Gigglebiz

Gigglebiz is a British children's comedy television programme (described as a 'live-action comedy sketch show' by the BBC) consisting of five series that have been broadcast on CBeebies, the BBC's younger children's channel, starting in 2009.

Gigglebiz
Title card (in Series 1). L to R: Captain Adorable, Nana Knickerbocker, Major Boogie.
Also known as	GiggleQuiz
Genre	Sketch comedy
Created by	Justin Fletcher
Directed by	Jack Jameson, Geoff Coward, Damian Farrell, Helen Sheppard, Tom Poole, Anna Mears, Michael Towner
Starring	Justin Fletcher
Composers	Barrie Bignold Liz Kitchen
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5 (excluding the showreel, pilots and GiggleQuiz)
No. of episodes	114 (excluding the showreel, pilots and GiggleQuiz)
Production
Executive producers	Alison Stewart, Tony Reed, Vanessa Amberleigh
Production location	Dock10 studios (2011–present)
Editor	Gerry Skinner
Camera setup	Chris Yacoubian Mark Gosling Mike Maddams
Running time	13 minutes (including 15-second intro)
Production company	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Original release
Network	CBeebies
Release	7 September 2009 (2009-09-07) – 15 March 2021 (2021-03-15)

The TV series was starred and created by Justin Fletcher, who plays the lead character in all of the comedy sketches and also wrote a few sketches in its first series. Some of the sketches are filmed in the studio, while other sketches are filmed outside; for example, one is filmed at Portmeirion, used for the fictional town of Wiggyville where Captain Adorable's sketches are set from Series 1 to 2. The show is interspersed with a selection of children called the Gigglekids, who tell jokes to Justin himself, in their own section called 'Giggle Box'.

In many episodes, there is also ‘Silly Time’, where Justin says "It's Silly Time!", then some of the other characters dance to music. In one scene during this, four characters are shown dancing at once. Silly Time doesn't happen in every episode however.

History

Gigglebiz's production began in the mid-1990s, when Justin Fletcher produced a showreel named Justin Time, to showcase his acting abilities to television companies. In November 2008, CBeebies aired three TV pilots featuring Fletcher, called Humphrey the Painter, Gigglebox, and Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure, with the objective being that one of them would become a full series. Following the broadcast of the pilots, CBeebies announced on November 25 that Gigglebox would become the full series, and would air within the channel's 2009 schedule. On May 5, 2009, the show's final title was announced as Gigglebiz, and that it would begin airing within the summer of that year.

The first series was broadcast in September 2009, comprising 25 13-minute episodes and 20 characters each. The first episode premiered on 7 September 2009. A Christmas special was broadcast on 15 December 2010. The second series comprised 15 episodes being broadcast in January 2011 and saw several characters disappear to make way for five new ones, replacing them. The spinoff quiz show GiggleQuiz came after Gigglebiz, premiering on 28 October 2019 and later in December 2020.

Series 1 was filmed from March 2009 to April 2009, Series 2 was filmed from July 2010 to August 2010, Series 3 was filmed from May 2013 to June 2013, Series 4 was filmed from July 2014 to August 2014, Series 5 was filmed from March 2018 to May 2018 and GiggleQuiz was filmed between June 2019 to August 2019.

Characters

Main characters

• Ann Teak (Gigglebiz Series 1-4 & GiggleQuiz) An elderly bossy antiques expert who thinks that she knows everything about antiques. She normally manages to break delicate objects without realising it, much to her customers' dismay.

• Arthur Sleep (Showreel, Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz) A newsreader of a Northern origin who constantly loves to make up his own jokes out of simple news stories he reads, a parody of The Two Ronnies. He sometimes falls asleep during the news, and is also the host of GiggleQuiz. Appearing in almost every episode, he is the most frequent character. Additionally, he appeared in the "Justin Time" showreel.

