The Adventures of Twizzle

1 9 5 7 - 1 9 6 2 (UK)
52 x 15 minute episodes

Twizzle, a toy boy with extending legs and arms, meets a new toy golliwog in the toy shop. The golliwog is intrigued by Twizzle's extending legs and arms. The next day a bad-tempered girl enters the toy shop to buy Twizzle (He is very expensive at 2/-6d but the girl haggles the shopkeeper down to 2/-). Frightened by the girl, Twizzle hides in the jack-in-the-box. That night, Teddy Bear advises Twizzle to run away or the girl will come back and buy him. 

Twizzle escapes from the toy shop and after much walking takes shelter in a dog kennel. The kennel's owner, a cat called Footso, enters the kennel and they introduce themselves. They become friends and, once rested, decide to set off in search of adventure.

The Adventures of Twizzle was made by the newly-formed AP Films, an independent production company formed by Gerry Anderson, Arthur Provis, Reg Hill and Sylvia Tamm. The fledgling outfit had originally intended to make cinema films, but the expected offers of work failed to materialise and, with mounting debts, AP Films couldn't afford to be choosy about its commissions.

The string puppet characters inhabiting Twizzle's world were brutally simple constructions. Thick strings jerked crude papier maché heads to indicate which character was talking, and their "walk" looked amateurish even by the standards of The Flowerpot Men. But Twizzle and his gang were a hit and within seven years AP Films would be thrilling children with Thunderbirds (ITV, 1965-66).