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Long, long ago, in the days
before digital,

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when television closed down at night
and didn't even run all day,

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there was an idea.

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Hello, children.

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The idea was that
children should have,

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deserved to have, their own
television programmes just for them.

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For the next few minutes,
I'd like you to see

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some of the children's programmes.

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Some thought this was a silly idea

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and that children were not worth
talking to, or listening to.

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How dare you!

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But others took the idea and
protected it

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and learned the secrets of making
TV for children.

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Magic, magic.

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They unlocked the magic
and believed in its power...

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We'll be back on Thursday.

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..and little by little, they built
whole afternoons full of wonder...

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..just for children to enjoy...

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..and the cleverest sort
of grown ups.

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How did they do it?

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Hello.

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Let's see.

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Right from its founding in 1922,
and for its first 40 years,

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the BBC made provision for children.

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This is the BBC Home Service.
Hello, children.

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When I was a child, it was radio.

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Children's Hour on
the home service of the BBC.

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Every night at five o'clock,
and I was a great fan.

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Larry the Lamb...

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'Oh, Mr Grouser, Sir, we were just
going to look for you.'

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'Well, look at me. Well,
you had the opportunity.'

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..and Dick Barton.

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Really good adventure stories,
which you had to imagine, of course.

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Swim for it, Jock, swim.

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You know, the mind's eye stuff.

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As television took off,
Children's Hour made the switch.

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SIREN SOUNDS

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Seven long years of war
meant no television at all.

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# We want Muffin
Muffin the Mule... #

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But, when it resumed in 1946,
children's programming was back

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for one hour a week, on Sundays,

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and Muffin the Mule made his debut.

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Now, what are you doing
behind there, Muffin? I see.

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A sly cup of my tea, as usual.

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Children's television of
that period was a bit staid

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and it was adults addressing
the audience

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and addressing the audience
as opposed to

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addressing the individual
child.

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# I am now a traffic cop

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# They have to halt
when I say stop... #

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Cecil McGivern,
controller of programmes,

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said children are fascinated
by television

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and we're doing bits of scraps
and bits here and there,

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but it's not been properly
coordinated and organised.

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In 1950, a Children's Department
was set up

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to expand the range
of shows on offer.

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I think everybody in the department

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had different ideas
about how we should do it.

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Everybody was dedicated to doing
programmes for children.

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I'd like to give you an idea
of the sort of things you can

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see in our programmes.

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Was it Bill or was it Ben

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did whatever bad thing
it was just then?

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Andy Pandy.

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There isn't such a thing
as Andy Pandy.

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It's...
POSH VOICE: Andy Pandy.

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Are you waving to him,
children?

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It's Crackerjack.

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The only crime I have committed

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is that of a wish to serve
Your Lordship faithfully and well.

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I am going to tell you a story.

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MUSIC PLAYS

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And, of course,
Tales Of The Riverbank.

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Hammy, come back, you're too young.

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Standby. Prepare for takeoff.

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How on earth did they film that?

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It must have been
heartbreakingly difficult

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to get a hamster to steer a boat.

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You can't get a hamster
to do anything.

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Nothing much happened,
but I loved it. I loved it.

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MUSIC PLAYS

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Children's programmes had got along
quite happily

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until ITV was invented.

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While the BBC sought
to educate their child audiences...

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..ITV went all out to entertain.

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Adventure series...

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He's always helping people.

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..and Westerns....

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Westerns, they're exciting.

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Boots and saddles where you see
the soldiers and that,

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and the Indians,
and plenty of action.

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..gave children
a much wider choice

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of exciting and well-made programmes.

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I can remember American culture
coming into my life.

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I must have been about five or
something like that and we had a TV.

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We were quite young.

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I was used to Andy Pandy
and Muffin the Mule

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and then one day,
I saw an American cartoon.

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I thought, "Wow, this is amazing."

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Now don't give me any trouble,
chicken. Chicken?

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You can get better laughs out
of them what you can other things.

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ITV's output wasn't fettered

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by notions of public service
broadcasting

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and lured away 75% of
the audience.

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Well, there is just one more thing
to be done. What's that?

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Dig another grave.

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In response, the BBC did away
with anything deemed cosy.

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Come back! No!

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In came dynamic dramas...

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Have you got a favourite programme?
Yes, Z-Cars. Z-Cars?

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Yes.

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..and out went
the budget for the kids' TV.

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Listen, we'd have found you
whatever you told us and...

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With funds being funnelled into
winning back the adult audience,

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children's entertainment and drama

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were handed to the adult
departments to manage.

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Cue and cut. 1:54, 1:55.
Cue and cut.

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Any remaining shows were
absorbed by Family Programming.

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In 1964, the Children's Department
was disbanded.

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We felt betrayed by the BBC.

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I don't know why they did it
but we were at the receiving end

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and we thought, "We'll show them."

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And that, actually,
explains our attitude.

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Apart from a wonderful
dedication to children,

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we wanted to give
the management a black eye.

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Standby, studio, let's have it quiet
now, please. There's a lot of noise.

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Despite the cuts, producers were
determined to deliver fresh,

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contemporary and
quality programming for under fives.

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We wanted to push a few boundaries
and to loosen it all up

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and do something that was much more
appropriate to the time.

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The idea was to create a nursery
school of the air

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with presenters much closer in age
to the kid's own parents.

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Here's a house, here's a door.

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Windows...

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One, two, three, four,
ready to knock.

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Turn the lock.

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It's Play School.

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Hello. I'm Virginia.

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Hello, I'm Gordon.

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Now we're inside, let's look around.

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In developing the series,

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the creators consulted
development experts...

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Seven pegs along the wall.

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..and rang the changes with the new
trends in 1960s child psychology.

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For any young animal,
including human beings,

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play is their first school.

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It's the means by which they learn.

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They're creating their personality
and that enlarges their sympathy

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and their understanding.

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It's just an essential part of
childhood, I think, make-believe.

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And so that's how
the title was chosen.

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We, sort of, looked at the
ingredients that you needed to have.

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The songs, the games,
the get out into the wider world

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and the storytelling.

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And it was just putting
all that together

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into a new
and different kind of format.

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Look who's here.

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It was very innovative,
Play School, I think.

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There was definitely
an air of pioneering.

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Of course, the show's success
relied on those ideas

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being translated to the audience

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through the interpretive
skill of the presenters.

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Not those ones.

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You close your eyes up
tight like this.

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Among those pioneers was film star
Paul Danquah

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and actor couple
Phyllida Law and Eric Thompson.

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Oh, what a nice hat. Do you see
anything different about me?

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Yes. I've just stuck it on.

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My husband was in children's
television doing children's things,

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'so I got on.'

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He stays in his box.

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Nepotism.

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'We did five programmes
in about two and a half days.

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'It was very tight.'

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'If you're working very hard
under those circumstances,'

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you always get hysterical,
don't you?

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And suddenly...

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up he jumps!

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1968 was a watershed year
for the show.

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January, February...

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It was repeated in the afternoons.

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Play School became
the keystone to Kid's TV.

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Oh, yeah, my son loves it.
We have to race home from school.

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I watch it. There's nothing
else on television.

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Hello.

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We're making holes in this paper.

