Tuesday promises to be a fine day for japes and capers, be it spaghetti growing on trees, the Channel Tunnel builders missing each other in the middle, or a Burger King left-handed Whopper. Frances Booth reports
Fancy raising the Tomfoolery stakes beyond sticking the stapler to the desk?
Then read on and draw inspiration from these five great April Fools past.
Panorama Spaghetti Tree, 1957
The Panorama story of spaghetti ‘growing’ on trees in a village in Switzerland was set up by cameraman Charles De Jaeger and producer David Wheeler. De Jaeger knew of a place where the locals would take part, and on a £100 budget he attached spaghetti to trees and fooled millions.
Wheeler had written a commentary for Richard Dimbleby including lines such as: ‘After picking, the spaghetti is laid out to dry in the warm, alpine sun’. Despite a hint from Dimbleby (saying goodnight ‘on this first day of April’) the BBC received calls and letters from keen viewers asking how to grow your own spaghetti.
News of the World, Chunnel miss, 1990
On April Fool’s Day 1990, the News of the World reported that the two sides of the Channel Tunnel, being built from Britain and France, were set to miss each other by 14ft.
This is a variation on a theme, used before as an April Fool about tunnels in the Alps. The News of the World reported that the error would cost £10bn, and add to the existing construction troubles.
What begins as a seemingly normal broadcast soon proves not to be so. Desmond Lynam is talking about upcoming events and flat racing, then promises: ‘We’ll continue to do our best to cover sport in the way that you like, backed up by… our highly professional team.’
In the background staff in the newsroom, begin elbowing and punching one another. Soon this develops into a many-men brawl. Excellent 80s haircuts and clothing add value. At the end of the broadcast the sports jokers stand grinning with a sign which reads ‘April Fool’.

telegraph.co.uk