Stitch Up!

Last updated

Stitch Up! is a surreal CBBC children's hidden camera show in which pranks are played on the general public. It was originally broadcast in early 2002 and was repeated until 2008 on the CBBC channel, when CBBC began to focus even more on their target audience of the under 12s. Pranks were played all over the UK, with most taking place in London and the South East, although specials were filmed abroad.

In contrast to other CBBC programmes, Stitch Up! was more aimed at older children and teenagers (most CBBC programmes are aimed at primary school age children). The presenters and victims were all teenagers and adults with comparatively little child participation. The soundtrack/background music was often sultry and urbane, featuring bands like Oasis and Royksopp.

Notable pranks included Anne Foy pretending to be a news reader, appearing on TV screens in an electrical store, revealing embarrassing stories about a victim, who was watching the screens in horror whilst shopping with his family. Another surreal, ongoing sketch involved actors in knights' costumes and other strange outfits, fighting and doing bizarre things in a busy street, to the confusion of shoppers. Calum Callaghan played a boy who invited people to play card games with him in a train station and always accused them of cheating. Marvin Benoit played street magician 'David Plain' - a spoof of the famous magician David Blaine. Simon Kane played Remote Controlled Kid in all three series. He would enter a shop and ask a member of staff confusing and totally random questions.

The final prank of each show was the Big Stitch Up! One popular prank involved tricking a boy into believing his bedroom would be transformed by a DIY TV show whilst he was at school. When he returned home, it was revealed that his bedroom had actually been made to look like a garden, complete with a gnome and water feature. Another involved giving a Saturday worker at a hairdresser a 'day from hell' at work, with customers' hair catching fire and mirrors smashing in front of her. When it was revealed to the victim that it had all been a prank, he or she would receive a Stitch Up! trophy.

Stitch Up! ran for three series. Two of these were in 2002 and the third was in 2004. There is a Halloween special (also produced in 2004), titled Spook Up!, and is usually repeated around the Halloween time of year. A one off episode entitled 'Celebrity Stitch Up!' was produced.

The show originally starred Marvin Benoit, Calum Callaghan, Anne Foy and Simon Kane, [1] but new presenters, Adam Selkirk-Brown and Sita Thomas, later joined for the 2004 series. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Blue Peter</i> British childrens television programme

Blue Peter is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958 It was broadcast primarily from BBC Television Centre in London until September 2011, when the programme moved to dock10 studios at MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester. It is currently shown live on the CBBC television channel on Fridays at 5 pm. The show is also repeated on Saturdays at 11:30 am, Sundays at 9:00 am and a BSL version is shown on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CBeebies</span> British childrens television network broadcast internationally

CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged six years and under. Its sister channel, CBBC, is intended for older children aged six to twelve. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, timesharing with BBC Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Children's and Education</span> Division responsible for media content

BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC is aimed at children aged between 6 and 12, and CBeebies offers content for younger viewers.

Smile was a British Sunday morning children's programme created by production company Darrall Macqueen for CBBC. It first aired in 2002 on BBC Two. The final programme was broadcast on 26 August 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ortis Deley</span> British television presenter (born 1973)

Ortis Deley is a British television presenter, comedian, singer, radio DJ and actor. He is of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent, best known for presenting the Children's BBC Saturday morning flagship series Live & Kicking. As of November 2021, he is a presenter on The Gadget Show. He has also co-presented Police Interceptors in the UK, with Rick Edwards. He appeared on Police Interceptors special edition where he drove around with the Cleveland and Durham specialist operations unit as well as observing the operations of the control centre.

<i>SMart</i> British CBBC television programme

SMart was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham. The format is similar to the Tony Hart programmes Take Hart and Hartbeat. The show was revamped into an hour-long show in 2007; from 1994 to 2006 it was previously a 25-minute show. From 1994 to 2005, the show also featured Morph, originally from Take Hart. The series run featured 199 episodes, last airing on 11 August 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barney Harwood</span> British actor and television presenter

Barnaby John Harwood is a British actor and television presenter. He is known for his work with CBBC beginning in 2002.

