0:00:06 > 0:00:10Long, long ago, in the days before digital,
0:00:10 > 0:00:15when television closed down at night and didn't even run all day,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17there was an idea.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18Hello, children.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21The idea was that children should have,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25deserved to have, their own television programmes just for them.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27For the next few minutes, I'd like you to see
0:00:27 > 0:00:29some of the children's programmes.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Some thought this was a silly idea
0:00:31 > 0:00:35and that children were not worth talking to, or listening to.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37How dare you!
0:00:37 > 0:00:40But others took the idea and protected it
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and learned the secrets of making TV for children.
0:00:44 > 0:00:45Magic, magic.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48They unlocked the magic and believed in its power...
0:00:48 > 0:00:50We'll be back on Thursday.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54..and little by little, they built whole afternoons full of wonder...
0:00:56 > 0:00:58..just for children to enjoy...
0:01:00 > 0:01:02..and the cleverest sort of grown ups.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05How did they do it?
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Hello.
0:01:07 > 0:01:08Let's see.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22MUSIC
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Right from its founding in 1922, and for its first 40 years,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29the BBC made provision for children.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32This is the BBC Home Service. Hello, children.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34When I was a child, it was radio.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Children's Hour on the Home Service of the BBC.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Every night at five o'clock, and I was a great fan.
0:01:42 > 0:01:43Larry the Lamb...
0:01:43 > 0:01:47'Oh, Mr Grouser, Sir, we were just going to look for you.'
0:01:47 > 0:01:49'Well, look at me. Well, you had the opportunity.'
0:01:49 > 0:01:51..and Dick Barton.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Really good adventure stories, which you had to imagine, of course.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Swim for it, Jock, swim.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04You know, the mind's eye stuff.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08As television took off, Children's Hour made the switch.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11SIREN SOUNDS
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Seven long years of war meant no television at all.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25# We want Muffin Muffin the Mule... #
0:02:25 > 0:02:30But, when it resumed in 1946, children's programming was back
0:02:30 > 0:02:32for one hour a week, on Sundays,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35and Muffin the Mule made his debut.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Now, what are you doing behind there, Muffin? I see.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41A sly cup of my tea, as usual.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Children's television of that period was a bit staid
0:02:45 > 0:02:49and it was adults addressing the audience
0:02:49 > 0:02:52and addressing the audience as opposed to
0:02:52 > 0:02:54addressing the individual child.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59# I am now a traffic cop
0:02:59 > 0:03:03# They have to halt when I say stop... #
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Cecil McGivern, controller of programmes,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10said children are fascinated by television
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and we're doing bits of scraps
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and bits here and there,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18but it's not been properly coordinated and organised.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24In 1950, a Children's Department was set up
0:03:24 > 0:03:27to expand the range of shows on offer.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29I think everybody in the department
0:03:29 > 0:03:31had different ideas about how we should do it.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Everybody was dedicated to doing programmes for children.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I'd like to give you an idea of the sort of things you can
0:03:40 > 0:03:41see in our programmes.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Was it Bill or was it Ben
0:03:46 > 0:03:48did whatever bad thing it was just then?
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Andy Pandy.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52There isn't such a thing as Andy Pandy.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54- It's... - POSH VOICE:- Andy Pandy.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Are you waving to him, children?
0:03:56 > 0:03:57It's Crackerjack!
0:03:59 > 0:04:02The only crime I have committed
0:04:02 > 0:04:05is that of a wish to serve Your Lordship faithfully and well.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09I am going to tell you a story.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11MUSIC PLAYS
0:04:19 > 0:04:22And, of course, Tales Of The Riverbank.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Hammy, come back, you're too young.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Standby. Prepare for takeoff.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28How on earth did they film that?
0:04:28 > 0:04:31It must have been heartbreakingly difficult
0:04:31 > 0:04:34to get a hamster to steer a boat.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36You can't get a hamster to do anything.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Nothing much happened, but I loved it. I loved it.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43MUSIC PLAYS
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Children's programmes had got along quite happily...
0:04:51 > 0:04:55..until ITV was invented.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03While the BBC sought to educate their child audiences...
0:05:04 > 0:05:08..ITV went all out to entertain.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Adventure series...
0:05:09 > 0:05:11He's always helping people.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13..and Westerns....
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Westerns, they're exciting.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Boots and saddles where you see the soldiers and that,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19and the Indians, and plenty of action.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22..gave children a much wider choice
0:05:22 > 0:05:24of exciting and well-made programmes.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28I can remember American culture coming into my life.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I must have been about five or something like that and we had a TV.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33We were quite young.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36I was used to Andy Pandy and Muffin the Mule
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and then one day...
