# Jigsaw (British TV series)

Jigsaw is a BBC show aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 7 that combined elements of puzzle solving and entertainment, which was broadcast from 16 July 1979 until 15 June 1984. It was awarded a BAFTA in 1981.
Written and directed by Clive Doig, the show was presented by mime artist Adrian Hedley, Janet Ellis and "Jigg" - a giant floating orange jigsaw piece, voiced by John Leeson later replaced by Tommy Boyd then Howard Stableford.
Ellis left in 1983 to become a Blue Peter presenter, at which point she was replaced by Dot, played by Julia Binsted - an anthropomorphism of the "cursor dot" (the dot made by the raster-scanning beam in the analogue CRT television sets of the time).
Featured supporting cast also included Paul Clayton, Biggum the giant (played by Leeson) and Wilf Lunn who appeared as a mad inventor. Other unusual characters included Pterry, a puppet Pterodactyl (operated by Joe Barton); Cid Sleuth (played by David Cleveland), a Sherlock Holmes-looking bumbling detective plagued by a mysterious burglar (David Wyatt); Hector The Hedgehog; and the O-Men (Sylvester McCoy and David Rappaport), a pair of hapless superheroes summoned by saying any six consecutive words containing a double-O (even the same word repeated six times counted once, albeit inadvertently - Dot said 'coo' four times imitating a pigeon, then Adrian mocked her attempt, saying it twice more to trigger the summon).

## Noseybonk

Arguably the most memorable character was Noseybonk (known later as Mr Noseybonk), who joined in series 2. Noseybonk was performed by Hedley in a dinner suit and a white face mask with a prominent nose and toothy grin. This last character has proved the most enduring due to him allegedly terrifying children as much as amusing them,and has been popularised by Stuart Ashen's series of Noseybonk Returns YouTube videos as well as Ashen's later appearance as Mr. Noseybonk in Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe. Noseybonk also inspired Mr Chuckleteeth in the X-Files episode Familiar.
   Mr. Chuckleteeth was actually inspired by an old British kids TV show called Jigsaw. There's a character in Jigsaw called Mr. Noseybonk. He kind of looks like Mr. Chuckleteeth a little bit, so that was the inspiration for me when I was writing the character. It was the starting point for the design, but we really made it our own thing. My inkling is that it might also have been the inspiration behind Jigsaw, the character in the Saw films.
Throughout the show, the presenters and supporting characters came together to solve a number of puzzles; these puzzles would then contribute to one larger conundrum that would be revealed at the end of the show. The viewer was encouraged to take part and solve the puzzles at home.
The theme music for 'Jigsaw' was composed by Martin Cook and Richard Denton (also responsible for the theme for Tomorrow's World) using a mixture of electronic keyboards and musique concrète. Cook would later compose a revised theme on his own. The theme used for the Noseybonk segments was "A Hippo Called Hubert," composed by Joe Griffiths and also used in Kentucky Fried Chicken's Charlie Chickenhawk and Frederick Fox advertising in Australia between 1984 and 1987.
The titles were made by hand animated stop frame techniques featuring objects which began with the letters JIGSAW. Early titles featured Hedley miming objects.

## Transmissions

| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
| 1 | 16 July 1979 | 20 August 1979 | 6 |
| 2 | 20 May 1980 | 24 June 1980 | 6 |
| 3 | 21 September 1981 | 14 December 1981 | 13 |
| 4 | 10 January 1983 | 21 February 1983 | 7 |
| 5 | 17 January 1984 | 21 February 1984 | 6 |
| 6 | 5 April 1984 | 15 June 1984 | 12 |