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Now it's a sheet full of holes.

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We're going to use that later.

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Yes, in fact, the whole programme is
full of holes and dots this week.

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There are even dots on the calendar.

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That's wrong. Can we put take two
on the clock please, Frank?

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Big Ted and Humpty
want to play a game.

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'I didn't mind doing all the songs.
I knew every nursery rhyme.'

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What I couldn't tolerate was holding
Hamble, Big Ted and Little Ted.

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'I couldn't do it.'

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I won! Humpty and I have won.
Never mind, Big Ted.

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And Cynthia, the producer, said,

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"When you do something you like,
you're great, we love it.

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00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,240
"When you do something
you don't like, it's rubbish.

200
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"So you've got to get rid of that

201
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"and you've got to sell
yourself to the programme.

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00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:23,400
"If you do that, we'll keep you on.

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00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,120
"If you don't want to do that,
just tell us and we'll say goodbye."

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00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:28,680
And I went out and I thought,

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00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,800
"Why are you being bad
at something?"

206
00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:33,080
So I turned it round.

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00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,960
# Humpty Dumpty
had a great fall... #

208
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,320
# All the King's horses
and all the King's men

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00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:44,960
# Couldn't put Humpty
together again. #

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00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,480
It doesn't hurt, you know.
He likes falling off.

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00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,240
And within the next few,

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00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,120
I realised the integrity of
the people who made Play School

213
00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,960
was so wonderful and so fabulous
and so true, that it was...

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00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:04,120
It became more and more and more
of a pleasure to do.

215
00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:05,840
So, I stayed for 16 years.

216
00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,200
I picked up speed
and tried catching up,

217
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,400
but you were peddling faster too.

218
00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:19,240
# Riding along like a hurricane,
honey, spinning out of view

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00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:24,240
# You looked so pretty
as you were riding along... #

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00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,800
I always thought
if you wanted to educate a child,

221
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,000
you could do it through music
and comedy.

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00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:33,240
Sing the song.

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The comedy
and the music gets the attention,

224
00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,240
the focus, and then you
introduce the education.

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00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:43,760
# All I want to do is
wiggle my ears for you

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00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:49,360
# All I want to do is
wiggle my ears for you... #

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00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,160
When I first went in, it was
terrible, terrible rhythm-less music

228
00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:55,560
and I remember them
giving me a song called...

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00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,920
POSH VOICE: Dig, Dig, Dig,
There's A Man With A Spade

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00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,000
And He's Digging
A Hole In The Road.

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00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,600
And it was sung like that.

232
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,120
And I said, "Look, can I change
this a bit?"

233
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,400
And they said,
"Well, if you must, if you must."

234
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,480
I said to Jonathan, "Give me
a 12 bar in blues in B flat."

235
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:11,920
And we ended up with...

236
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,280
# Dig, dig, dig,
there's a man with a spade

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00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,040
# And he's digging
a hole in the road... #

238
00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,360
And they said,
"Well, you can't do that."

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00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,400
I said, "It's that or nothing."
So, we did it.

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00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,000
All the letters came in saying,

241
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:24,960
"Can Derek Griffiths
do more of those pop songs

242
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,320
"because my kids were
dancing around in the room."

243
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,400
There's a robot!

244
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,200
Play School was the leading light

245
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,080
that showered the schedules
in sparkling spin offs.

246
00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:44,960
# It really doesn't matter
if it's raining or it's fine

247
00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,200
# Just as long as you've got time

248
00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,560
# P-L-A-Y

249
00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:51,680
# Play Away-way, Play Away... #,

250
00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:55,920
Play Away was made to showcase the
freewheeling talents of Brian Cant.

251
00:13:55,920 --> 00:14:00,600
Now, watch. Watch. Watch!

252
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,120
He was best at it. He was
just like a little boy himself.

253
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:11,240
Play Away was hugely popular.

254
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,040
Can you make this piece of rope
into three without cutting it?

255
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,640
Because it was aimed at a slightly
older audience, you had jokes.

256
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,560
You had slapstick.

257
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,320
You had Jeremy Irons...

258
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,680
It was refreshing.

259
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,800
We're a pair.
We're a pair.

260
00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:33,080
What are we a pair of?

261
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:37,600
We're a pair of nickers.

262
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,320
And Bod was
a Play School graduate too.

263
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,880
Originally a picture book that was
read on the show,

264
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,480
it was only natural
that a Play School star

265
00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:47,400
should help bring it to life.

266
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,080
'The challenge, really, for me,
was the signature tune.'

267
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,760
So, I found a jazz violinist
who was a student of Grappelli

268
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,320
and I got him down
to Olympic Studios in Barnes

269
00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:01,360
and I got my penny whistle
and I went do-do-do-do-do-do-do.

270
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:02,760
And he started playing.

271
00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:04,800
MUSIC PLAYS

272
00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,440
And it was take one.

273
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,920
"Hello," says Bod.

274
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:09,560
"Hello," says Frank.

275
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,320
"Hello," says PC Copper.

276
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,720
You had John Le Mesurier's
wonderful narration,

277
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,280
which was just so classy
and that was a privilege.

278
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,200
It became... It became a classic.

279
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,960
I've been having a lovely rest and
now I'm ready to tell you a story.

280
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,000
Play School's success
meant that there was leverage

281
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:31,600
to push for further funding

282
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,120
and more time in the afternoon
schedule

283
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:35,720
and the inspiration came

284
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,800
from Play School's own
storytelling strand.

285
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:45,320
Jackanory, Jackanory,
Jackanory, Jackanory....

286
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:46,920
'There was a little rhyme'

287
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,520
at the beginning of it, I remember,
all those years ago.

288
00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,720
I'll tell you a story
about Jackanory

289
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,800
and now my story's begun.

290
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,040
I'll tell you another about Jack
and his brother...

291
00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:57,480
And now my story's done.

292
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,360
Jackanory.

293
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,280
Originally,
it was a Whig political rhyme.

294
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,760
It's all about going out
and shooting a Tory

295
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,680
and then shooting another one.

296
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,880
So, we thought that might cause
a bit of flutter

297
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,480
if anybody cottoned onto that,
but nobody ever did.

298
00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,360
There was once a very rich gentleman

299
00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,760
and he lived in a castle
with a lot of fine lands.

300
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,680
'Well, to start with, the actors
were a bit dubious about doing it.

301
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:32,120
'You know, "Five 15 minutes'...
Why should we?" and all that.

302
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:37,680
But, gradually, they began to
realise, and so did their agents,

303
00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:43,040
that five 15 minutes solo exposure
was no bad thing for any actor.

304
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,400
Jean and Peter went out one day
with their dog, Scamp.

305
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,000
They ran into a meadow
and Scamp broke free of his lead.

306
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,440
It's a good show off thing,
Jackanory was.

307
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,560
"What on earth is that?" he asked.
"What?" said John.

308
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,000
"That!" said Peter.

309
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,080
And so many of my mates used to say,
"How do I get on that?"

310
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,200
Because the audience was huge.

311
00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,480
I mean, the whole of English
childhood used to look at it.

312
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:09,520
I won't be a minute, Vi.

313
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,440
So, parents have much,
much less time than in the past,

314
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,560
to read to their children.

