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.
The TV series was 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 is not in every episode.
Contents
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.
Characters
Main characters
Ann Teak (Gigglebiz Series 1-4, & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) An elderly bossy antiques expert who thinks that she knows everything about antiques. In reality, she always ends up displaying little or no knowledge. She normally manages to break delicate objects, most often not realising her accidents, much to her customers' distress. Ann also as a habit of forgetting her customers' surnames, and using humorous substitutes for them. Her catchphrases are "I am the expert", and "Moving on." Despite not having a role in series 5 of Gigglebiz, she later returned as a contestant in both series of GiggleQuiz.
Arthur Sleep ("Justin Time" Showreel, Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A newsreader of a Northern origin who doesn't take his job very seriously and is especially prone to make up silly jokes out of various news stories. Hence the name, he also sometimes falls asleep during the news. He opens the news with his catchphrase of "Hello there, I’m Arthur Sleep and here’s the news." Additionally, Arthur is the host of GiggleQuiz, which he puts more focus into than the news. He is the most frequent character in Gigglebiz, having appeared in almost every episode since the first series. Additionally, he appeared in the Justin Time showreel.
Captain Adorable (Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure, Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) An egotistical superhero who is depicted as less than super. Despite his kindly nature to everyone, 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 itself. In series 3, he moved from living in the fictional town, Wiggyville, into a spaceship and often causes chaos during his crew’s flights. In series 4, he is always found alongside his trainee superheroine, Awesome Girl, giving her advice on how to become better at saving the world, though it is often Awesome Girl who has to lead Adorable to the solutions. In series 5, he is accompanied by his auntie who regularly records him whilst on daily errands helping others as part of Captain Adorable’s new show called the "Super Vlog". His catchphrases are "Captain Adorable, away!", and "Please don't thank me, it's what I do."
Dan Step (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) 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. Dan also made one brief guest appearance in the GiggleQuiz episode The Lost Pirate’s Treasure.
Former characters
Anna Conda ("Justin Time" Showreel, Gigglebiz Series 1) A reptile expert who loves to make jokes based on reptiles, and who responds to letters sent in by children, all of whom have joke names. Similar to Arthur Sleep, she also appeared in the Justin Time Showreel.
Burrito Brothers (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1-4 & GiggleQuiz clips) A trio of strongmen who perform in front of a live audience. The older two brothers 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 and frequently say "Hey!" all together. In the Gigglebox promo, the youngest Burrito Brother said, "Watch the Gigglebox, on CBee-Bee-Bee-bies!"
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 since gotten to know them very well. With his last appearance in Chip Monk The Hamster, he was the earliest Gigglebiz character to be dropped from the show.
Doctor Doctor (Gigglebiz Series 2) An unprofessional doctor who likes telling "doctor doctor" styles of jokes to his patients. He has the shortest sketches of all characters in Gigglebiz. His catchphrase is "Doctor Doctor will see you now! Next!" before winking at the screen.
Farmer Dung (Gigglebiz Series 1-3) A jolly farmer who loves to use wordplay, and who has an assistant called Reggie. His segments always feature a female narrator.
King Flannel (Gigglebox Pilot, Series 1-3, GiggleQuiz clips) A naughty, childish, old monarch who needs to be kept in line by his long suffering butler for his naughty ways. Between series 1 and 2, he only spoke by mumbling to himself and in gibberish sounds, though by his sketches in series 3 his dialogue had become more understandable.
Major Boogie (Gigglebiz Series 1, Christmas special & 2) A tired, old tin soldier who secretly likes to dance when two children aren't around in their bedroom. Other toys on the shelf also join in. Whilst dancing, he doesn’t speak, but he does when opening and ending his sketches. His catchphrases at those moments respectively are "Time for Major Boogie, sir!", and "Back to the Boogie Box! Quick sharp!" (Most of Series 1) / "Back to the Boogie Box! Quick march!" (Rapids Johnson Stocks Up, Simon Pieman's Christmas Pie and Series 2) In "Milkshake Jake and the Watch" He Gasps
Additional characters
Awesome Girl (Kae Alexander) (Gigglebiz Series 4, GiggleQuiz clips) Captain Adorable's trusty super heroine companion who is trained by Adorable himself. Adorable has a habit of repeating back to her anything she says to him first.
Botham (Christopher Driscoll) (Captain Adorable: The Locked Door Adventure, Gigglebiz Series 1, 3 & GiggleQuiz clips) Captain Adorable's butler who does most of the work for Captain Adorable, who always rudely calls him "Bottom". 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 Series 1-2) Nana Knickerbocker's rather cheeky pantomime horse who always interferes with her farm and during the games in Nana’s Panto Showdown.
Doreen (Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) 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, intending to show viewers what she looks like, but happened to make the picture only of her arm with a thumbs up, revealing nothing further than what is already known.
Humphrey's Neighbour (Michael Webber) (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) A long suffering man who Humphrey, whilst oblivious, always gets into trouble whenever they meet together.
Keith Fitt's Judges (Nicholas Khan and Peter Singh) (Gigglebiz Series 4-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) The judges who give Keith Fitt instructions and set the world records Keith always fails to beat. One judge is notably stricter to Keith and is responsible for timing his record attempts on a stopwatch.
King Flannel's Butler (Simon Grover) (GiggleBox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1-3, GiggleQuiz clips & Series 6) King Flannel's long suffering butler who tries to keep him in line, though not always successfully.
Episodes
There are 114 episodes of Gigglebiz across 5 series. Initially, only in series 5 and in GiggleQuiz did the episodes have proper titles, whilst in series 1-4, they were just referred to by the series and episode numbers (e.g., Series 4, episode 11), and the Christmas special was just referred to as "A Gigglebiz Christmas".
Series 1
Series 1 premiered in 2009 and had 26 episodes total, including the Christmas Special in 2010.
Series 2
Series 2 premiered in 2011 and had 15 episodes total.
Series 3
Series 3 premiered in 2013 and had 26 episodes total.
Series 4
Series 4 premiered in 2015 and had 25 episodes total.
Series 5
Series 5 premiered in 2018 and had 22 episodes total.
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".