Birthday People

Birthday People was a British children's television programme that ran for several years on the south west of England's regional channel Westcountry Television. The programme, showcasing children's birthday cards and messages, was Westcountry's replacement for the highly successful Gus Honeybun slots aired by the company's predecessors TSW and Westward. A number of different formats for Birthday People were tried out from 1993, including a nature theme presented by ex-Really Wild Show host Nicola Davies. Chris Langmore one of Westcountry's two Continuity Announcers presented the show with science themes from a number of locations around the South West. From Plymouth City Airport he took the show high over the countryside presenting one of the sequences from a light aircraft. From Kent's Cavern in Torquay he dressed up as a caveman to show how hard life was in pre-historic times. Westcountry presenters were also sent out to read birthday cards from local tourist attractions. From around 2000, Birthday People was hosted by a pair of puppet characters called Flotsam and Jetsam. Captain Flotsam lived in a lighthouse on "Herringbone Rock" with his sidekick Jessie the Seagull. Here they would present "The Birthday Log", while having various, often surreal, adventures. The first episode was never aired as it was considered too rude. It was an Easter programme in which Jessie sprayed the lighthouse with eggs. It is believed it was pulled because these eggs came from her bottom. The decision of the Executives not to air this episode left most of ITV Westcountry baffled. It is not known if a tape of this programme remains.