315
00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,600
The great thing about television
is it's a classless thing.

316
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:20,440
You are reaching out to all children

317
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,560
regardless of where their home is

318
00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,120
and it's one of the great
values of it, of course,

319
00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,680
is that children who may not have
anyone to read them a story

320
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,840
don't miss out.

321
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,520
I used to imagine one single child

322
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,240
and I'll come straight through
the lens and talk to you.

323
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,040
Did you hear about that? Did you?
Come on, I'll tell you.

324
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:44,280
And then you've got them.

325
00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,280
And if you get that one
in your mind, then you've got

326
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,920
all the others as well.

327
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,640
He didn't like to run until he was
on the other side of the door

328
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,280
and then he bounded down the stairs

329
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,600
and out through the main
entrance to his taxi.

330
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,720
I don't know why he's not
just on television

331
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,400
on a Bernard Crimmins channel,
actually, telling stories.

332
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,280
Just there, on in the background.
It would be great, wouldn't it?

333
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,120
Is that Bernard Crimmins? Yes, he's
telling a story, yes, all-day, yes.

334
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:13,400
No, you don't, Buster.

335
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,000
Bernard doing Arabel's Raven
was a great favourite.

336
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,080
They heard the phone inside
the house begin to ring.

337
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:21,320
HE MAKES PHONE SOUND

338
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,680
Kenneth Williams,
the voices were extraordinary.

339
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,720
They've been expecting
this kind of attack for years.

340
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:30,000
Not that he was easy.

341
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,200
You were to be put out of action
by sleeping pills in your muffins.

342
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,480
And many, many people remember Judy
doing A Dog So Small.

343
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:42,160
He opened his eyes
and watched the light fade and then,

344
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:47,000
when it was so dark Ben
could hardly see, he saw clearly.

345
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,720
She had, then, all the magic
that she continues to have.

346
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,840
He saw that you couldn't have
impossible things,

347
00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,960
however much you wanted them.

348
00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,360
And if you didn't have the possible
things, you had nothing.

349
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,040
Jackanory's
traditional storytelling feel

350
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,160
cloaked the programme makers'
rebellious intentions.

351
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:11,760
MUSIC PLAYS

352
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,680
It provided an opportunity
to introduce filmed sequences

353
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,080
to illustrate the stories -
a sidestep around the restriction

354
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,360
on the Children's Department.

355
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:26,880
We were banned from doing drama,
but we were allowed to do Jackanory.

356
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,880
So, with a bit of creative
accountancy,

357
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,920
they saved up the days of filming
which they didn't use on Jackanory.

358
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:43,040
And then they did a Jackanory all
on film which was, in fact, a play.

359
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,000
It was a drama with actors
but it had narration,

360
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,600
so we hadn't broken
any of the rules.

361
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,400
This was just
a way of telling a story,

362
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,640
it just happened to have a few
actors acting in it and so on.

363
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,760
So, out of a lot of clever
chicanery,

364
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,320
children's drama was reborn.

365
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,400
The spin-off, Jackanory Playhouse,

366
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,240
brought stories
old and new to life...

367
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,280
Tis! Tis a witch!

368
00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,360
..and ran concurrently
to the original,

369
00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:16,840
which had lost
none of its popularity.

370
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,640
Telling stories, I think,

371
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,720
is one of the most pleasurable
things to watch, certainly to do.

372
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,720
And it's also very valuable,
I think.

373
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,880
Not long ago, there lived in London
a young married couple

374
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,160
of Dalmatian dogs.
Pongo and Mrs Pongo.

375
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,440
One of the most important things
is you can't mess about with kids,

376
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,360
because you're telling stories
to a child

377
00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:41,160
who maybe never
heard a story before

378
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,920
told with such intensity or joy
or whatever it might be.

379
00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,040
And I still get it from adults.

380
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,960
There's a black cab driver,
East Ender,

381
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,160
he looks in the mirror and he says,
"Do you know what?

382
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:58,120
"Jackanory, it made me want to learn
to read." Which killed me.

383
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,080
It's wonderful.

384
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,480
There are things that
the physical book can do

385
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,520
that the television can't.

386
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,160
But equally, there are ways

387
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,040
of bringing that same energy
and enthusiasm

388
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,720
right through the glass to say
to somebody, "This is the story.

389
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,960
"Do you want to know others?
Go and find some others.

390
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:15,120
"Write your own."

391
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,520
We started off with Play School,
then we had Jackanory,

392
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,080
then we had, usually, a cartoon.

393
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,520
# Top Cat... #

394
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,760
Top cat was weird because it had
a very finished title sequence.

395
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,240
Beautifully hand drawn backgrounds,
very finished and so gorgeous,

396
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,960
actually. It looked lovely.

397
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,240
And then it went into what was
the production design,

398
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:44,760
which was really
stripped back,

399
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,080
and I could never work out
what that was all about.

400
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,840
It struck me years and years later,
"Yeah, of course,

401
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,320
"they've pitched the series
on this really lovely look

402
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,720
"and they've used that sequence
as the title sequence

403
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,960
"and they've realised
they haven't got the money

404
00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,000
"to fulfil that
all the way through the series."

405
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,480
So they've stripped the backgrounds
to almost what we call a UPA look,

406
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:03,680
very, very stylised.

407
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,640
How many times have I told you
to keep your hands off my phone?

408
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,120
Oh, how thoughtless of me,
Officer Dribble,

409
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:11,520
I mean, Dibble.

410
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,400
I didn't keep count. Should I have?

411
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,480
It had some hilarious
wisecracking voices

412
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,840
and it was like
a sugar-charged drink.

413
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,440
As the afternoon went on
and older children were coming in,

414
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,480
the programmes got more demanding.

415
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,280
That was the theory, anyway.

416
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,080
Vision On, in the late '60s,
looks really natty.

417
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,520
They had a great design.

418
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,200
Vision On had grown out of
For Deaf Children...

419
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,200
Hello. My name is Cyril Fry.

420
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,560
..a programme developed
in the '50s that used captions,

421
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:54,640
but not signing.

422
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,720
But viewers complained
about its slow pace.

423
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,640
It didn't look like other shows.

424
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,600
When Top Of The Pops began in 1964,

425
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:17,040
it was a surprise hit with
deaf viewers because of its energy.

426
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:22,640
# I live in an apartment on
the 99th floor of my block... #

427
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,560
With this in mind,
producers Patrick Dowling

428
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,920
and Ursula Eason developed a concept.

429
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,320
A stream of ideas - Vision On.

430
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,880
# Hey, you get off of my cloud

431
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,320
# Hey, you get off of my cloud... #

432
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,960
It didn't rely on the spoken word.

433
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,160
And the visual excitement
that was in there

434
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,760
sometimes was quite anarchic.

435
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,320
Sometimes beautiful.

436
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,760
It was, basically, for all children.

437
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,280
The format deliberately leapt around
and took off on tangents,

438
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,320
to reflect a child's imagination.

439
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,520
All anchored in the studio
by Pat Keysall, who signed.

440
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,200
Hello. Today's theme is circles.

441
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,920
And artist Tony Hart.

442
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,120
The only restriction, as far as
we were concerned,

443
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,320
was that nothing should really last

444
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,720
more than a minute and a half,
two minutes.

