Dave Thompson: Actor, Comedian, Novelist and Telletubby

Important note for James & Liz - please include this link in the show-notes: The Sex Life of a Comedian One of the most controversial TV shows of the 1990s featured four child-like aliens, apparently marooned on Earth with only a high-tech vacuum cleaner to look after them. I’m talking about The TelleTubbies. Since it was first broadcast in the spring of 2007 it’s been the subject of bizarre stories: The Times Educational supplement linked the show with student drug culture. Most notoriously, the tabloid press claimed that Tinky Winky, the biggest of the Tubbies was in fact a gay icon, part of a conspiracy to introduce kids to queer counter-culture. The Washington post claimed that Tinky Winky was the new Ellen DeGeneris and Jerry Falwell, the televangelist claimed that the purple alien was damaging children. And oddly, the person who seemed to get the blame for this made-up controversy was actor Dave Thompson who had recently been fired from the show’s cast. To this day, the received opinion is that it’s all his fault - But how much of this story is actually true? - I spoke with actor, comedian, novelist and former TelleTubby Dave Thompson and began by asking him how he got the role of Tinky Winky from in TelleTubbies....