The Adventures of Twizzle

The Adventures of Twizzle is a British children's puppet television series produced by AP Films (APF) which premiered on the ITV network in 1957.

In the first episode, Twizzle originally lived in a toy shop and cost two shillings and six pence (12.5p) and was nearly sold to a naughty girl named Sally Cross but he hid and escaped that night before the child returned the following day to buy him.

He travelled some distance and the next night hid in a dog kennel where he found Footso, a cat who had run away from home as the children made fun of his big feet.

Twizzle proved useful in a fire by saving a child on a high window when no ladder was available, for which he was given a racing car as a reward, but after crashing it he swapped it for a breakdown truck which he uses for rescuing toys.

It had been conceived as a puppet show by Roberta Leigh, who contracted APF to make 52 episodes budgeted at £450 each (about £13,700 in 2023).

[5] A co-production between APF and Leigh's company Banty Books, Twizzle was filmed in a converted ballroom at Islet Park House in Maidenhead.

To challenge audiences' preconceptions that puppet shows favoured static cameras and flat backgrounds, the production consciously incorporated dynamic shots and three-dimensional sets.

[6] Crew members included art director Reg Hill and his assistant Derek Meddings, puppet operator Christine Glanville, cameraman John Read and continuity supervisor Sylvia Thamm.

[6] There was a British annual brought out in 1960 by Brin Brothers Ltd, called More Twizzle Adventure Stories, "The lovable T.V.