Gigglebiz

Gigglebiz is a children's television programme (a 'live action comedy sketch show'^[1]) made in the UK. There have been two series, first broadcast on CBeebies,^[2] the BBC's younger children's channel, in 2009 and 2011.

The programme's star and creator is Justin Fletcher, who plays the chief characters in all the comic sketches. Some sketches are filmed in the studio; one regular external location is Portmeirion, used for the town of Wiggyville where the Captain Adorable sketches are set. The sketches are interspersed with 'Giggle Box' - film segments of children viewers telling Justin jokes.

The first series was broadcast in September 2009 and comprised 25 15-minute episodes. The second series of 15 episodes was shown in January 2011 (with a Christmas Special on Wednesday 15 December 2010). The new series saw some characters disappear to make way for new ones.

Characters

All of these characters are played by Justin Fletcher

Justin Fletcher wrote Gigglebiz and played lots of characters.

• Anna Conda: a reptile expert, with thick glasses who can be a bit zany. (Series 1)
• Ann Teak : a very careless antiques expert who doesn't actually know much about antiques. (Series 1 - present)
• The Berrito Brothers: Three circus performers. The youngest always ruins the show in some way. (Series 1 - present)
• Packed Lunch Pete : who keeps trying to eat his packed lunch, but is prevented from doing so in any number of ways. (Series 1)
• Arthur Sleep : a regional newsreader with a taste for very bad jokes. (Series 1 - present)
• King Flannel : a naughty, childish monarch, who needs to be constantly kept in line by his butler. (Series 1 - present)
• Rapids Johnson : an explorer who never quite manages to spot the prey. (Series 1 - present)
• Chip Munk : pet shop worker who avoids selling the pets. (Series 1)
• D.I.Y. Dan : a clumsy and accident prone DIY enthusiast - a children's version of Reg Prescott. (Series 1, Series 3-present)
• Doctor Doctor : In which Justin tells doctor doctor jokes and he likes saying "Doctor Doctor will see you now, next!" (Series 2)
• Captain Adorable : a rather less than super superhero who tries to help the people of Wiggyville and his catchphrase is "Captain Adorable away!" (Series 1 - present)
• Gail Force : a weather presenter, sometimes a fool, constantly at the mercy of events, usually involving water - also works as an outside presenter to combine Arthur Sleep segments. She mainly does her reports at a fictional village called Little Bottom. (Series 1 - present)
• The Lost Pirate : who is always on the look out for his lost treasure and he has a parrot called Captain Squawk. (Series 1-2)
• Nana Knickerbocker : a pantomime dame who lives her entire life as if she were still in on stage, she lacks common sense in the modern world. (Series 1, Series 3 - present)
• Professor Muddles : a crazy scientist who gets a bit muddled. (Series 1 - present)
• Farmer Dung : an incomprehensible farmer and lacks common sense. (Series 1 - present)
• Humphrey : a man who obliviously causes trouble wherever he is. Drives a Morris Minor permanently hitched to a Teardrop trailer, and dotes on his dog Woody. (Series 1, Series 3-present)
• Dina Lady : a not-so-hot cook, with her assistant Tommy Tummy. (Series 1-2)
• Major Boogie : an old tin soldier who dances when no one is around. (Series 1-2)
• Simon Pieman : A delivery man who always has trouble delivering his pies. (Series 2)
• Postie : a hapless postman, always trying to deliver the mail on time. (Series 1)
• Milkshake Jake : zany, excitable sundae bar tender who unwittingly sprays his customers with the ingredients of their orders. (Series 1)
• Keith Fitt : a Geordie sports instructor whose "20 year" experience hasn't gained him any skills. (Series 2 - present)
• Opera Oliver : an opera singing waiter who always makes his customers leave. (Series 2)
• Rod and Annette Rod is a fisherman who catches something but loses it. Annette thinks he never catches anything and it makes him happy. (Series 2)
• Ug and Ig: Ug and Ig live in a rock-made cave, but Ug is always wrong with his ideas about Ig. (Series 3 - present)
• Storybook Stan: tells stories, but mostly makes mistakes. (Series 3 - present)
• Sue Keeper: a zookeeper who gets mixed up with different animals. (Series 3 - present)
• Will Singalot: a minstrel for Robin Hood who always spoils Robin's efforts to impress Marion. (Series 3 - present)
• Enrique Pasadoble a dancer who is not good at dancing. (Series 3 - present)
• The Red Hat Men: two men who keep doing a dance which the second one always messes up. (Series 3 - present)
• Will Barrell: a farmer who always gets animals everywhere. (Series 3 - present)

Additional Characters

• Botham: Captain Adorable's Butler who does most of the work for Captain Adorable, who always calls him "Bottom".
• Q.T: Captain Adorable's sidekick, an 11 year-old girl.
• Woody: Humphrey's dog.
• Tommy Tummy: (Richard Sutton) Dina Lady's assistant who knows more about cooking than Dina Lady.
• Giant Panda: The frequent and elusive subject of Rapids Johnson's search.
• King Flannel's Butler: Long suffering, and tries to keep King Flannel in line - not always successfully..
• Captain Cuddles: Superhero and saves the day in his little town, Daisytown. Could have saved the missing vase in Series 1.
• Raj, Farmer Dung's assistant. He is a Recurring character from Series 1 to 2, but then becomes regular in Series 3.
• Robin Hood, Will Singalot's best friend who Robin calls him his enemy.
• Marion, a maiden who Robin has lived all her life to marry.
• Little John, one of Will's best dancers.
• Will's Dancers, Will's backup singers and dancers.

LADY CHATALOT

Locations

• Little Bottom: A fictional village where Gail Force mainly presents weather and strange forecasts. The villagers of Little Bottom are often the victims of unusual outbreaks like fleas or sneezing. The village's railway station is unusually large with 47 platforms. (Series 2, Episode 8).
• Wiggyville: the home of Captain Adorable. Outside shots of the town show it to be Portmeirion in North Wales.

References