Justin Fletcher

For the ice hockey player, see Justin Fletcher (ice hockey).
Justin Fletcher
MBE
Born (1970-06-15) 15 June 1970
Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
Occupation Comedian
Actor
Presenter
Voice actor
Singer
Notable work Fun Song Factory
Tweenies
Tikkabilla
Something Special
Shaun the Sheep
Television See Below.

Justin Fletcher, MBE (born 15 June 1970 in Reading, Berkshire)[1] is an English children's television personality in the United Kingdom.

Fletcher is most associated as a presenter and actor on the BBC pre-school television channel CBeebies,[2] speaking and performing in various, often self-created, roles.

Biography

Born in Reading, Berkshire, he is the son of songwriter Guy Fletcher. Justin has 1 brother and 3 sisters.[3]

Career

While studying drama at the Guildford School of Acting, in his final year he started to watch regularly Phillip Schofield in the BBC1 broom cupboard with Gordon the Gopher, and decided that a career in children's television was for him.[4]

Having sketched out various comedic characters, he put together a show reel called Justin Time, which encompassed two different characters: Anna Conda, a myopic reptile house warden; and Arthur Sleep, a regional newsreader who has difficulty staying awake and can sleep anywhere no matter what.[4] Both characters would later be used for his CBeebies show Gigglebiz.[4] Sent to various broadcasters and production companies his first show after graduation was Fun Song Factory for CITV, working with Dave Benson Philips.[5]

BBC and CBeebies

He was part of the Tikkabilla programme, out of which was spun Higgledy House, a slapstick comedy for children with Sarah-Jane Honeywell, which progressed to the very popular Mr Tumble. Justin Fletcher has also voiced the characters of Doodles and Jake in Tweenies, Miguel in Finley the Fire Engine, Sleeping Bear and Growling Tiger in CBeebies' Boo!, with additional voices in Todd World, Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time. In 2006 Fletcher became a presenter on CBeebies but left in 2007, returning in 2012 to fill in for Andy Day while he was working on a TV series called Andy's wild Adventures.

Through his own production company, Fletcher developed Something Special, which he presents while signing in Makaton, a type of sign language.[6] In November 2008, CBeebies aired 3 different pilots made by Fletcher, with the possibility of one of them becoming a full-time series. They were called Humphrey the Painter, Gigglebiz and Captain Adorable. In January 2009, an announcement by CBeebies was made that Gigglebiz would become the regular show, starting in September 2009, with the Humphrey and Captain Adorable characters being included, which was now a series of character-based comedy sketches linked by jokes told by children.[4][7]

His voice over work for CBBC includes voicing Harold from Thomas the Tank Engine, which he has performed on BBC Radio 4, arena tour and pantomime. Fletcher is a relief continuity presenter for CBeebies' presentation links and regularly performed on the CBeebies radio station on BBC Radio 7 until its change to BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011.

Justin also appears as himself along with a range of animated characters in the 'bee bright' series of award-winning educational DVDs.

Justin also occasionally appears in a show called The Hollies School.

Justin's House

In October 2011, CBeebies began broadcasting "Justin's House" starring Justin with Steven Kynman[8] as "Robert the Robot" and Jane Deane as "Dee Livery".[9] The show is based in Justin's fictional house, and recorded live in front of a studio audience at the Studios, MediaCityUK, operated by Media City Studios Limited. The show was later renewed for a second series, with some changes - including having a party theme, dropping Dee Livery, and some set redesign. Justin's House is filmed in the same studio as Match of the Day

Ratings

Episode ratings from BARB.[10]

Episode no. Airdate Total viewers Share CBeebies weekly ranking
1
8 October 2011
675,000
7.1%
2
2
9 October 2011
716,000
7.8%
1
3
15 October 2011
535,000
6.0%
5
4
16 October 2011
744,000
7.8%
1
5
22 October 2011
570,000
6.8%
5
6
23 October 2011
715,000
6.3%
1
7
29 October 2011
634,000
4.2%
1
8
30 October 2011
497,000
8.0%
5
9
5 November 2011
464,000
5.3%
5
10
6 November 2011
527,000
5.7%
1
11
12 November 2011
526,000
6.7%
6
12
13 November 2011
Under 485,000
3.3%
Outside Top 10
13
19 November 2011
537,000
6.5%
4
14
20 November 2011
Under 497,000
5.8%
Outside Top 10
15
26 November 2011
Under 461,000
5.5%
Outside Top 10
16
27 November 2011
489,000
5.4%
4
17
3 December 2011
Under 486,000
6.1%
Outside Top 10
18
4 December 2011
510,000
4.0%
5
19
10 December 2011
409,000
6.3%
3
20
11 December 2011
572,000
6.1%
1
23
15 December 2011
800,000
6.4%
2
21
17 December 2011
Under 581,000
6.3%
Outside Top 10
22
18 December 2011
Under 581,000
3.3%
Outside Top 10

Other work

Starting in 1998 Fletcher presented the Fun Song Factory for the GMTV series for three years as his first full-time presenting role.

