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.
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. Dina Lady (Gigglebiz Series 1-2, 4-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A homely cook who takes the names of dishes to their very literal meanings and is always found alongside her assistant Tommy Tummy when not competing on GiggleQuiz. In Series 4, Dina became the host of a Great British Bake Off-esque show called Bake Me A Star with Tommy as her co-host. Running gags are how she always tastes the dishes of her contestants before Tommy can, and always awards herself the star rosette for her own dishes. In Series 5, Dina became the delivery driver for a catering company. She delivers cakes to customers, though her antics mean that they are never delivered carefully enough. DIY Dan (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) A clumsy DIY enthusiast who always causes chaos in his workshop, often breaking his possessions. He is described as "TV's worst DIY expert" and his work is grist to his DIY mill. He doesn't speak and his segments instead feature a male narrator, who is also voiced by Justin Fletcher. The narrator ends the sketches with the catchphrase of "Job done!" In the Gigglebox pilot, however, Dan did speak and was instead named Andy Guy. Enrico Paso Doble (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) A ballroom dancer who isn't very good at dancing and regularly gets distracted during his routines. He always has an unnamed female dance partner who varies by series. Enrico doesn't speak, however, he did once verbally apologise during Captain Adorable in Space, and does sing "Arrivederci!" in the credits of series 4 and 5. Gail Force (Gigglebox Pilot, Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A weather reporter who has a knack of predicting unusual styles of weather that happens directly to her. She additionally works as a reporter and has an unfortunate tendency of causing bother to people or items she is reporting on. Gail is also one of the team captains in GiggleQuiz. In Series 5, Gail begins her new chat show, "Gail", and similar to reporting, often causes bother to her guests who sit directly opposite her. Humphrey (Humphrey The Painter, Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) A silent man who is irrepressible and inquisitive about the world around him, which usually leads to getting himself in awkward situations for the public around him. His trusty companion and best friend is Woody the dog. Beginning in Series 3, Humphrey 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. Fletcher has stated in a 2013 interview that this character was inspired by Rowan Atkinson’s portrayal of Mr. Bean. But in the outtakes, Humphrey spoke. Keith Fitt (Gigglebiz Series 2-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A Geordie sports instructor who always claims to have had a "20-year" experience in exercising, though this has not gained him any valuable skills and he continually fumbles when demonstrating various sport and other fitness. Keith is also one of the team captains in GiggleQuiz. In series 4 and 5, he was the star of a show called Keith Fitt: It's a Record, Man!, where he would attempt to set new timed world records around two male judges, though never succeeding. His main two catchphrases are "Howay, bairns!", and "Champion!" Lost Pirate (Gigglebiz Series 1-2, 4-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A jolly and persistent pirate who is always on the lookout for his lost treasure but has a habit of taking the most normal situations in life too seriously, which can often get him in trouble. He regularly mistakes an 'X' symbol to mean "X marks the spot" for buried treasure. 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. His parrots always sit on his shoulder. Nana Knickerbocker (Gigglebiz Series 1, 3-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A pantomime dame who is describes herself as "everyone's favourite". Nana lives her life as if she were on stage and lacks much common sense in the actual world due to this. This can often lead her to trouble with the public who are going about their daily business with several pantomime routines. Nana additionally hosts her own round on GiggleQuiz called Nana's Panto Showdown. In series 4 and 5, Nana opens her own panto shop on a local farm, where her animals often escape to her shop and cause the customers trouble. Professor Muddles (Gigglebiz Series 1-5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) An eccentric scientist who often gets his words mixed up and whose experiments never go to plan. He also does lots of inventions which are intended to make life easier for him but can often backfire. In Series 5, he received emails from several people, all of whom have joke names, 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 Series 1) A wildlife explorer who consistently fails to hunt down and capture the sight of elusive wildlife (usually bears or giant pandas) on his searches, despite them being in plain sight for the viewers. His catchphrase is "Hullo! Shh, Hullo." which he says when introducing himself in each sketch. In the Gigglebox pilot, he was called Jungle Jimbo and was Australian, rather than British. Aside from Gigglebiz, Rapids also appeared in the Justin's House episode, Teddy Bears' Picnic. On GiggleQuiz, Rapids only appeared as a contestant in series 1, though was never seen in series 2. Wild Wez (Gigglebiz Series 5 & GiggleQuiz clips) A friendly cowboy who is always trying to clean up his barn, but his barnyard animals always manage to mess it up again. He doesn't speak. Will Singalot (Gigglebiz Series 3-5 & GiggleQuiz clips) 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. He is quite unique amongst the other Merry Men, in that his main colour is red. Wizard Tripwick (Gigglebiz Series 5 & GiggleQuiz Series 1-2) A wizard teacher who has unusually long, grey hair and who isn't very good at magic. He normally manages to perform his spells directly on his pupils or himself instead of other intended objects around his classroom.
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.