<i>Prank Patrol</i> (Canadian TV series) Canadian TV series or program

Prank Patrol is a Canadian children's television series that aired on YTV. Each episode, host André "Andy" Simoneau and a team of ninjas help kids pull off pranks on an unsuspecting victim, usually a friend or family member. With the help of experts, pranksters convince their victims that the events - such as the prankster possessing incredible super powers, alien landings, or an intelligent gorilla suddenly appearing - are real, until the process is revealed to the victims after a successful prank.

<i>Xchange</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

Xchange is a factual entertainment BBC game show for children. It was broadcast initially on BBC One and BBC Two and later the CBBC Channel. The programme was transmitted live from studio TC2 at BBC Television Centre.

<i>Totally Doctor Who</i> British TV series or programme

Totally Doctor Who is a children's television series produced by the BBC that was originally broadcast between 13 April 2006 and 29 June 2007, accompanying the second and third revived series of Doctor Who. At the time of its original broadcast, Doctor Who, a science fiction programme aimed at a family audience, had no existing children's spin-off; The Sarah Jane Adventures, of which the pilot episode was broadcast on New Year's Day, 2007, would replace the series as the only children's show based on Doctor Who until 2009 when K-9 aired.

Anne Foy is a children's television presenter for the BBC. Until March 2008, she worked for the CBBC Channel and on CBBC. She can currently be heard as the voiceover on the music channel 4Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyger Drew-Honey</span> British actor

Lindzi James Tyger Drew-Honey is an English actor and television presenter. He is best known for his role as Jake Brockman in the British sitcom Outnumbered, in Citizen Khan as Richard Scab before later appearing in Horrid Henry: The Movie and the television series Cuckoo.

<i>Bear Behaving Badly</i> British childrens television series

Bear Behaving Badly is a British children's sitcom produced by Darrall Macqueen Productions, which originally aired for four series and was broadcast on CBBC between 3 September 2007 and 21 December 2010.

<i>Basil and Barneys Swap Shop</i> British childrens television series

Basil and Barney's Swap Shop is a British children's television series that was produced for CBBC and ran on Saturday mornings on BBC Two and CBBC Channel from 5 January 2008 to 25 September 2010. Based on the original BBC children's Saturday morning show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, which ran on BBC One from 1976 to 1982, it was hosted by Barney Harwood, along with veteran puppet character Basil Brush, from whom the show takes its title.

Ross David Lee is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his television shows Chute! (2007), Ross Lees Ghoulies (2008), and The Pranker (2011).

A prank call is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call. It can be illegal under certain circumstances.

Christopher David Johnson is a British television presenter and actor. He began presenting on the CBBC Channel in January 2010, and continued until April 2016. His first television appearance was for BBC Three, introducing Family Guy. Chris also makes content on YouTube under the user name OfficialCDJ.

Tiny and Crew is a British pre-school series which aired on Tiny TCC. Tiny TCC was replaced in 1997 by Living TV's time slot Tiny Living where the show continued. This show is a sister of the British pre-school television "Jibba Jabba" and uses Dog, which is the narrator of Jibba Jabba, as a character of the crew.

Throughout the years, Children's BBC, and later CBBC and CBeebies, have used a number of different identities. The branding of the stranded service is distinctive both in the past and at present.

<i>The Playlist</i> British childrens entertainment and music series

The Playlist is a British children's entertainment and music series presented by guest presenters, produced by Strawberry Blond TV for CBBC and first aired on 22 April 2017 and ended on 12 March 2022. The first series was narrated by Scott Mills. Each week the show has a different presenter with Greg James, Dev Griffin, MistaJam or Jordan North presenting the UK Singles Chart Top 10 segment and features various co-presenters since its 16th episode. The first presenters were Pixie Lott and Anton Powers. It is a replacement for the CBBC Official Chart Show, which ended in February 2017.

References

  1. "Stitch Up". IMDb . Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  2. "Stitch Up!". Digital Spy. 3 February 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2014.