the sixth series - The Bucket Of Water Song, which was such a hit with the viewers that it evolved from an intended one-off to an almost regular part of Tiswas.

By now, ATV had increased the budget for Tiswas, and Chris Tarrant had more of a say in the programme's production than ever before. A proper theme tune was created and the studio set was based around ATV cartoonist Chris Wroe's caricatures of the presenting team.

This series can be considered as the definitive series, due to the material drawn from this era that usually gets an airing on documentaries and clips shows when Tiswas is the subject. In addition, the three video compilations that have been released for sale have been packaged around a seventh series theme, withthe bulk of the clips also being from this age.

Midway through this series, Chris Tarrant decided to leave upon the series' conclusion. Also leaving after the final edition of series 7 were Bob Carolgees, Lenny Henry and John Gorman. They had decamped to start work on O.T.T., a late night version of Tiswas intended for an adult audience, which would debut in 1982. The only regular Tiswas presenter left was Sally James, who stayed on for series 8.

The last series of Tiswas, beginning in September 1981 and ending in April 1982, had its format heavily tinkered with by ATV management. They believed that the adult audience should be avid viewers of Chris' 'late-night Tiswas', and therefore Tiswas itself should focus on its child audience. With this well-intended alteration,