445
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,640
So, if you think,
in a 30 minute programme,

446
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,040
we had to have more than
15 different items.

447
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,960
And all the different people
we used,

448
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,840
who were cottage industry animators,

449
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,280
brought in lots and lots
of new innovative ways

450
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,000
of making television.

451
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,120
And another animation came with
a couple of guys

452
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:01,360
who were only students.

453
00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:06,240
We did a very simple cell animation
of a character

454
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,080
that we called Aardman,

455
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,480
because he was a,
sort of, idiotic Superman.

456
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:16,880
Nobody knew he was called Aardman
because, of course,

457
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,520
this was basically a silent
programme, so only we knew.

458
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,760
And we used them
over a number of series.

459
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:29,480
All of the stuff is happening

460
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,040
whilst we're, kind of,
in the sixth form.

461
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:33,880
And we thought, there's got to be
a better way

462
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,000
than doing this darn 2D stuff.

463
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,280
So, we started using clay.

464
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:44,960
And that is when, I think,

465
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,800
we realised that this technique
of clay and models

466
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,000
and stop frame,
actually, is great fun.

467
00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:55,720
We weren't good at it,
but we had the luxury

468
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,760
and the great opportunity to learn
whilst getting it shown on TV.

469
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,320
I used to particularly
like the gallery.

470
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,160
I was always very judgmental,
so when the gallery came up,

471
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:11,480
I'd sit there saying,

472
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,400
"Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish,
quite good, Oh, yeah! Very good.

473
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,400
"Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish."

474
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,760
We'd have ten out of maybe 6,000,
7,000.

475
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,080
A lot of children were disappointed.

476
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,760
Thank you for sending us your lovely
pictures

477
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,960
and I'm sorry that
we can't return any,

478
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,680
but all those we show get a prize.

479
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,840
'What happened to those ones
that couldn't be returned?'

480
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:41,320
Erm, I think they were recycled.

481
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,880
Vision On fulfilled the audience's
interest in ideas.

482
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,160
When the series came to
a natural end in 1976,

483
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:59,520
the team were determined to keep
making shows to fuel that curiosity.

484
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,320
We were left well alone.

485
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:06,160
We were down in Bristol anyway
and we really did what wanted.

486
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,560
Their next project for the 4:30
audience was built around Tony Hart.

487
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,680
You could say that this is
a programme

488
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:19,720
about making pictures
with what isn't there.

489
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:21,200
He was a great gentleman.

490
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,800
He'd been a captain with the Gurkhas
and he was a natural,

491
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,840
natural person
and natural performer.

492
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:30,960
This old bit of sponge...

493
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,680
Because he was so soft spoken,
children would then think,

494
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,720
"Gosh, I'm actually sitting
beside him."

495
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,160
Peel off carefully.

496
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,360
He could take any object,
or any series of objects,

497
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,000
and put them together
and make a picture.

498
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,320
What I liked about those programmes

499
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,800
is that you didn't need
a big art cabinet.

500
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,200
You could make things out of things
that you had in the kitchen

501
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:57,920
or in your desk at school.

502
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,680
Tony was at the centre of Take Hart

503
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,440
and they wanted a character to be
a foil to him, a comedy foil.

504
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,280
So, could we come up with
a character?

505
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,320
And that's when we came up with
the little character Morph.

506
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:18,560
MUSIC PLAYS

507
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:25,920
Yep, here's Morph, here he is.
There he is. Just plasticine.

508
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,760
The simplest animation puppet.

509
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,000
What a mess!

510
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,640
And I think, for him,
it was a great relief...

511
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:35,880
And stay there.

512
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,840
..that he could do something which
wasn't always doing art.

513
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:40,400
You could have a little bit of fun

514
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,200
with this little imp
on the desk top.

515
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,320
MUSIC PLAYS

516
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,400
So, I think he was really,
really fond of him.

517
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,080
They became inseparable,
in the public's eye.

518
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,600
Tony Hart was the sweetest man
I have ever, ever met.

519
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:16,680
NEWS REPORTER: A plasticine army
of Morphs

520
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:18,680
gathered outside
Tate Modern yesterday

521
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,120
in memory of one of Britain's
favourite television presenters.

522
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:25,120
Tony Hart died earlier this year,
aged 83.

523
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:32,160
There was a spontaneous flash mob
of Morphs on the Southbank.

524
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,560
It was really quite extraordinary.

525
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,080
An outpouring of love,
really, for Tony.

526
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,200
The Vision On visionaries
weren't just into art.

527
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,720
Producer Clive Doig was also
the originator

528
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,000
of word puzzle programme Jigsaw.

529
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,000
I was asked to go to an audition
for Jigsaw

530
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,640
when I had just had my first baby,

531
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,560
the celebrated chanteuse
and Strictly finalist
Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

532
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,480
Anyway, at that stage,
she was weeks old

533
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,600
and so I went to see
Clive Doig

534
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,840
and he, sort of,
persuaded me to do it, really.

535
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:19,680
That was the word.

536
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,480
Clive was puzzle crazy, so there
were always clues within clues

537
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,000
and things that you could follow
over the whole series

538
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,000
and things that you could follow
that worked backwards.

539
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,360
Did you get it?

540
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,640
But if you didn't want to play,
you could still have fun

541
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,200
and that was Clive's idea, too.

542
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,120
You can still watch a thoroughly
enjoyable programme.

543
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:41,920
Janet, you should call him Pterry.
After all, he is a Pteranodon.

544
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,160
But the P ought to be silent.

545
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,440
Those peas certainly aren't silent.

546
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,360
She was amazing at being able to
relate to these weird

547
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,560
characters, including Adrian,
who was quite mad.

548
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:59,720
MUSIC PLAYS

549
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,920
Adrian Hedley was the other
presenter.

550
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,360
He did a character called Nosybonk

551
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,560
and, actually, that is the character
that most people come up to me

552
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,440
and say terrified them
throughout their childhood.

553
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:12,520
I can sort of see why.

554
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:21,000
As long as we keep the therapists
busy, that's the main thing.

555
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:27,760
MUSIC PLAYS

556
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,440
The lateral thinking extended
to science and numbers.

557
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,240
The amazing thing about numbers is
that we're surrounded by them,

558
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:36,920
yet we're still fascinated by them.

559
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:38,400
Go on, then, open the pyramid.

560
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,920
I hate times tables,
multiplication, division.

561
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,880
That's why kids get fed up with
this awful curriculum

562
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,640
that we call maths and is really
numeracy and nothing more.

563
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,600
You can't have a hydrogen bomb
in a TV studio.

564
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:51,320
There's a limit to what
they let you do.

565
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,120
Eventually, we were finding
that we had enormous figures.

566
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:55,480
Tremendous.

567
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,680
But 60% of our figures
were adults.

568
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,480
Many of them
were old-age pensioners.

569
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,720
So Thora Hird never missed
a programme.

570
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,760
And if the practical exploration
of academic ideas wasn't enough...

571
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:13,720
# We are the Champions.. #

572
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,040
..there was old school sporting
endeavour.

