Did you take part in Tiswas Reunited?

I was in Tiswas Reunited.

How was that?

It was an enjoyable experience, although I couldn’t help feeling that – you know – I was watching that guy do that stuff with the David Bellamy beard falling off and we just seemed to laugh all the time. And I was watching it thinking, “What the fuck were we laughing at? What were we laughing at?!” We just pissed ourselves continually! It was brilliant. It was a really good night. The easiest day in the studio I’ve ever had. So much fun.

Did you fall back into the old roles?

Well what was amazing about it – I think I wrote about this in my blog on lennyhenry.com I knew it was going to be a good day at the photo session for the Radio Times, about two weeks before. And it was me John Gorman, Bob Carolgees, Sally James and Chris Tarrant. From the second I walked in and said, “John Gorman you’re still alive, this is amazing!” … Bob Carolgees, who still has 5000 Spit the Dogs hidden in his garage, even though he says he sold the last one on eBay to some bloke. Sally James, who still looks remarkable for her age, still wearing very tight-fitting clothing. And finally Chris Tarrant – a bundle of energy in the middle of it all. There were sparks flying off people, and it was incredibly electric the whole day. And the photo session was really good fun, and I just thought, “If this is what the day’s going to be like in the studio, we’re going to have a hoot”. It was really good fun.

Will we get one final “OK” from Algernon?

Well, you get… I mean Chris really didn’t want us to do very much because it’s a clip show, we’re sort of looking back on things and saying, “God, Paul McCartney sang The Bucket of Water Song! Phil Collins was in Compost Corner pretending to be a flower! Annie Lennox got flanned by the Phantom Flan Flinger!” It was a remarkable show. Status Quo got flanned! It was phenomenal. So there are lots of clips. But we do do some stuff in the studio, and there’s a rendition of The Bucket of Water Song that has to be seen to be believed. And there’s the cage… It’s really good fun.

COMPOST CORNER, PHANTOM FLAN FLINGER, FLAN YOUR FOLKS, THE CAGE … ITV1 BRINGS YOU TiSWAS REUNITED

For one night only, ITV1 brings you TiSWAS REUNITED, a one-off special reuniting the stars of the iconic groundbreaking children’s show TiSWAS. With a wealth of clips and reminiscences from the many stars who appeared on the series, the team will recreate the chaos and mayhem of those heady days of the show that broke the mould. TiSWAS REUNITED is new and exclusive to ITV1, spring 2007.

TiSWAS REUNITED will be the biggest, noisiest, messiest most colourful show Saturday night television has seen for quite some time and the original team of regulars will all be there: Chris Tarrant, Sally James, Lenny Henry, Bob Carolgees, John Gorman, Sylvester McCoy and Frank Carson.

Additionally, there will be lots of other familiar TiSWAS faces in the audience. Many celebrities who took part in the show and were a part of the show’s success will be there with their personal memories of TiSWAS, and many more will be interviewed on location. 

The list of guests who appeared on TiSWAS reads like a “Who’s Who” of showbusiness, as it was always considered to be the coolest series and the show to be seen on.

TiSWAS REUNITED is a celebration of the first, the most anarchic and the most groundbreaking Saturday morning kids’ series in British television history. 

Spend an evening with the stars, wallowing in nostalgia … and custard!

TiSWAS REUNITED is exclusive to ITV1, spring 2007.