• Captain Adorable (Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure, Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz) An egotistical superhero who is depicted as less than super. Despite the fact he means well to the public around him, Adorable always fails to show any superpowers and help anyone how he intends too. He originally appeared in his own standalone pilot before being added to Gigglebiz.

• Dan Step (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A tap dancer who often gets into a mix up with the props used in his dances. This is usually because his partner, Tony Tap, is more flexible, or simply given the better prop out of them both. He doesn't speak.

• Dina Lady (Gigglebiz Series 1–2, 4-5 & GiggleQuiz) A homely cook who takes the names of dishes to their very literal meanings (mainly in Series 1-2) and whose assistant is Tommy Tummy. In Series 4, Dina became the host of a Great British Bake-off-esque show, with Tommy as her co-host. In Series 5, Dina became the delivery driver for a catering company. She delivers cakes to customers, though they are never delivered carefully enough.

• DIY Dan (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A clumsy DIY enthusiast. He is described as TV's worst DIY expert and his stuff is grist to his DIY mill. He doesn't speak and his segments instead feature a narrator (also voiced by Justin Fletcher), however in the Gigglebox pilot, he did speak and was named Andy Guy.

• Enrico Paso Doble (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A ballroom dancer who isn't very good at dancing, and gets distracted during his routines. He always has a female dance partner who varies by series / season. Enrico doesn’t speak, however, he did verbally apologise in "Captain Adorable in Space", and does sing, "Arrivederci!" In the credits of Series 4 / Series 5.

• Gail Force (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1–5 & GiggleQuiz) A weather reporter who has a knack of predicting weather that happens only to her. She additionally works as a reporter and has an unfortunate tendency to ruins people or items she is reporting on. In Series 5, Gail has her own chat show called "Gail", a parody of ITV1's " Lorraine", presented by Lorraine Kelly. Gail is also one of the team captains in GiggleQuiz. She also appeared in the original "Gigglebox" pilot.

• Humphrey (Humphrey The Painter, Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) An irrepressible and inquisitive man who parodies Mr Bean. His trusty companion and best friend is Woody the dog. Beginning in Series 3, Humpherey also stumbles across his neighbour wherever he goes causing his neighbour chaos too. Similar to Captain Adorable, he originally appeared in his own standalone pilot, where he was a painter, before being added to Gigglebiz. He doesn't speak.

• Keith Fitt (Gigglebiz Series 2-5 & GiggleQuiz) A Geordie sports instructor whose "20–year" experience has not gained him any valuable skills needed for sport. In Series 4 and 5, he had a show called "Keith Fitt: It's a Record, Man!", where he would try his best in front of two male judges (one friendly, the other quite strict) attempting to set new world records, though never succeeding. Keith is also one of the team captains in GiggleQuiz.

• King Flannel (Gigglebox Pilot, Series 1-3 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A naughty, childish, yet old monarch who needs to be kept in line by his long suffering butler for his naughty ways. Between seasons 1 and 2, he only spoke by mumbling to himself. By series 3, however, his dialogue had become more understandable.

• Lost Pirate (Gigglebiz Series 1–2, 4-5 & GiggleQuiz) A jolly and, at times, strict pirate who is always on the lookout for his lost treasure but has a habit of taking rather ordinary situations too seriously. In Series 1 and 2 the Lost Pirate has a parrot called Captain Squawk and in Series 4 and 5 he has one called Captain Crackers.

• Nana Knickerbocker (Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz) A pantomime dame who is described as everyone's favourite. Nana lives her life as if she were on stage, and lacks common sense in the actual world due to this. She often infuriates the public who are going about their daily business with several pantomime routines. In Series 4 and 5 Nana has her own panto shop. In GiggleQuiz, Nana hosts her own round called "Nana's Panto Showdown", which is the second round.

• Professor Muddles (Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz) An eccentric scientist who often gets words mixed up and whose experiments never go to plan. In Series 5, he received emails from several people asking questions related to science and during the sketch, would attempt unsuccessfully to explain the answer.

