T-Bag
Encyclopedia
T-Bag is a witch-like character who appears in a number of television programmes which ran from the mid-80s to early 90s on Children's ITV
. Written by Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman, each series has a different title and features a single story told over several episodes.
. In 1990, Elizabeth Estensen left the show and was subsequently replaced by her sister, Tabatha Bag, played by Georgina Hale
. Coincidentally both actresses subsequently had roles on the ITV
soap Emmerdale
.
throughout the series. He started as a small child in the early series, and grew up on screen until he towered above Georgina Hale by the time the final series ended in 1992. T-Shirt is presented as T-Bag's constant companion, part harassed surrogate son, part household servant. T-Bag and T-Shirt's magical powers, (rather limited, owing to cheap 1980's special effects) mostly consist of conjuring objects out of thin air when needed, sending objects elsewhere and teleporting across time and space instantaneously. T-Bag triggers her teleport ability by clicking her fingers, T-Shirt finds finger clicking too difficult and blinks instead.
The premise of each series involves various items hidden across time and space with T-Bag and the heroine both trying to find them. Debbie Carter, played by Jennie Stallwood is the heroine of the first three series. Diana Barrand
took over for series four as child television presenter; Holly Anna Jones. Kellie Bright
, who later appeared in The Upper Hand
and The Archers
, played Sally Simpkins in series five and six plus a Christmas special.
In T-Bag and the Rings of Olympus, the heroine is the Goddess Athena
's handmaiden, Polyzena, or Polly, played by Natalie Wood. In T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma, Archeologist's daughter; Penny Hunt is played by Evelyn Sweeney. Typically, each episode also features two non-regular cast members to progress the story.
Each episode has a different setting in which the magical item is hidden. These are often historical settings or settings from folklore or literature, such as ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Renaissance Italy and Elizabethan England or Tom Sawyer's American South, Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest, or a French Foreign Legion station in North Africa which owes something to Beau Geste
. Sometimes historical figures such as Napoleon, Leonardo da Vinci
or Queen Elizabeth I make a guest appearance. Thus, there is an educational element to the show, although these settings and characters are always treated lightly rather than with great accuracy.
A new DVD, T-Bag: The Reunion Documentary, featuring interviews with many principal cast and crew members was released on 17 September 2007, through UK based company Fantom Films. In December 2008 it was broadcast on Film24
.
In May 2010, Revelation Films
announced plans to release the series on DVD
, with the first series released on 8 November 2010, the second series was released on 24 January 2011 and the third series was released on 2 May 2011. Revelation Films have confirmed that the fourth series will be released on 8 August 2011. Pre-order listings have also started to appear for series five (tentively scheduled for 7 November 2011). Revelation Films have also confirmed on their website that the entire collection will be released in a boxset in January 2012.
described the show as '...time travel drama somewhere between Doctor Who and Blackadder
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
. Written by Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman, each series has a different title and features a single story told over several episodes.
History
The programme was first broadcast on 4 April 1985. From 1985 to 1989, the original T-Bag is Tallulah Bag, played by Elizabeth EstensenElizabeth Estensen
Elizabeth Estensen is an English actress, mainly known for work in the popular television dramas The Liver Birds and Emmerdale.-Career:...
. In 1990, Elizabeth Estensen left the show and was subsequently replaced by her sister, Tabatha Bag, played by Georgina Hale
Georgina Hale
Georgina Hale is an award-winning English actress notable for many stage, film and television appearances; often in the works of director Ken Russell and writer Simon Gray...
. Coincidentally both actresses subsequently had roles on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
.
Plot
Both sisters obtain magical powers by drinking tea made from the 'High T-Plant' and both are incapable of brewing it properly themselves and require an assistant or 'Tea Caddy' to do it for them. In return for his help, T-Bag shares her magical powers with her assistant T-Shirt (Thomas Shirt), played by John HaslerJohn Hasler
John Hasler is an English actor notable for his appearance as T-Shirt in the T-Bag series from 1985–1992. Hasler was the only T-Bag character to remain with the series for its whole television airing; starting the show as a young boy and leaving as a teenager.He has also appeared in Renford...
throughout the series. He started as a small child in the early series, and grew up on screen until he towered above Georgina Hale by the time the final series ended in 1992. T-Shirt is presented as T-Bag's constant companion, part harassed surrogate son, part household servant. T-Bag and T-Shirt's magical powers, (rather limited, owing to cheap 1980's special effects) mostly consist of conjuring objects out of thin air when needed, sending objects elsewhere and teleporting across time and space instantaneously. T-Bag triggers her teleport ability by clicking her fingers, T-Shirt finds finger clicking too difficult and blinks instead.