573
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:18,320
When we went to a school,

574
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,480
you would obviously have the sports
teachers there

575
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,200
and they would put
forward all the front row

576
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,880
of the rugby team or the girls
who played hockey best,

577
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,720
and that's not what
we were looking for.

578
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:37,000
We were looking for characters
and kids who worked well together.

579
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:42,080
Through the tunnel. Who keeps their
hat on? What a great, great idea.

580
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,000
And these were kids' programmes
that absolutely touched the nerve.

581
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,000
They caught on.

582
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,040
I'm ready. Come and get it.

583
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,880
And the Children's Department
grew and grew and grew.

584
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,880
It's Keith Chegwin here.
Just thought I'd tell you to

585
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,000
tune in watch Cheggers Plays Pop
this Monday at 4:40 on BBC One.

586
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,600
Eureka!

587
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,120
The viewers' enthusiastic response

588
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,320
vindicated the department's
determination.

589
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,880
They staked a claim for even more
of the schedule space.

590
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:17,560
Monica Sims said,

591
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,120
"We do every kind of discipline,

592
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,480
"everything with the exception
of news."

593
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:28,880
And I thought, "I wonder if there's
a way of doing news for children."

594
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,360
I went to see the head of news
and he said,

595
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,560
"Well, I can give you the studio

596
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,160
"and you can have the use
of my correspondents

597
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:41,360
"when they've
got nothing else to do."

598
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,200
The means to make the show was
secured. Now it needed a presenter.

599
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,520
If you were in charge
of children's programmes,

600
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,000
what kind of changes would you make,
if any?

601
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,800
Mostly children instead of adults.

602
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,320
You'd want more children
involved in programmes?

603
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:02,520
The adults are taking over
the world.

604
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,400
Search was the BBC's
current affairs show for kids

605
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,440
and its host was John Craven.

606
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:12,480
Do you prefer Paul
sitting in the seat to me? Yes. Oh.

607
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:16,600
'I got a call to say that
a news programme

608
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:18,520
'was being contemplated for children

609
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,600
'and we had six weeks to see
if we could get it right'

610
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,440
and none of us had worked
at television news before.

611
00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:31,080
All the research, statistics
and focus groups

612
00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,760
stated that it was
doomed to failure.

613
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,480
Bernadette Devlin has tonight begun
her six-month jail sentence.

614
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,480
Children hated the news.
It was the man in a suit talking.

615
00:34:43,720 --> 00:34:48,800
It was boring. So it was a very
dangerous enterprise, really.

616
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,600
And if you lost the audience
there, you were finished.

617
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,080
John, can you look at camera,
please? Anything for you, Patrick.

618
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:57,400
First on BBC One,
John Craven's Newsround.

619
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:04,440
On Tuesday 4th April 1972,
John Craven's Newsround went to air.

620
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:07,480
There's been a lot of reaction
to the report

621
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,400
from the Government's
Health Education Council

622
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:12,840
which said that
pets could make you ill.

623
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:17,680
The lead story was something
which affected children.

624
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,480
In those days, corporal punishment
was in the schools

625
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,520
and I said on the day
that they abolished caning,

626
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,400
no matter what else happens,
that's the lead.

627
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,480
We've got 6.30, not 6.15.

628
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,120
'It was started on a shoestring.
Everybody did things for free.

629
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,200
'We got the very distinguished
foreign correspondents of BBC News

630
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,000
'to do items especially
for Newsround

631
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,560
'because most of them
had children'

632
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,200
who didn't really know
what their dads did for a living.

633
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,720
This was the dad's chance to
show their kids what they did.

634
00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:48,640
This is Michael Burke
for John Craven's Newsround

635
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:50,160
in Yorktown, Virginia.

636
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,960
This is John Humphrys for Newsround
in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

637
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,120
This is Martin Bell reporting
for John Craven's Newsround.

638
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,160
Now and again,
the foreign editor would say,

639
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,480
"I don't know how you've managed
to work this, John.

640
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,200
"Because I have John Humphreys
in Beijing

641
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,840
"refusing to close down
the satellite

642
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,760
"until he's done his piece
for Newsround."

643
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,400
These children live at the
Sacred Heart orphanage in Danang.

644
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,200
Once a principal American army base,
of the 300 here,

645
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,480
50 are orphans whose parents
have died in the war.

646
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,320
One way we had of explaining
world events was through

647
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,600
the eyes of children abroad
who were experiencing this.

648
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:33,280
One of the very first examples
of that was during the Vietnam War

649
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,720
and I asked Martin Bell,
who was reporting from Vietnam,

650
00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:39,560
if he had time, could he do
a little bit for Newsround

651
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,880
about what it was like to
be a child in a village in Vietnam

652
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,040
right in the middle of the conflict.

653
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,040
American servicemen bring presents
and help.

654
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,920
But happiness for these
and other orphans in Vietnam

655
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,280
can't really begin until they find
themselves in families

656
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,200
where they are wanted and loved.

657
00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,360
'And he sent us this very moving
film

658
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,960
'about these young children
in this village'

659
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:05,240
and it was the lead story
on Newsround.

660
00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,200
And it was also exactly
the same film

661
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,600
which was shown on
the Nine O'Clock News.

662
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,520
And Martin couldn't
really believe it.

663
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,800
It just shows at times,

664
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,480
Newsround and the main news could be
on exactly the same level.

665
00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:27,560
Details are still coming in
about the shock news that

666
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,280
Pope John Paul II has been shot.

667
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:37,160
100,000 people may have died from
starvation and disease in Ethiopia.

668
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:40,440
Choosing the right words
is so crucial.

669
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:44,080
Over the last 40 years,

670
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,760
there have been some
really horrible things

671
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,360
happening just
before five o'clock at night

672
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,640
and quite often
we were in loco parentis.

673
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,080
There's no adult
in the room at all.

674
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,600
In fact, many times,
adults were telling me

675
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,320
that their children have broken
the news to them

676
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,600
about something really important
which they'd heard on Newsround.

677
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:06,800
It was a time when the Children's
Department had a real significance.

678
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,800
Children's television became
a microcosm of adult television.

679
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:18,640
You had lots of fun programmes,
you had competitions and games.

680
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,560
You had serious drama
like Grange Hill.

681
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,640
I ain't giving you more money.

682
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:26,680
And you had Newsround. And Newsround
was always there at five o'clock

683
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:28,040
in the middle of everything.

684
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:29,840
And that's all from Newsround
for today.

685
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:31,920
See you at the same time tomorrow.
Until then...

686
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:33,800
Goodbye. Goodbye for now. Bye-bye.

687
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,680
It was a very important part
of many people's lives.

688
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,440
Back in the 1970s, channel chiefs
were persuaded that factual

689
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,080
and even fun programming

690
00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:52,600
justified increased spending
for the weekday schedules.

691
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,960
But fantasy proved a harder sell.

692
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,080
The problem is that drama is
enormously expensive.

693
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,920
Take your leave, Sir.
No, Monsieur Le Baron.

694
00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:05,880
This time it is you who are to
take your leave. You must be mad!

695
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:07,320
Not any more!

696
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:11,240
It doesn't cost any less than
what it does for adult drama,

697
00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:13,920
but children's drama is vital.

698
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:17,000
That's why we were so upset
when it was taken away.