• Rapids Johnson (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1–5 & GiggleQuiz) A wildlife explorer who's always on the hunt for elusive wildlife (usually bears or giant pandas) but never actually manages to spot them. In the Gigglebox pilot, Rapids was called Jungle Jimbo and was Australian, parodying Steve Irwin. Rapids also appeared in the Justin's House episode, Teddy Bears' Picnic. On GiggleQuiz, he has only appeared as a contestant in Series 1 and never Series 2.

• Wild Wez (Gigglebiz Series 5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A jolly cowboy who normally focuses on how to clean up his barn, but his barnyard animals always manage to mess it up again. He still always tries to keep them happy, however. He doesn't speak.

• Will Singalot (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A minstrel and one of Robin Hood's Merry Men who infuriates Robin Hood with his nonstop singing and always spoils Robin's efforts to impress Maid Marian. However, he did apologise without singing in "DIY Dan's Spice Rack".

• Wizard Tripwick (Gigglebiz Series 5 & GiggleQuiz) A wizard who isn't very good at magic. He normally manages to perform his spells directly on his class' children or himself instead of other intended objects around his classroom. The character has unusually long, grey hair, parodying Albus Dumbledore.

Former characters

• Anna Conda (Showreel, Gigglebiz Series 1) A reptile expert who makes rather silly jokes based on reptiles. She loves answering simple questions from children (referred to by her as "young viewers"). She also appeared in the "Justin Time" Showreel.

• Burrito Brothers (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1–4 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A trio of strongmen who perform in front of a live audience. The older two are played by Karl Magee and Gary Cross. The youngest brother, played by Justin, always unintentionally ruins their acts in some way. They don't speak, although they do make vocal sounds.

• Chip Monk (Gigglebox Pilot & Gigglebiz Series 1) An eccentric pet shop worker who tries his best not to have to sell the animals in his shop to his customers, because he has got to know them very well. With his last appearance in "Chip Monk The Hamster", he was the earliest Gigglebiz character to be dropped. He also appeared in the original "Gigglebox" pilot.

• Doctor Doctor (Gigglebiz Series 2) A doctor who likes telling "doctor doctor" jokes to his patients. His catchphrase is "Doctor Doctor will see you now! NEXT!" He has the shortest sketches of any character in Gigglebiz, and usually having 2 sketches per episodes.

• Farmer Dung (Gigglebiz Series 1-3) A jolly farmer who normally uses wordplay with a narrator who has an assistant called Reggie.

• Major Boogie (Gigglebiz Series 1-2) A tired old, tin soldier who secretly likes to dance when two children are't around in a dark room. Other toys on the shelf also join in.

• Milkshake Jake (Gigglebiz Series 1) A sundae bar worker who has a messy line in milkshakes and always gets distracted by the professions of his customers.

• Opera Oliver (Gigglebiz Series 2), An opera singing waiter who likes to sing about food so much that he tends to forget the condition of his hungry customers, who usually end up leaving. He also sung, "Arrivederci!" in the Series 2 credits only.

• Packed Lunch Pete (Gigglebiz Series 1) A wandering man who always tries to eat his rather small packed lunch outdoors but fails for different reasons in each sketch. He doesn't speak.

• Postie (Gigglebiz Series 1) A postman who always tries but fails to deliver the post on time! Performing just in 3 episodes (though with at least three skecthes in these episodes), Postie is the least frequent character in the entire series. He doesn't speak, although in episode "Postie Goes to School", he did cheer and laugh.

• Rod and Annette (Gigglebiz Series 2) A fisher couple. Rod (Justin) loves to catch fish but always he's in trouble and his wife, Annette (Anita Dobson), loves to chat to other people, never noticing Rod's trouble. Rod unlike his wife, doesn't speak.

• Simon Pieman (Gigglebiz Christmas Special, Series 2) A pie deliveryman whose deliveries are done on roller skates and whose pies always end up directly in his face.

