Tea Folk History
The late John McGill Lewis (1929 - 2009) of McCann Erickson originated The Tetley Tea Folk in 1973. The animated commercials were produced at Wyatt Cattaneo studios, where the Gaffer, Sidney, and supporting characters were designed by studio director Tony Cattaneo and animator Ramon Modiano. The series, from its start until the early 1980s, combined animation with live action sets and "props", such as real tea bags, cups, saucers, etc. The live action was first of all shot at the Morgan and Mount studios and later by Perkins StClaire. The series from its start until the early 1980s were animated by Ramon Modiano. The musical score for the "Tea Folk" song was composed by Ken Jones with the lyrics coming from their originator JM Lewis. The Art director was Alison de Vere. Towards the end of the 1970s, the Tetley Tea Folk account moved to the advertising agency D'Arcy, MacMannus and Macius.
From the early 1980s, Tetley's advertising was written and produced by the advertising agency D'Arcy, while the Tea Folk illustrations and commercials were then animated by animator Richard Ollive.
There have been 67 animated television adverts and many appearances in papers, magazines, on packs, radio, the Internet, as well as Tea Folk memorabilia. Over 30 million Tea Folk items have been sold, and Tetley Tea Folk items can now be found in over five million British homes.
The Tea Folk have provided some of the most memorable advertising on Britain’s TV screens—well-known lines such as
- Tetley make tea bags make tea
- That’s Better. That’s Tetley.
- Only Tetley will do.
These, along with the original Tetley tune and some notable soundtracks (Bill Withers’ "Lovely Day"; Irving Berlin’s "Keep Me Warm"; "Reach Out I’ll Be There" by Holland, Holland and Dozier), have made Tetley’s Tea Folk adverts some of the most instantly recognisable ever seen.
The characters' voices have been supplied by some distinguished actors throughout the campaign. For many years, Gaffer’s distinctive voice was provided by the late Brian Glover. He was later replaced by former Emmerdale star Bobby Knutt, while Sunburn's George Layton is the voice of Sidney.
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