He owns a production company, Scrumptious House, which has released a DVD called Let's Sing Nursery Rhymes with Justin Fletcher. He also appears in a series of popular educational pre-school DVD's called Bee Bright.[11]

Fletcher voices for the CITV channel programme Jim Jam and Sunny, where he is the voice of both Jim Jam and Slim the cowardly giraffe.

His voice appears on the VTech Alphabet Desk, Turn and Learn Driver and the Bob the Builder phone, the children's train ride at Animal Farm Country Park near Burnham-on-Sea, a number of Crick Software titles.[12]

From December 2009-January 2010, Justin Fletcher played the character Buttons in Cinderella at the Capitol Theatre in Horsham, West Sussex.[13] From December 2010-January 2011, he played the character Josh the Jester in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at The Hexagon theatre in Reading, Berkshire.[14] From December 2011 - January 2012, Justin played the character Wishy Washy in the pantomime Aladdin at the Hexagon theatre in Reading.[15]

He also attends festivals such as Camp Bestival in Dorset to entertain children. Fletcher is a patron for Bournemouth-based performing arts school Stagewise school.

His debut album 'Hands Up the Album' reached number 16 in the UK Albums Chart on 11 March 2012. In March 2013 he released his second album entitled 'Best Friends'.In January 2015 he released his third album called 'Just Party'

On 12 September 2015 he was on Pointless Celebrities, and got knocked out on the second round

Justin presents a daily radio show on Fun Kids weekdays from 9am to 10am called Justin's Word.

Awards

Orders of Chivalry

3,575 people signed a petition calling on the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to give Justin an OBE.

The petition states: "Justin Fletcher is a communication genius. He both entertains and educates our children and does this with intelligence and panache 'without patronising'. Programmes like Something Special can only help bridge the gap that sometimes sadly appears between able and not so able bodied people in our society and help banish the unkindness that disabled people sometimes face due to ignorance."

The public were asked to vote on the Prime Minister's website, and the petition deadline passed on 20 September 2007.

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to "children's broadcasting and the voluntary sector".[16]

Professional awards

  • Nominated as Best Presenter for Something Special
  • Awarded Best Presenter for Something Special
  • Awarded Best Presenter for Something Special
  • Nominated Best Performer for Gigglebiz
  • Nominated Best Presenter for Something Special
  • Awarded Best Presenter for Something Special

Filmography

Years Programme Role
1997-1998 Fun Song Factory Himself (presenter)
1999-2003 Tweenies Jake and Doodles
2000 Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
2000 Chicken Run video game Rocky
Fetcher
2002-2007 Tikkabilla Himself, presenter
2003-2006 Boo! Growling Tiger and Sleeping Bear
2004-2010 CBeebies on BBC Radio 7 Himself, presenter
2005 Higgledy House Himself
2003— Something Special Mr Tumble and various characters
2006-2012 CBeebies Continuity Links Himself, relief presenter
2006 CBeebies Springwatch Himself, presenter
2007— Shaun the Sheep Shaun and Timmy (voice only)
2008 Famous 5: On the Case Timmy and Smidgie[22]
Chop Socky Chooks
2009— Gigglebiz Various characters
2009-2012 Timmy Time Yabba the Duck, Finlay the Fox and others (voice only)
2011— Justin's House Himself
2015 Shaun the Sheep Movie Shaun and Timmy (voice only)

Live Performances

References

  1. ↑ "Children's TV star appointed MBE". BBC News. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "BBC CBeebies website". 20 September 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "BBC - CBeebies Presenters - Justin". Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Interview: Justin Fletcher on Gigglebiz". CBeeBies. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Justin Fletcher". CBBC. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "Justin Fletcher is Something Special". 12 November 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Gigglebiz Homepage". 20 September 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "BBC - CBeebies - Justin's House". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Jane Deane Home Page". Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Top 10 Programmes - BARB". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Bee Bright". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Clicker Books @home". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  13. ↑ Hewitt, Phil (4 December 2009). "PANTOMIME: All the major pantos in West Sussex and further afield". Midhurst and Petworth Observer (Johnston Press Digital Publishing). Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  14. ↑ "Justin Fletcher to star in Hexagon panto". 3 March 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Madge Bishop to star alongside Justin Fletcher in Aladdin". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729. p. 16. 14 June 2008.
  17. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Children's - Awards - 2007". BAFTA. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Children's - Awards - 2008". BAFTA. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Children's - Awards - 2010". BAFTA. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Children's - Awards - 2011". BAFTA. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  21. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Children's - Awards - 2012". BAFTA. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "Justin Fletcher IMDB Profile". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  23. ↑ Thomas H Green (31 July 2009). "Camp Bestival: punks, travellers and my mum and dad". The Daily Telegraph (London, England). Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Ellie Goulding, Tinie Tempah and The Gruffalo for Camp Bestival". eFestivals (Bristol, England: NRG Internet Ltd). 18 May 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  25. ↑ "Fall in love with Mr Tumble at Harvest at Jimmy’s". East Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich, England: Archant). 26 August 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  26. ↑ "Camp Bestival '12". eFestivals (Bristol, England: NRG Internet Ltd). 24 July 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  27. ↑ http://www.campbestival.net/kids/mr-tumble/

External links

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