• Storybook Stan (Gigglebiz Series 3-4) A man with a wig whose attempts to tell a story always end in disaster for many different reasons.

• Sue Keeper (Gigglebiz Series 3) A zookeeper who always gets her animal facts mixed up. Therefore, she has to get corrected by several members of the group of people (usually the children), who she refers to as "wildlife lovers".

• Ug and Ig (Gigglebiz Series 3) A caveman duo. Ug (Justin) always tries to invent something and often fumbles with it due to his weakness, and Ig (Freddie Butterfield) has to always end up helping him. Their inventions, in doing so, are never used as how they were originally intended to be. Ug only speaks in stereotypical caveman like sounds, while Ig doesn't speak. Ig is a child.

• Will Barrow (Series 3–4 & GiggleQuiz cameos) A gardener whose gardening experience is always ruined by the animals residing in his garden. He doesn't speak.

Additional Characters

• Animals: (Gigglebox Pilot & Gigglebiz Series 1-5) These animals consist most often of Giant Pandas and Brown Bears. They are the frequent subjects of Rapids Johnson's search who Rapids has never managed to find when most of the time, they are directly next to or behind him! The animals are played by people in various costumes, except the Madagascar monkey, which was a backpack belonging to Rapids.

• Annette's Friends: (Gigglebiz Series 2) Various people Annette loves to talk to. Unlike Annette herself, her friends are fully aware of Rod's fishing as they always sit facing him.

• Awesome Girl: (Kae Alexander) (Gigglebiz Series 4) Captain Adorable's trusty super heroine companion. Adorable has a habit of repeating back to her anything she says to him first for an unknown reason.

• Botham: (Christopher Driscoll) (Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure & Gigglebiz Series 1, 3) Captain Adorable's butler who does most of the work for Adorable. Adorable always calls him "Bottom", rudely. Botham has a catchphrase which is, "It's Botham, Captain" or "It's Botham, Sir", because he hates being called "Bottom". This character did not return for Series 4, likely due to Driscoll's passing earlier in 2015.

• Dobbin: (Gigglebiz Series 1, 4 & GiggleQuiz) Nana Knickerbocker's rather cheeky pantomime horse.

• Doreen: (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) Arthur Sleep's coworker, who fails to understand any of Arthur's news jokes. Arthur is then always slightly offended due to this. Her arm only appears, and although viewers don't hear her, Arthur does speak directly to and reply to her. In "Gail Plays The Spoons", Arthur made a painting of her to show viewers what she looks like, but happened to make the picture only of her arm with a thumbs up.

• Humphrey's Neighbour: (Michael Webber) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) A long suffering man who Humphrey, whilst oblivious, always gets him into trouble, whenever they meet together.

• Keith Fitt's Judges: (Nicholas Khan and Peter Singh) (Gigglebiz Series 4-5) The judges who give Keith Fitt instructions, and set the world records Keith always fails to beat.

• King Flannel's Butler: (Simon Grover) (GiggleBox Pilot & Gigglebiz Series 1-3) King Flannel's long suffering butler who tries to keep him in line, though not always successfully.

• Lady Chatalot: (Julie Alanah Brighten) (Gigglebiz Series 1-3) King Flannel's friend. Flannel is always jealous of her because Chatalot seems to get more attention than Flannel does.

• Maid Marian: (Ellie Kirk) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) A maiden who Robin has lived all his life to marry. The only Will Singalot sketch she did not appear in was during "DIY Dan's Spice Rack".

• Merry Men: (Michael Webber, Rod Arthur, Peter Singh (2013), Nick Kellington (2015-2018), Shola Adewusi (2018), Susannah Van Den Berg (2018)) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) Will Singalot's friends who also like nonstop singing much to Robin Hood's annoyance, depicted very similar to Will.