699
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,560
For a time, drama was
bought in from across Europe

700
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:23,520
and dubbed or narrated.

701
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,760
# On my horses let me ride away

702
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:30,560
# To my world of dreams
so far away... #

703
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,200
We were all besotted with
White Horses.

704
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,640
And if pushed...I won't, but
I can still sing the theme tune.

705
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:38,400
# Two white horses...

706
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,520
Yes, all of that. Love that.

707
00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,880
Steady, lad. Hold him!

708
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,640
Oh, he's running away again.

709
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,520
And the singing, ringing,
dinging, flinging tree, yes.

710
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:57,360
I had nightmares about it
into my late 20s.

711
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,200
We'll put the tree in here.

712
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,160
What will happen to the fish?

713
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:07,040
The way that the Princess behaved,
was so incredibly cruel.

714
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:11,400
Take them out! Hurry up!

715
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:15,240
The visuals on it were very
different, very, very magical.

716
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,000
They were very creepy and that would
either give you nightmares

717
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:24,040
or you'd be drawn in and fascinated,

718
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,680
even though you didn't really
understand a word.

719
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:33,000
As a kid, that really,
really upset me and the sound...

720
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:34,960
I can hear it now.

721
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,160
I'm going to have
a damn nightmare tonight!

722
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,960
MUSIC PLAYS

723
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,240
But as the department
proved themselves

724
00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:46,040
and budgets were negotiated,

725
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,840
adaptations of classic
English novels were made

726
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:50,600
for the afternoon audiences.

727
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:54,000
Do people call you Al or Bert?

728
00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:58,160
I don't like my name being
abbreviated.

729
00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:00,840
And who designs sets when
he should be doing his homework?

730
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:03,200
No quarrelling, please.

731
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:06,520
Now, look, we have the problem of
the broken window.

732
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:07,640
It was great fun.

733
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:10,920
It was great fun except it was
uncomfortable wearing these vests

734
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:12,840
that the girls had to wear
under their costumes

735
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:14,560
to hold bosoms in place,

736
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,800
because we were all
considerably older

737
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,280
than the ages we were playing.

738
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,560
Oh, look! It's hatching.

739
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:27,360
I think there was an overall
tendency of BBC kids at that period

740
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:29,040
to be a bit middle-class.

741
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,880
And I think it was
something that a lot of us

742
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:36,440
felt quite strongly about, because
that wasn't the way things were

743
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,360
and the world was changing.

744
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:47,400
And although I am a huge
supporter and fan of the classics,

745
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,840
I did want to do
more contemporary stuff

746
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:54,840
that was more relevant to the lives
of children as they were living it.

747
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,000
Hence, Grange Hill.

748
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,720
Marion Edwards?

749
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:07,160
'It was controversial
right from the beginning

750
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,440
'and there was a lot of complaints.

751
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,600
'Suddenly, the powers that be
kind of sat up'

752
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,160
and noticed what was happening

753
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,360
and Monica Sims defended
it very, very strongly.

754
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:23,200
Don't let me ever let me catch you
doing that again. Understand?

755
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:24,920
'Aside from Grange Hill,

756
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:29,240
'you had things like adaptations of
Bernard Ashley's Break In The Sun.'

757
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:35,040
'The very, very strong story
about child abuse,'

758
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:37,080
which I'm not sure
that you could do today.

759
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,680
Well, have they sent you home
to get it? Yes, they have.

760
00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:42,280
It's got to be in today,
otherwise I can't go.

761
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,400
Oh, yeah, does he know
about your mum's headaches?

762
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:48,600
And about me being out of work
and about you wetting the bed?

763
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:50,760
Were you dry last night? Yes, I was.

764
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:52,680
That's two nights in a row,
like you said.

765
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:54,720
'We always tried to keep
the balance'

766
00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:58,800
between the contemporary

767
00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:00,680
and the historical
and the fantastic.

768
00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:06,160
And because there was enough money,
we could do both.

769
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:13,760
I may bring more than my show
in my box of such delight.

770
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:18,760
Drama became an essential in the
later part of the afternoon schedule.

771
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:22,120
BLUE PETER THEME TUNE

772
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:26,040
But the jewel in the crown
was always Blue Peter.

773
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,840
Working late is
one of the film editors.

774
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,520
She's putting the finishing
touches to the opening film

775
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,200
for the next edition
of Blue Peter.

776
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,360
Started by John Hunter Blair
in 1958,

777
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:45,120
Blue Peter was a 15 minute show
aimed at 5-11 year olds, bridging

778
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,960
the gap between Watch With Mother
and a magazine show for adults.

779
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,200
Items on toys and animals were
there from the start,

780
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,600
but it wasn't until 1962
that the show hit its stride,

781
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,840
revamped by new producer
Biddy Baxter.

782
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:01,680
Biddy Baxter arrived

783
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:05,920
and she had the tremendous idea
about what children wanted.

784
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:07,800
She seems to have a private line

785
00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:10,960
through to all
the eight-year-old minds.

786
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,320
Three, two, one. Off we go.

787
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:15,960
Right from the very beginning,

788
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,200
we wanted to produce a programme
that really involved viewers at home

789
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,480
so that they weren't sitting
there like cabbages

790
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:23,840
and letting the programme
swill over them,

791
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,440
but we left them with something
to do afterwards.

792
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,400
Just about 2st.

793
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,440
You little terror.

794
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:33,600
'It was exciting to join

795
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:37,800
'and I thought it was terribly
important to have a logo.'

796
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:43,920
And so we commissioned a young
up and coming unknown artist,

797
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:47,880
Tony Hart,
to produce an emblem.

798
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:52,560
And we had this ship on everything
connected with the programme.

799
00:44:56,120 --> 00:45:00,080
The music changed
and the opening sequence changed

800
00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:01,200
and in came the badges.

801
00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:03,040
Of course,
that was another thing we had.

802
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:07,120
I think pretty much the same
lines as John, go for this suit.

803
00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:08,360
It's called a jumpsuit.

804
00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:13,040
It's been designed specially
for men by a designer called Gloria.

805
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,520
"Where's your badge?" "Oh..."
I wish I'd had one tattooed.

806
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:19,600
'It was almost a sackable
offence if we'd done a film'

807
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:23,880
and we hadn't put our badge on.
You had to be very careful.

808
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:27,280
That was one of Biddy's laws.
You wear the badge.

809
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:29,600
That's the funny bit.

810
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:32,640
He gives the big bit to Sarah and
I get the little bit.

811
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:34,920
It doesn't matter,
it doesn't matter.

812
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,040
Just apply your minds.
Stop panicking.

813
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:39,480
THEY SING

814
00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:41,960
'Biddy was a fulcrum
and all of us

815
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:47,160
'knew perfectly well that however
much we bumped around in the ether'

816
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:50,040
she was in the middle
and that was good to know.

817
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:53,320
She believed in Blue Peter.
That was the important thing.

818
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,200
And I think to a large extent
we did as well.

819
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:58,200
I'm upside down!

820
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:02,760
But it was the feats of derring-do
which proved the presenters'

821
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,280
commitment to bringing us great TV
and kept the viewers hooked.

822
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:08,480
John did some incredibly
brave things.

823
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:10,880
We never had any insurance
for any of those things.

