First broadcast on 4 April 1985, T-Bag was originally intended to be an educational show, but this direction was dropped after the first series in favour of simple adventure plots.
Between 1985 and 1989, Elizabeth Estensen played Tallulah Bag (or T-Bag) – a beautiful but evil witch whose declared mission was to destroy all the harmony and good in the world. She obtained her magical powers by drinking tea made from the ‘High T-Plant’.
T-Bag was assisted by her innocent young henchman Thomas, alias T-Shirt (John Hasler), a cheeky-faced boy she controlled by using her magical powers.
T-Bag triggered her teleport ability by clicking her fingers. T-shirt found finger-clicking too difficult and blinked instead.
T-Shirt did not share T-Bag’s evil ways, and – although he sometimes appeared to be faithfully serving T-Bag – he would ultimately side with the child heroine of the story.
Luckily, T-Bag’s efforts were always thwarted by the forces of good, represented in the early series by Debbie (Jennie Stallwood) and later by Holly-Anna (Diana Barrand), who found themselves constantly travelling in search of the answers that would undo T-Bag’s spells and return chaos to order.
When Estensen left the show in 1990, Tallulah Bag was replaced by her sister Tabatha Bag (also T-Bag), played by Georgina Hale who played the role until the series ended in 1992.
Each episode featured a different adventure, ranging from the disappearance of the hands on the Town Hall clock to the setting up of T-Bag’s own TV station to transmit evil messages to the young people of the world.
Titles included Wonders In Letterland, T-Bag Strikes Again, T-Bag Bounces Back, Turn On To T-Bag, T-Bag and the Revenge of the T-Set, T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom, T-Bag and the Rings of Olympus, T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma and Take Off with T-Bag.
Tallulah Bag (T-Bag)
Elizabeth Estensen Thomas Shirt (T-Shirt)
John Hasler Tabatha Bag (T-Bag)
Georgina Hale Debbie
Jennie Stallwood
T-Bag triggered her teleport ability by clicking her fingers. T-shirt found finger-clicking too difficult and blinked instead.
