microphone routine and chicken impressions.

By Series 7, ATV had increased the budget for Tiswas, and Chris Tarrant had more of a say in the programme's production than ever before. A proper theme tune was created for it, and the studio set was based around ATV cartoonist Chris Wroe's caricatures of the presenting team. This series can be considered as the definitive series, due to the material drawn from this era that usually gets an airing on documentaries and clips shows when Tiswas is the subject. In addition, the three video compilations that have been released for sale have been packaged around a seventh series theme, with the bulk of the clips also being from this age.

Midway through this series, Chris Tarrant decided to leave upon the series' conclusion. Also leaving him, on the final edition of series 7, were Bob Carolgees, Lenny Henry and John Gorman. They had decamped to start work on O.T.T., a late night version of Tiswas intended for an adult audience, which would debut in 1982. The only regular Tiswas presenter left was Sally James, who stayed on for series 8.

The last series of Tiswas, beginning in September 1981, and ending in April 1982, had its format heavily tinkered with by ATV management. They believed that the adult audience should be avid viewers of Chris' 'late-night Tiswas', and that Tiswas itself should focus on its child audience. With this well-intended alteration, the original standard of Tiswas, with its adult undertones, deteriorated.

The new presenting team consisted of Midlands DJ Gordon Astley, former Darts frontman Den Hegarty and comic impressionist Fogwell Flax. Veteran Tiswas presenter Sally James stayed on and became the series' Music Editor, but decided to leave towards the series' end. This was likely to be one of the main factors in Central Television's decision not to bring the programme back for a ninth series. Semi-regulars were dwarf actor David Rappaport who played characters such as 'Green Nigel' (in a pastiche of BBC programme Blue Peter) and the Fonz-like 'Shades', Emil Wolk and puppeteer Trevor James with a giant parrot, presumably in a way to fill the void left by Bob Carolgees. One Nine for Santa, was released by Fogwell Flax & the Anklebiters and featured on the show during December 1981. At the end of 1981, a restructure of ITV's broadcast franchises saw ATV win back the franchise for the Midlands on condition of changes in management, regional output and branding. The first part of the final series was therefore produced by ATV and the second part by Central Independent Television.

The decision by TVS, the new ITV station in the south and south east of England, to drop the Central-produced half of the last series in favour of their own Saturday morning programme No 73 saw fans of Tiswas picket outside their Southampton Studios studios. The eighth series was broadcast on TVS upon the end of No 73;s first series. During its ATV days, the legendary chairman of ATV Lew Grade, is said to have taken a personal dislike to the show but was persuaded to let it continue, even arguing in its defence to criticism from the IBA). It was believed that the new management at Central frowned upon the anarchy of Tiswas (and the common popularity of another production, the Soap Opera Crossroads) and in a desire to make the station more upmarket than its previous incarnation as the populist ATV, took the evidence of declining audiences for the new format to axe Tiswas after series 8.