THE MAN. THE GOD.

Derek Griffiths is a living God to any British person born between 1965 and 1975 (and a quite a few others besides). This is because our entire childhood consisted of children's television programmes that Derek Griffiths was involved in. Just a few of these are listed below. His chief charms were his endearing personality, relaxed presentation style, outstanding musical abilities - singing, scatting or playing an instrument (who could ever forget his musical characterisations in Bod, for example?) and his gentle comic touch.

Derek was born in Woking, England in 1946. He has been a regular face on British television for more than three decades now, as well as being a well respected theatre actor and musician. Just some of his many many achievements are listed here.

TELEVISION

Play School - Pre-school children's programme with stories and songs, etc. Up there with the Play School greats (Floella Benjamin and Brian Cant, of course). Famous Griffiths acts included "We all walk the wibbly-wobbly walk", "I'm a dingle-dangle scarecrow with a flippy-floppy hat" and "I wish I could wobble like my sister Kate" each of which used his loose-limbed body style to great effect. See TV Cream for more details - and a (blurry) photo!.

Play Away - a slightly older version of Play School - presenter.

Bod - basic animation featuring a small boy - see Cartoons or Toonhound for a fuller description - music.

Heads and Tails - short animal films - voice-over, songs and theme tune (sing it Derek!).

Film Fun - showed clips from Warner Bros cartoons - presenter.

SuperTed - cartoon about a super hero teddy bear - as the voice of SuperTed himself. Also covered in Cartoons

Look and Read - songs and stuff.

Sky Hunter II - the voice of 'Jay' - an 'impertinant bird puppet'. He also sang the theme song and a variety of other songs too.

Many many other animations including; Brer Rabbit, Christopher Crocodile, Mythical Magical Creatures, Beatrix Potter Stories and Animal World

Also appeared in the television series The Funny Side (1985), Dark Towers (1980), Hi! Summer (1977), Don't Ask Me (1974), Don't Drink the Water (1974). Appeared in Casualty in 1999, The Young Ones in 1984, Terry and June in 1985, Please Sir in 1968, also appeared in Rock Follies in The Group and was a children's ITV presenter in it's first year (1983).

Advertising :
Recent campaigns; Bakers Dog Food, Disneyland, Hasbro, Quaker, Airtours. Does the voices for the current jamjar.com adverts. In the past he has won the Italian advertising Oscar for a series of comedy commercials!

FILM

Has appeared in a variety of films over the past 30 years, usually in a minor character part. These films include :
Up The Chastity Belt, Up Pompeii, Up The Front, Rentadick, The Alf Garnett Saga, Don't Just Lie There, Say Something, The Cobblers of Umbridge, All I Want is You... and You... and You, The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation As We Know it, Are You Being Served, Watership Down, Rising Damp. Most recently seen in Fierce Creatures as Garry Ungulates.

THEATRE

Derek has also performed extensively in theatre including Beauty and the Beast (as Lumiere), Miss Saigon, and in 1999 he won Best Actor Award for his performance in Noel Coward's Nude With Violin. Was Inspector Truscott in a 2001 version of Loot at the Royal Exchange, and appeared in Croak, Croak, Croak at the Old Vic in Bristol during October 2000.. Has also appeared on the West End and for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1979 he co-adapted a musical version of The Three Musketeers at The Royal Exchange (with Braham Murray) from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, for which he did the music and lyrics.