John Gorman (entertainer)

John Gorman
John Gorman in 2010
Born	(1936-01-04) 4 January 1936 (age 89) Birkenhead, England, UK
Occupations	Comedian musician
Years active	1960s-present
Notable work	The Scaffold Tiswas

John Gorman (born 4 January 1936) is an English comedian, vocalist and comedy musician. He is best known for being a member of the trio The Scaffold with Mike McCartney and Roger McGough, and for being a host on the children's show Tiswas from 1978 to 1981.

Early life and education

Gorman was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1936. After grammar school, Gorman worked as a telecommunications engineer for the GPO and did national service in the Royal Air Force. ^[1]

Career

Gorman was the founder of the comedy music group The Scaffold, with Mike McGear (now McCartney) and Roger McGough. ^[2] They best known for their records, 1967 "Thank U Very Much" and their 1968 hit single "Lily the Pink", which was Christmas number one of that year. The Scaffold disbanded in 1974 but all three members would form the successor the band GRIMMS, formed at the suggestion of Gorman. The 'G' in Gorman providing the 'G' in GRUMMS name (Gorman, Roberts, Innes, McGear, McGough, Stanshall). ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

During the 1970s he made brief film appearances in Frankie Howerd's medieval set farce Up the Chastity Belt (1971), ^[7] Melody (1971), Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977), where he is credited as 'second peasant', ^[8] and The Music Machine (1979) as a newsagent. In the early 1970s, Gorman created his "P.C. Plod" character and from 1972—1973 he released two novelty singles with Island Records. A short film was made starring Gorman as P.C. Plod in 1972 and the character was revived on Tiswas. He also made a comedy musical album for DJM Records, Go Man Gorman in 1977. ^[9]

He also made appearances on the British children's television show Tiswas between 1977 until the shows end in 1981 (becoming a regular member in 1978). Gorman, with Tiswas presenters Chris Tarrant, Sally James and Bob Carolgees, was one of the Four Bucketeers, a novelty band whose highest-charting single was "Bucket of Water Song", which reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. The Bucket of Water song was originally a sketch made by Gorman for the show. ^[10]

After Tiswas stopped broadcasting in 1981, Gorman worked with Chris Tarrant on its adult-oriented successor O.T.T. . He then moved to Tyne Tees, and was a co-host on the children's game show How Dare You! from 1984 to 1987 and later appeared as a guest on another children's show, Razzmatazz in 1986. ^[11]

After a period living in France, he returned as artistic director for the Theatre on the Steps in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. ^[1] He appeared on a 1997 episode of This Is Your Life dedicated to Chris Tarrant and in 2001 was a member of the identity parade on an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He appeared on the Tiswas Reunited show on ITV1 on 16 June 2007.^{[ citation needed ]} Also in 2007 he announced plans to establish a Wirral Academy of the Arts at Birkenhead Park and in addition performed his two-hour one man show at the Liverpool Academy of Arts, about his career in show business. ^[12]

Gorman is involved in many events celebrating visual arts and literary that take place in The Wirral and Liverpool. ^[13] Throughout the 2020s, the Scaffold have performed on and off again reunion shows, which was suggested by Gorman according to McCartney. ^[14] On 16 April 2022, Gorman reunited once again with Bob Carolgees, Sally James and Chris Tarrant for a Tiswas reunion show at St George's in Bristol as part of the city's annual Slapstick Festival. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

Personal life

Gorman has three children from his first marriage and four grandchildren. ^[1] One of his children has passed away. ^[1] He met his second wife, Sue, in France and later moved with her back to the UK, to Shropshire. ^[1] They moved to The Wirral in 2008 and have lived their since. ^[1]

Gorman moved to France in 1992 and lived on a six-acre farm for six years, and focused on writing. ^[1]

Discography

Solo albums

• 1977: Go Man Gorman — DJM Records ^[9]

Solo singles

• 1972: "W.P.C. Plod / B Side Yourself With Plod" — Island Records (released as "P.C. Plod) ^[18]
• 1973: "W.P.C. Hodges / I Remember" — Island Records (released as "P.C. Plod) ^[18]
• 1977: "Whole World In His Band / Po-etry Rock" — DJM Records ^[18]

Other appearances

• The Scaffold — The Scaffold — Parlophone Records — 1968 ^[19]
• L. the P. — The Scaffold — Parlophone Records — 1969 ^[19]
• Grimms — GRIMMS — Island Records — 1973 ^[19]
• Rockin' Duck — GRIMMS — Island Records — 1973 ^[19]
• Fresh Liver — The Scaffold — Island Records — 1973 ^[19]
• Sold Out — The Scaffold — Warner Records — 1975 ^[19]
• Sleepers — GRIMMS — DJM Records — 1976 ^[19]
• Recycled — Prophet — 1991 ^[19]