The premise of each series involves various items hidden across time and space with T-Bag and the heroine both trying to find them. Debbie Carter, played by Jennie Stallwood is the heroine of the first three series. Diana Barrand
Diana Barrand
Diana Barrand is a singer and actress. She was Holly-Anna Jones in the series Turn On To T-Bag and a member of a girl group Faith Hope & Charity -T Bag:...
took over for series four as child television presenter; Holly Anna Jones. Kellie Bright
Kellie Bright
Kellie Bright is an actress who is known for her roles as a child actress on British television in the late 1980s and the 1990s, and later in Bad Girls and The Archers.-Early career:...
, who later appeared in The Upper Hand
The Upper Hand
The Upper Hand is a sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?....
and The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
, played Sally Simpkins in series five and six plus a Christmas special.
In T-Bag and the Rings of Olympus, the heroine is the Goddess Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
's handmaiden, Polyzena, or Polly, played by Natalie Wood. In T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma, Archeologist's daughter; Penny Hunt is played by Evelyn Sweeney. Typically, each episode also features two non-regular cast members to progress the story.
Each episode has a different setting in which the magical item is hidden. These are often historical settings or settings from folklore or literature, such as ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Renaissance Italy and Elizabethan England or Tom Sawyer's American South, Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest, or a French Foreign Legion station in North Africa which owes something to Beau Geste
Beau Geste
Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.-Plot summary:Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator , by contrast, is his younger brother John...
. Sometimes historical figures such as Napoleon, Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
or Queen Elizabeth I make a guest appearance. Thus, there is an educational element to the show, although these settings and characters are always treated lightly rather than with great accuracy.
Series
The series titles and broadcast dates are given below:| Title | Year of broadcast | Series on IMDb |
| Wonders in Letterland | (1985) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389702/ |
| T-Bag Strikes Again | (1986) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391691/ |
| T-Bag Bounces Back | (1987) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200384/ |
| Turn on to T-Bag | (1988) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391700/ |
| T-Bag's Christmas Cracker | (1988) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392820/ |
| T-Bag and the Revenge of the T-Set | (1989) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391692/ |
| T-Bag's Christmas Carol | (1989) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392819/ |
| T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom | (1990) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235902/ |
| T-Bag's Christmas Ding Dong | (1990) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396888/ |
| T-Bag and the Rings of Olympus | (1991) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235903/ |
| T-Bag's Christmas Turkey | (1991) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396889/ |
| T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma | (1992) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0297640/ |
| Take Off with T-Bag | (1992) | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265001/ |
A new DVD, T-Bag: The Reunion Documentary, featuring interviews with many principal cast and crew members was released on 17 September 2007, through UK based company Fantom Films. In December 2008 it was broadcast on Film24
Film 24 (channel)
Film24 was a British production company and television channel, available on Sky channel 157.The channel averaged around 170,000 viewers a week, for the first five months of 2010, before the channel entered liquidation, it averaged 800,000.-History:...
.
In May 2010, Revelation Films
Revelation Films
Revelation Films is a British distributor of entertainment programmes on DVD.It was perhaps most well known as the company through which as of November 2006, the American anime company FUNimation Entertainment has launched its titles in the United Kingdom on region 2 DVD...
announced plans to release the series on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, with the first series released on 8 November 2010, the second series was released on 24 January 2011 and the third series was released on 2 May 2011. Revelation Films have confirmed that the fourth series will be released on 8 August 2011. Pre-order listings have also started to appear for series five (tentively scheduled for 7 November 2011). Revelation Films have also confirmed on their website that the entire collection will be released in a boxset in January 2012.
Reception
The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described the show as '...time travel drama somewhere between Doctor Who and Blackadder
External links
- The High-T Website Fan website with video clips, image galleries, merchandise info, cast biographies and Nitpicker's Guide.
- The T-Room Including sound and video clips; episode guides etc.
- Fantom Films Information about the reunion DVD
- Classic Kids TV Classickidstv page on T-Bag.