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.
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.
Ellis left in 1983 to become a Blue Peter presenter, at which point she was replaced by Dot, played by Julia Binsted.
Featured supporting cast also included Paul Clayton, Biggum the giant 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, 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), the O-Men (Sylvester McCoy and David Rappaport), and Mr. Noseybonk, 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 terrifying children as much as amusing them, and has been popularised by Stuart Ashen’s series of Noseybonk Returns videos as well as later his appearance as Mr. Noseybonk in Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and was satirised as Mr Chuckleteeth in The X-Files episode Familiar.
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
Tropes that appear in Jigsaw:
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: While flying kites, Mr. Noseybonk seems to commit suicide by hanging
- Edutainment Show
- The Gadfly: Mr. Noseybonk
- Iconic Sequel Character: Mr. Noseybonk was introduced in the second season, but he became an iconic character for the show (though for the wrong reasons).
- Sadist: Mr. Noseybonk. He takes pleasure in irritating ordinary people going their way and their visible frustration excites him. See here and here
- Too Dumb to Live: Noseybonk notably averts it here
- Suddenly Speaking: Normally Adrian Hedley is a silent mime, but in a sketch where Noseybonk was a contestant on when Jigg was talking about the word "Plight", the lights were off and he spoke out loud about it being dark.
- The Voiceless: Noseybonk and his wife
- White Mask of Doom: Mr. Noseybonk and his wife