Filmography

Film

• 1971: Melody — Boys Brigade Captain
• 1971: Up the Chastity Belt — 1st Man-at-arms
• 1972: Plod — P.C. Plod
• 1977: Jabberwocky — 2nd Peasant
• 1979: The Music Machine — Newsagent
• 2010: Dear Mr. Hicks — short film — himself

Television

• 1967—1980: Top of the Pops — himself — eleven episodes (with The Scaffold 1967—1974, with Four Bucketeers 1980) ^[20]
• 1969: The Talk of the Town — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1969: The Mike Douglas Show — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1970—1971: Score with the Scaffold — himself — seven episodes ^[20]
• 1972: He Said, She Said — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1973: Full House — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1973: Up Sunday — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1975: The London Weekend Show — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1976: Camera and the Song — himself — one episode (with GRIMMS) ^[20]
• 1978—1981: Tiswas — himself — twenty-five episodes ^[20]
• 1979: Not the Nine O'Clock News — various roles — two episodes ^[20]
• 1981: The Children's Royal Variety Show — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1982: O.T.T. — himself — twelve episodes ^[20]
• 1982—1987: Hold Tight! — himself — ? episodes ^[20]
• 1984—1987: How Dare You! — himself — ? episodes ^[20]
• 1984: Names and Games — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1986: Razzmatazz — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 1997: This Is Your Life — himself — one episode (Chris Tarrant special) ^[20]
• 2000: 100 Greatest TV Moments From Hell — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 2000: Stars and Their Lives — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 2001: Never Mind the Buzzcocks — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 2007: Tiswas Reunited — himself — one episode ^[20]
• 2009: The One Show — himself — one episode ^[20]

See also

• Liverpool poets

References

1. Padman, Tony (1 September 2018). "Where are they now? Sixties band The Scaffold". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
2. Angela Bartie The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Postwar Britain 2013 " McGough, John Gorman and Michael McCartney (later changed to McGear to give some distance from his famous brother, Paul), the Scaffold brought together poetry, drama, songs and 'a unique brand of zany comedy' in an irreverent revue ..."
3. Howard Sounes – Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney 2010 Page 81 "Having left school, Paul's lanky kid brother Mike had started work as a ladies' hairdresser in Liverpool, then formed a Beyond the Fringe-style comedy troupe, the Scaffold, with mates John Gorman and Roger McGough, the trio landing a TV ..."
4. Kathy Barham 194 Radio City The Heart of Liverpool 2006 – Page 19 "'Starspin' hosted by Kevin Keegan and Dave Clements – Liverpool and Everton were always equally represented on City – with music, interviews, opinions and lots of chat, and 'Plod's Patrol', John Gorman's half-hourly comedy show about a ..."
5. Steven Charles The Beatles – Uncensored on the Record "ended up in the Magical Mystery Tour film. How did that come about? Well, the Bonzos were working with the Scaffold, which was a well-known comedy and song trio in the sixties. Alongside Roger McGough and John Gorman, there was Mike McCartney..."
6. Phil Bowen A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets – 2008 – Page 47 "Gorman wrote poetry too, but quickly realised that his main talent was comedy. The ideal venue ... John Gorman and Roger McGough were an unlikely pairing, but both immediately recognised each other's strengths. McGough, happy in his ..."
7. Paul Myers It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues. 2007 Page 164 "Baldry.. and since then he had made his screen debut as “Little John” in comedian Frankie Howerd's Robin Hood farce, Up the Chastity Belt. ... “One morning I had to be up at six, and doing a fight scene with John Gorman."
8. "I'd like to teach the world to Grimms" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
9. Harry Castleman, Walter J. Podrazik – The Beatles again? 1977 – Page 105 "Even John Gorman finally released his first solo effort, Go Man Gorman, in April of 1977. "
10. "The Den of Geek interview: Sally James - Den of Geek". www.denofgeek.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
11. Who's Who at Tiswas Online Archived 31 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
12. BBC. "John Gorman Live". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
13. "John Gorman". Wirral MakeFest 2025. 11 May 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
14. "'It felt like it was all happening' - Mike McCartney reflects on 60 years of The Scaffold ahead of reunion gig". Wirral Globe. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
15. Cavendish, Dominic (17 April 2022). "Gunge and custard pies: What happened when ITV's Tiswas reunited on stage, 40 years on". The Telegraph.
16. "Tiswas: The Reunion | St George's Bristol".
17. "Slapstick presents: Tiswas: The Reunion at St Georges Bristol".
18. "John Gorman". 45cat. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
19. "John Gorman Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More..." AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
20. "John Gorman | Actor, Writer, Composer". IMDb. Retrieved 14 October 2025.