• QT: (Bethan Lindsay (2008); Chloe Dallo (2009); Tilly Ducker (2013-2015)) (Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure & Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-4) Captain Adorable's sidekick and is an 11 year old girl. She is also the pilot of Captain Adorable's spaceship in Series 3. She has a few short lines in some sketches.

• Reggie: (Darren Hart) (Gigglebiz Series 1-3) Farmer Dung's assistant. He doesn't speak, but normally hysterically laughs along with Dung.

• Robin Hood: (Tom Golding) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) Will Singalot's best friend who suffers from Will's constant singing and ends the sketches by saying "That Minstrel's got to go". This, however, was not the case at the very end of "Wizard Tripwick's Mending Spell".

• Tommy Tummy: (Richard Sutton) (Gigglebiz Series 1-2, 4-5) Dina Lady's assistant who knows more about cooking than Dina herself. He tries his best to stop her from cooking the incorrect way she has planned, and points out how it should be done at home to viewers. His catchphrase is "Hello, Tommy!" once Dina asks him to introduce himself to the viewers.

• Tony Tap: (Chris Whittaker) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5) Dan Step's dance partner who often has to help Dan out whenever he is performing. Tony also often pushes Dan off the stage if he is particular trouble. Tony, along with Dan, doesn't speak.

• Woody: (Humphrey The Painter & Gigglebiz Series 1, 3) Humphrey's brown dog. He has also been known to cause chaos of his own. His name is revealed the moment Humphrey calls out for him halfway through his sketch in "Rapids Johnson's Panda Book", and also during the Series 3 outtakes on YouTube.

Transmissions

Gigglebiz (Main Series)

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	7 September 2009	2 October 2009	25
	2 November 2009	6 November 2009
2	17 January 2011	4 February 2011	15
3	21 October 2013	8 November 2013	26
	2 December 2013	16 December 2013
4	5 January 2015	23 January 2015	25
	16 February 2015	27 February 2015
5	28 October 2018	9 November 2018	22
	18 February 2019	4 March 2019

Gigglebiz Christmas Special

Date
15 December 2010

GiggleQuiz (Spin-Off Series)

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	28 October 2019	15 November 2019	15
2	16 December 2020		12
	1 March 2021	15 March 2021

Episodes

There are 114 episodes of Gigglebiz across 5 seasons. Only in Series 5 and in GiggleQuiz did the episodes have proper titles.

Series 5

• Episode 1: Enrico's Duck Dance
• Episode 2: Wizard Tripwick's Banana Spell
• Episode 3: Professor Muddles' Rainy Day
• Episode 4: Dina Lady's Chocolate Cake
• Episode 5: DIY Dan's Cat Flap
• Episode 6: Captain Adorable's Shopping
• Episode 7: Wizard Tripwick's Disappearing Spell
• Episode 8: Keith Fitt's Dancing Record
• Episode 9: Robin Hood's Giant Pumpkin
• Episode 10: DIY Dan's Dripping Tap
• Episode 11: Rapids Johnson's Rain Dance
• Episode 12: Wild Wez's Thirsty Cactus
• Episode 13: Dan Step's Balloon Dance
• Episode 14: Gail Plays the Spoons
• Episode 15: Humphrey's Camping Trip
• Episode 16: Dina Lady's Banana Cake
• Episode 17: Gail Goes to Space
• Episode 18: Robin Hood's New Horse
• Episode 19: The Lost Pirate's Bus Trip
• Episode 20: DIY Dan's Gnome Garden
• Episode 21: Wizard Tripwick's Mending Spell
• Episode 22: Gail Sings Country and Western

DVDS

• Captain Adorable and Friends (S1 E1-9)
• Where Are You, Rapids Johnson? (S1 E10-12 and 14-19)
• A Gigglebiz Christmas (S1 E13 and 20-25, Christmas Special and S2 E1)
• Dancing with Major Boogie (S2 E2-4 and 10-15)
• Sporty Time with Keith Fitt (S2 E5-9 and S3 E1, 3, 7, 10 and 11)
• Laugh Along with Farmer Dung (S3 E2 and 12-20)
• He's Behind You, Nana Knickerbocker! (S3 E4-6, 8, 9 and 21-25)

