Your Mother Wouldn't Like It

Your Mother Wouldn't Like It
Starring	Ian Kirkby Paul Stark Tom Anderson Philip Wombwell Karen Murden Christina Norris Steven Ryde Simon Schatzberger Karl Collins Pui Fan Lee Tayla Goodman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	30 mins
Release
Original network	ITV Network (CITV)

Your Mother Wouldn't Like It was a children's sketch show broadcast on ITV between 1985 and 1988. A unique aspect of the show was that the performing cast were almost entirely children.

The show was produced by Central Television at their Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham. The children used on the show were part of the Central Junior Television Workshop, an initiative founded by Central Television. The show won a BAFTA award but has never been issued on DVD.

It is thought that a TV producer asked members of the Central Junior Television Workshop what type of show they would like to make, and the majority decision was comedy.

The first two series of Your Mother Wouldn't Like It were mainly based on the conceit of a few of the children—Loaf, Lonnie, Cans, Mary Rose and Pam—running and writing the show itself, interspersed with sketches. The third series did away with most of this narrative, but retained Loaf as an essential linking device.

Loaf (played by Ian Kirkby) was a dogsbody character, with Cans (Tom Anderson) as the main boss to everyone. A puppet worm—named Tapeworm—would interrupt proceedings now and then with a sneery comment. In the last episode, it was revealed to the audience that Loaf was the puppeteer and voice behind Tapeworm, although the puppet's voice really belonged to performer Karl Collins throughout the show's life. The final series also featured Richard Allenson playing the part of Mr. Briefcase, the sneering man from the Ministry of Wholesome Television who repeatedly tried to close down the show and invariably ended up failing. Richard Allenson went on to create the character Professor McGinty, a time-travelling detective who tours the country with his mobile museum.

Familiar concepts from anarchic children's programmes were present, such as slapstick humour featuring custard pies and gunge as visual punchlines, and a healthy disrespect towards authority.

There were roughly 100 members in the Central Junior Television Workshop, which was split into two branches, one based in Birmingham, the other based in Nottingham. With a wide range of talent, different kids could be focused on each week for their own comedy routines. Impressions were quite popular, as were parodies of television programmes of the time.

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