824
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:12,960
'If John had fallen off
Nelson's Column,

825
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:15,440
'goodness knows what would
have happened.'

826
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:17,440
That's a bit dirty. Never mind.

827
00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:19,480
I don't suppose anybody
will see that.

828
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:26,640
The best job in television
without any doubt.

829
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:28,000
Here we go.

830
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:32,880
'I hated parachuting.
I mean I really hated it.'

831
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:36,200
But I also like the fact that I
hated it and I could still do it.

832
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,160
I'm only a beginner so I'm going to
race two other beginners.

833
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,280
'All three of us were
in different powerboats.'

834
00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:44,760
I couldn't go any faster.

835
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:47,480
What a fantastic battle this was
turning out to be.

836
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,320
It was great.
I was loving every second of it

837
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:52,000
until I heard a terrific crash.

838
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,120
'And we hit a sleeper.'

839
00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:59,840
We turned round and
there was no back of the boat

840
00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:02,520
because the sleeper had flipped
the engine up,

841
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:05,400
which actually missed my back,
I was told, by about that much.

842
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,280
It could have sliced down
the whole of my back.

843
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:11,680
'What had started out as a sport
had in a fraction of a second

844
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:13,240
'turned into a near disaster.'

845
00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:14,720
'I wasn't pulled out immediately.

846
00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:17,080
'It was, "Hang on, stay there.
No, just stay in the water.

847
00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:19,720
'"We'll just get the camera ready
and we're filming."'

848
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:22,240
So I was there shaking from
the shock of this having happened

849
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:24,880
and sort of doing a piece
to camera in the water.

850
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,240
I'm very cold and rather wet
and shaking a bit.

851
00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:31,440
'They were fun but I think
of all the things

852
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:33,920
'I'm probably the most
proud of with Blue Peter'

853
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,320
I would say
it was those Christmas appeals.

854
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:39,480
Look at this. We've got right up
to the 10,000 mark,

855
00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:43,640
which is two thirds of the way
towards the final target

856
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:48,000
of 15,000 parcels for our
Blue Peter tractor for Africa.

857
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,040
I think it's absolutely fabulous

858
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:52,200
and let's hope that we can get it
for Christmas.

859
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:57,480
There had been a sort of tradition
before I joined

860
00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:00,040
'that shortly before Christmas,

861
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:05,600
'the Blue Peter studio was filled
with every imaginable kind of toy.'

862
00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:09,960
'And it was a rather
uncomfortable feeling.

863
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:13,560
'"What's in it for me? What am I
going to be given at Christmas?"

864
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:18,920
'And we thought it was a really good
opportunity

865
00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:21,520
'to explain to the audience
that there would be'

866
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,760
some children somewhere who weren't
going to have a nice Christmas,

867
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:26,640
who weren't going to have
Christmas presents.

868
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:28,640
Well, this is the Blue Peter hamper.
Are you going to

869
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:31,480
tell everybody what is going to
happen with it? Yes, OK.

870
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,280
Chris and I discovered that quite
a few children this Christmas

871
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:37,360
wouldn't be getting any toys.
We were rather worried about that

872
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:39,520
and we thought we'd like to do
something about it.

873
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:40,800
And then we had an idea

874
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:44,480
and we thought maybe you would all
like to help by sending in a toy.

875
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:48,080
In the following years,
the strategy changed.

876
00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,280
The viewers were asked
for things that they could easily
lay their hands on.

877
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:55,320
Rubbish that could be
converted to cash.

878
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,920
No sooner had we finished
the last line of the address than

879
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:01,200
the envelopes started
arriving, pretty much.

880
00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:04,200
It was always really astonishing.

881
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:06,880
You didn't have to have
money for this.

882
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:12,160
It wasn't about money. It was about
doing. It was about collecting.

883
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:15,800
It was about thinking.
It was about coming up with ideas.

884
00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:18,600
If it was collecting stamps,
one child could send one stamp,

885
00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:20,640
so they felt they contributed.

886
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:23,200
Another could send bookloads
of stamps.

887
00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:27,480
Whether it was helping at home
or overseas,

888
00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:32,640
Blue Peter viewers surpassed
the targets year after year.

889
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:36,520
'To tell a child that they can
effect huge change where

890
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,080
'you are perhaps getting glimpses

891
00:49:39,080 --> 00:49:43,200
'of some shattering pictures of
children who are starving,

892
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:46,800
'to feel that you can effect
a change

893
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:49,760
'and then you see films where other
children are getting involved

894
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:54,880
'and it becomes the effect
of collective action...

895
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:59,560
'For all the sort of apolitical
aims of Blue Peter,'

896
00:49:59,560 --> 00:50:04,800
that in itself is a truly pure
political act, isn't it?

897
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:10,200
That, as a collective, you are able
to make a change for the better

898
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:13,760
and the value of that,
it's priceless, isn't it?

899
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:26,280
Each afternoon of children's viewing

900
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:29,080
marched inevitably towards
the evening news.

901
00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:33,160
But in 1965, the schedulers

902
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:36,320
hit on a way of delaying
the inevitable.

903
00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:39,080
This is Mr Rusty.

904
00:50:39,080 --> 00:50:43,280
He used to be a happy man,
but now he's sad.

905
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:45,920
There's no magic in life any more.

906
00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:53,920
Made in France
by Serge Danot and Brit Ivor Wood,

907
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:59,080
the rights to Le Manege Enchante
were bought by the BBC.

908
00:50:59,080 --> 00:51:03,240
HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH

909
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:16,200
The beautiful French animation
required re-writing

910
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:18,000
with an English language script.

911
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:19,480
BOING!

912
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:21,480
And the man tasked with
the translation

913
00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:24,360
was Play School
favourite Eric Thompson.

914
00:51:24,360 --> 00:51:27,040
A Grundig machine came to the house,

915
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:31,000
to his study, with two huge
wheels on

916
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,080
and the film would just go
through from one wheel to another.

917
00:51:37,080 --> 00:51:40,520
And a tiny, tiny little
screen in the middle.

918
00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:43,320
"Who are you?" said Mr Rusty.

919
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,080
"I'm Zebedee. Zebedee."

920
00:51:46,080 --> 00:51:49,320
"What do you do?" said Mr Rusty.
"Magic."

921
00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:51,920
The animation is simple,
I would say, politely,

922
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:54,200
because they don't sort of...

923
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:56,000
emote. They don't emote do they? No.

924
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,080
No. They jump and they move.

925
00:51:58,080 --> 00:52:00,080
They wave their heads
and they wave their arms,

926
00:52:00,080 --> 00:52:02,760
but they're not conveying
any emotion at all,

927
00:52:02,760 --> 00:52:05,720
which is why Eric could write
different stories.

928
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:09,840
The French was absolutely...

929
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:14,800
SPEAKS IN HIGH PITCH

930
00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:19,880
SPEAKS IN FRENCH

931
00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:21,520
..horrible.

932
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:24,920
Zebedee asked Florence what
she would like to do today.

933
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:28,960
'Thompson redid it. Consequently,
it's very, very quiet.'

934
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:32,360
She would like to do something
restful, like picking flowers.

935
00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:35,040
His choice of words is heaven.

