Nicholas Parsons 4 June 2018 (when regular guest Gyles Brandreth replaced him for 2 episodes), and has presented the show in six different decades. The programme's longevity is arguably due in part to the host's ability to be a chairman, create laughs and to act as a straight man to the comedians who participate. In the 1950s, Parsons provided the non-singing voice of Tex Tucker in the children's TV puppet series "Four Feather Falls" at the suggestion of his then wife, actress and voiceover artiste Denise Bryer, who was in the show. During the late 1960s he created and presented a satirical
Supermarionation characters – played by puppets known as "revamps" – were sculpted in Plasticine. The term "Supermarionation" was coined during the production of APF's fourth series, "Supercar", whose final 13 episodes were the first to be credited as being "Filmed in Supermarionation". The system used marionettes suspended and controlled by thin wires. As the wires were visible to the camera, the puppeteers attempted to conceal them by spraying them with "antiflare" (grease mist) or painting them various colours so that they would blend in with the backgrounds. The marionettes' two distinguishing features were their fibreglass heads and the internal solenoids that