3 Disc and 4 Disc DVD sets

• The Bumper Collection (3 Disc Set, DVDs 1-3)
• The Gigglebiz-Tastic Bumper Collection (4 Disc Set, DVDs 4-7)

Spinoff (GiggleQuiz)

On 3 July 2018, a spinoff mock quiz show, entitled GiggleQuiz, was announced, being made with Justin Fletcher reprising his main character role. It first aired on 28 October 2019. Unlike Gigglebiz, it is, as said, a mock quiz show.

The aim of the game was to answer questions about clips and pictures, shown from the previous series (Series 3–5). It is hosted by Arthur Sleep, and the team captains are Gail Force and Keith Fitt. Nana Knickerbocker hosts her own round named "Nana's Panto Showdown". Rapids Johnson, (in Season 1 only) Wizard Tripwick, Dina Lady, Captain Adorable, Ann Teak, The Lost Pirate, and Professor Muddles appear as the possible contestants. The other characters make cameos. GiggleQuiz began its second season on 16 December 2020, starting with the episode "A Giggle Quizmas". It later re-aired in March 2021 to air the episode "Wizard Tripwick's Crystal Ball".

GiggleQuiz Episodes

Series 1

1. Dina Lady's Brussels Sprout Cake
2. Captain Adorable's Sidekick (This is the only episode where in Round 2, both teams guess the same number, and they both get a point at the same time.)
3. The Lost Pirate's Treasure
4. Keith Fitt's Quiz Fit.
5. Super Banana Gail
6. Keith Fitt's Juggling
7. Rapids Johnson's Quizzly Bear
8. Ann Teak's Painting
9. Arthur's Tie Break
10. Professor Muddles' Brain Buster
11. Gail Force's Thinking Cap
12. Ann Teak's Antique Wand
13. Rapids Johnson's Helping Bear
14. Professor Muddles' Handy Invention
15. Gail Wants to Sing

Series 2

1. A Giggle Quizmas (This is a Christmas special.)
2. Wizard Tripwick's Crystal Ball
3. Dina Lady's Ice Cream Machine
4. Professor Muddles' Mystery Machine
5. Keith Fitt's Broken Buzzer
6. Arthur Sleep's Leaky Pipes
7. Dina Lady's Cakey Mix Up (This is the only episode where a team didn't manage to win any points.)
8. Keith Fitt's Pesky Fly
9. The Lost Pirate's Empty Chest
10. The Muddles-Keith Muddle-Up
11. Keith Fitt's Rumbly Tummy
12. Wizard Tripwick's New Wand

Creators

Gigglebiz was created by Justin Fletcher, who was best-known for Mr. Tumble.

The other creators are:

• Director: Geoff Coward
• Editors: Richard Shadbolt, Eben Clancy, Paul Shields
• Script editor: Nathan Cockerill
• Executive producers: Vanessa Amberleigh, Tony Reed
• Designers: Nick Bruin, Dan Mort, Adele Murphy, Harriet Ridley, Kim Thackeray
• Cameras: George Glowdansky, Jake Pennington, Daniel Brown
• Production manager: Justine Hatcher
• Costume designer: Robert Skidmore
• Makeup designer: Katie Meakin
• Location director: Sarah Wilson
• Vision mixers: Jenny Bozson, Linda Kelly
• Sound: Dave Chapman
• Lighting directors: Lee Allen, Jim Ewart, Oliver Welsh
• Composers: Barrie Bignold and Liz Kitchen
• Graphics: Character Shop, Made In Colour
• Visual Effects: Tidsey Graphics

External links

• Gigglebiz episodes at IMDb