936
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:38,080
"What's your name?" said Dougal.

937
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:43,080
"Brian," said the snail.
"Brian?" said Dougal.

938
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:46,600
"Snails aren't called Brian,
snails are molluscs."

939
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:53,960
The resulting combination
of wry writing

940
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:57,720
and Thompson's tones
charmed children of all ages,

941
00:52:57,720 --> 00:52:59,360
especially those returning from work

942
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:01,640
and switching on to catch
the headlines.

943
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:06,720
"Come down, Dougal," said Florence.

944
00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:08,560
'Because it was in that
transition space

945
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:11,080
'between the end of children's
television and the news,'

946
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:14,000
almost regardless of what age
you were, you would see it.

947
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:16,320
"All the birds are up,"
said Florence.

948
00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:18,760
"That's their problem," said Dougal.

949
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:21,600
It was so well timed by the BBC
because it was just before the news,

950
00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:23,920
so Mum was getting the tea ready,

951
00:53:23,920 --> 00:53:27,000
Dad was coming home, you know,
and the kids were out of the way,

952
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:28,560
being occupied. Very clever.

953
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:32,160
It was sort of written for adults.

954
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,960
Or rather, let's say it wasn't
written for children,

955
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:37,560
it was just written for
an intelligent audience of any age,

956
00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:38,600
I suppose.

957
00:53:39,640 --> 00:53:43,480
Really? Why does everyone
have to be so stupid?!

958
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:46,840
While the kids were quite happy to
take the stories at face value...

959
00:53:46,840 --> 00:53:48,400
I knew that would happen.

960
00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:50,880
..the grown-ups looked
for deeper meanings

961
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:53,960
and a myriad of myths
sprang up around the show.

962
00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:55,360
Treasure!

963
00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:57,840
To some, it was a political
satire on the French.

964
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:02,880
He called the dog Dougal because
we lived in Scotland at the time

965
00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:06,320
and he was, as far as I was
concerned, a Scottish dog.

966
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:09,760
But the French were very upset,

967
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:11,800
because they thought
it was de Gaulle

968
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,080
and we were being rude
about their president.

969
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:18,040
What?

970
00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:23,760
What? What? What? What? What?

971
00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:26,960
To others, it was all
a psychedelic trip.

972
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:31,600
I'm afraid she's been affected by
all those poppies she's been eating.

973
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:34,080
I mean, Dylan was supposed to be
full of drugs and things.

974
00:54:34,080 --> 00:54:37,200
I'll, er...sleep on it.

975
00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:41,400
My husband wouldn't know a drug
if it stood up and shouted.

976
00:54:41,400 --> 00:54:43,600
Where's my leading lady?

977
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:45,240
And to one or two,

978
00:54:45,240 --> 00:54:48,600
it was all about Mrs Thompson
in the shape of Ermintrude.

979
00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:52,360
I'm a film star! Film star!

980
00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:56,960
Because I'm theatrical..
and wear hats.

981
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:00,240
What would my mother say?!
It was rubbish.

982
00:55:00,240 --> 00:55:02,520
I don't think any of them
were based on anything.

983
00:55:04,040 --> 00:55:08,880
When, in 1967, the BBC moved The
Magic Roundabout to an earlier slot

984
00:55:08,880 --> 00:55:12,840
in the children's schedule,
there was a national outcry.

985
00:55:12,840 --> 00:55:17,120
"Pay freeze, £50 travel allowance,
high taxes

986
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:20,080
"and now you've altered the time
of The Magic Roundabout.

987
00:55:20,080 --> 00:55:24,240
"What else are we children over 30
going to be deprived of?"

988
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:26,320
It's time for bed.

989
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:31,240
It was clear that this five minutes

990
00:55:31,240 --> 00:55:34,960
had become a focal point in
the nation's viewing habits,

991
00:55:34,960 --> 00:55:38,480
a much needed drop of feel-good
before facing the news.

992
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:39,800
That was our target.

993
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,520
That was the Holy Grail to get that
five minutes before the news slot.

994
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:51,360
I kind of like the bizarreness
of The Clangers.

995
00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:54,600
I liked trying to
decipher their language.

996
00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:57,640
WHISTLING

997
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:02,360
The Clangers spoke unto every
nation in a musical language,

998
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:05,960
but we still understood
every syllable.

999
00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:09,320
The Clanger scripts were written
out in full, in English,

1000
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:10,760
and we played it, so...

1001
00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:15,200
Was the bloody thing stuck again?

1002
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:25,640
They're very gentle
and live their own lives

1003
00:56:25,640 --> 00:56:28,160
and I think they would be very
alarmed if they got tangled

1004
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:31,880
with our sort of life,
the life of earthly civilisation.

1005
00:56:35,720 --> 00:56:38,960
The contract to run Britain's main
satellite television network

1006
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:40,680
has been awarded to a group backed

1007
00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:43,280
by some of the country's most
successful companies.

1008
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:48,760
As soon as satellite came in,

1009
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:52,720
that was the end of the golden
era of children's television.

1010
00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:57,520
Often the funding for the cable
stations came from the States,

1011
00:56:57,520 --> 00:57:01,120
so you've got the rules
of business now operating

1012
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:03,800
as distinct from the idea
of service.

1013
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:09,280
Increasingly the child audience
were seen as consumers,

1014
00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:13,840
as TV shows were created to sell
toys, games and books.

1015
00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:17,760
And in this new era
of children's television,

1016
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:21,840
appetites are fed on demand
and round the clock.

1017
00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:26,480
When we were doing it, kids watched
for about an hour and a half.

1018
00:57:26,480 --> 00:57:28,120
It rolled over into the news,

1019
00:57:28,120 --> 00:57:31,480
it rolled into reasonable current
affairs and I think kids got

1020
00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:35,480
a better chance of getting a nice
rounded education, not from us,

1021
00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:38,640
but from what they saw and what they
were watching at that time.

1022
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:41,640
Hello.

1023
00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:45,120
Do you mind a lion in your shop?
Not at all.

1024
00:57:45,120 --> 00:57:47,720
I want some... Get down!

1025
00:57:47,720 --> 00:57:50,680
You're handing your audience
something quite precious

1026
00:57:50,680 --> 00:57:53,440
when you're giving them
entertainment aimed just for them,

1027
00:57:53,440 --> 00:57:57,920
because childhood is pretty short
and if it works for them,

1028
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:00,880
like all the programmes that we
remember, they will remember it.

1029
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:04,560
They'll remember it in a way
you never will really
with your adult viewing memory.

1030
00:58:04,560 --> 00:58:06,520
I'm not coming down
till you give me that ball.

1031
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:09,000
It was so important,
children's television.

1032
00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:12,920
Because of its richness,
it covered all aspects,

1033
00:58:12,920 --> 00:58:14,640
so I think it did a good service.

1034
00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:20,200
Do you know what I think is
absolutely marvellous about

1035
00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:22,920
most people who've worked
in different generations

1036
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:24,440
of children's television?

1037
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:27,240
We all think we were in
the golden age.

1038
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:28,480
Goodbye, children.

1039
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:32,120
# I know we've come a long way

1040
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:35,800
# We're changing day to day

1041
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:41,000
# But tell me
Where do the children play? #