Skelton joined the ITV show in the 1970s, performing Zippy and George for 22 years until it came to an end in 1992; he also wrote many of the scripts. He claimed to have based the voice of the domineering Zippy on a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Ian Paisley and remembered many hilarious moments — “like when Bungle had a terrible wind problem and tried to blame everyone else”. Hayes recalled Skelton as being particularly good when Zippy and George were having an argument: “It sounded like he’d double-tracked it as they seemed to be talking over each other. It was a wonderful technique. ”