0:05:38 > 0:05:41..I saw an American cartoon.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I thought, "Wow, this is amazing."
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Now don't give me any trouble, chicken.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49Chicken?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52You can get better laughs out of them what you can other things.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55ITV's output wasn't fettered
0:05:55 > 0:05:58by notions of public service broadcasting
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and lured away 75% of the audience.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Well, there is just one more thing to be done.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05What's that?
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Dig another grave.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13In response, the BBC did away with anything deemed cosy.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14MUSIC: Theme from Z-Cars
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- Come back!- No!
0:06:18 > 0:06:21In came dynamic dramas...
0:06:21 > 0:06:25- Have you got a favourite programme? - Yes, Z-Cars.- Z-Cars? Yes.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28..and out went the budget for the kids' TV.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Listen, we'd have found you whatever you told us and...
0:06:32 > 0:06:36With funds being funnelled into winning back the adult audience,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38children's entertainment and drama
0:06:38 > 0:06:41were handed to the adult departments to manage.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44- Cue and cut.- 1:54, 1:55.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Cue and cut.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Any remaining shows were absorbed by Family Programming.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54In 1964, the Children's Department was disbanded.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58We felt betrayed by the BBC.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I don't know why they did it but we were at the receiving end
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and we thought, "We'll show them."
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And that, actually, explains our attitude.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Apart from a wonderful dedication to children,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18we wanted to give the management a black eye.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Standby, studio, let's have it quiet now, please. There's a lot of noise.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Despite the cuts, producers were determined to deliver fresh,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31contemporary and quality programming for under fives.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34We wanted to push a few boundaries and to loosen it all up
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and do something that was much more appropriate to the time.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42The idea was to create a nursery school of the air
0:07:42 > 0:07:46with presenters much closer in age to the kid's own parents.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Here's a house, here's a door.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Windows...
0:07:52 > 0:07:54One, two, three, four, ready to knock.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57Turn the lock.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59It's Play School.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- Hello.- I'm Virginia.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04Hello, I'm Gordon.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Now we're inside, let's look around.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12In developing the series,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15the creators consulted development experts...
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Seven pegs along the wall.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22..and rang the changes with the new trends in 1960s child psychology.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25For any young animal, including human beings,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27play is their first school.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29It's the means by which they learn.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35They're creating their personality and that enlarges their sympathy
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and their understanding.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41It's just an essential part of childhood, I think, make-believe.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44And so that's how the title was chosen.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50We, sort of, looked at the ingredients that you needed to have.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55The songs, the games, the get out into the wider world
0:08:55 > 0:08:56and the storytelling.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59And it was just putting all that together
0:08:59 > 0:09:02into a new and different kind of format.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Look who's here.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07It was very innovative, Play School, I think.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10There was definitely an air of pioneering.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Of course, the show's success relied on those ideas
0:09:14 > 0:09:15being translated to the audience
0:09:15 > 0:09:18through the interpretative skill of the presenters.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Not those ones.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25You close your eyes up tight like this.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Among those pioneers was film star Paul Danquah
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and actor couple Phyllida Law and Eric Thompson.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Oh, what a nice hat. Do you see anything different about me?
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Yes. I've just stuck it on.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44My husband was in children's television doing children's things,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46so I got on.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49# He stays in his box.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51'Nepotism.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53# As long...
0:09:53 > 0:09:56'We did five programmes in about two and a half days.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58'It was very tight.'
0:09:59 > 0:10:02If you're working very hard under those circumstances,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04you always get hysterical, don't you?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06# And suddenly...
0:10:06 > 0:10:08# Up he jumps! #
0:10:10 > 0:10:131968 was a watershed year for the show.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16January, February...
0:10:16 > 0:10:18It was repeated in the afternoons.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Play School became the keystone to Kid's TV.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Oh, yeah, my son loves it. We have to race home from school.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I watch it. There's nothing else on TV.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Hello.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29We're making holes in this paper.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Now it's a sheet full of holes.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33We're going to use that later.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38Yes, in fact, the whole programme is full of holes and dots this week.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41There are even dots on the calendar.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43VOICE OF DIRECTOR
0:10:43 > 0:10:46- That's wrong.- Can we put take two on the clock please, Frank?
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Big Ted and Humpty want to play a game.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I didn't mind doing all the songs. I knew every nursery rhyme.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01What I couldn't tolerate was holding Hamble, Big Ted and Little Ted.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02I couldn't do it.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I won! Humpty and I have won.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Never mind, Big Ted.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09And Cynthia, the producer, said,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13"When you do something you like, you're great, we love it.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16"When you do something you don't like, it's rubbish.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19"So you've got to get rid of that
0:11:19 > 0:11:21"and you've got to sell yourself to the programme.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23"If you do that, we'll keep you on.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26"If you don't want to do that, just tell us and we'll say goodbye."
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And I went out and I thought,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30"Why are you being bad at something?"
0:11:30 > 0:11:32So I turned it round.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35# Humpty Dumpty had a great fall... #
0:11:35 > 0:11:37DRUM ROLL
0:11:38 > 0:11:42# All the King's horses and all the King's men
0:11:42 > 0:11:44# Couldn't put Humpty together again. #
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It doesn't hurt, you know. He likes falling off.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51And within the next few,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54I realised the integrity of the people who made Play School
0:11:54 > 0:11:59was so wonderful and so fabulous and so true, that it was...
0:11:59 > 0:12:03It became more and more and more of a pleasure to do.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06So, I stayed for 16 years.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11I picked up speed and tried catching up,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13but you were peddling faster too.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19# Riding along like a hurricane, honey, spinning out of view
0:12:19 > 0:12:21# You looked so pretty
0:12:21 > 0:12:24# As you were riding along... #
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I always thought if you wanted to educate a child,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31you could do it through music and comedy.
0:12:31 > 0:12:32Sing the song.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35The comedy and the music gets the attention,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38the focus, and then you introduce the education.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43# All I want to do is wiggle my ears for you
0:12:43 > 0:12:49# All I want to do is wiggle my ears for you... #
0:12:49 > 0:12:52When I first went in, it was terrible, terrible rhythmless music
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and I remember them giving me a song called...
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- POSH VOICE:- Dig, Dig, Dig, There's A Man With A Spade
0:12:57 > 0:12:59And He's Digging A Hole In The Road.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01And it was sung like that.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03And I said, "Look, can I change this a bit?"
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And they said, "Well, if you must, if you must."
0:13:06 > 0:13:09I said to Jonathan, "Give me a 12-bar in blues in B flat."
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And we ended up with...
0:13:11 > 0:13:14# Dig, dig, dig, there's a man with a spade
0:13:14 > 0:13:16# And he's digging a hole in the road... #
0:13:16 > 0:13:19And they said, "Well, you can't do that."
0:13:19 > 0:13:21I said, "It's that or nothing." So, we did it.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22All the letters came in saying,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24"Can Derek Griffiths do more of those pop songs
0:13:24 > 0:13:27"because my kids were dancing around in the room."
0:13:31 > 0:13:33There's a robot!
0:13:33 > 0:13:34Play School was the leading light
0:13:34 > 0:13:37that showered the schedules in sparkling spin-offs.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44# It really doesn't matter if it's raining or it's fine
0:13:44 > 0:13:47# Just as long as you've got time
0:13:47 > 0:13:49# P-L-A-Y
0:13:49 > 0:13:51# Play Away-way, Play Away... #,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Play Away was made to showcase the freewheeling talents of Brian Cant.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Now, watch.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Watch.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01Watch!
0:14:01 > 0:14:05He was best at it.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07He was just like a little boy himself.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Play Away was hugely popular.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Can you make this piece of rope into three without cutting it?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Because it was aimed at a slightly older audience, you had jokes.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23You had slapstick.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26You had Jeremy Irons...
0:14:26 > 0:14:27It was refreshing.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29We're a pair.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30We're a pair.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32What are we a pair of?
0:14:32 > 0:14:34We're a pair...
0:14:34 > 0:14:36..of nickers.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40And Bod was a Play School graduate too.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Originally a picture book that was read on the show,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45it was only natural that a Play School star
0:14:45 > 0:14:47should help bring it to life.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50The challenge, really, for me, was the signature tune.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53So, I found a jazz violinist who was a student of Grappelli
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and I got him down to Olympic Studios in Barnes
0:14:57 > 0:15:01and I got my penny whistle and I went do-do-do-do-do-do-do.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02And he started playing.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04MUSIC PLAYS
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And it was take one.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07"Hello," says Bod.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09"Hello," says Frank.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11"Hello," says PC Copper.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13You had John Le Mesurier's wonderful narration,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17which was just so classy and that was a privilege.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18It became... It became a classic.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26I've been having a lovely rest and now I'm ready to tell you a story.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Play School's success meant that there was leverage
0:15:29 > 0:15:31to push for further funding
0:15:31 > 0:15:33and more time in the afternoon schedule
0:15:33 > 0:15:35and the inspiration came
0:15:35 > 0:15:38from Play School's own storytelling strand.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43Jackanory, Jackanory, Jackanory, Jackanory....
0:15:45 > 0:15:46There was a little rhyme
0:15:46 > 0:15:49at the beginning of it, I remember, all those years ago.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I'll tell you a story about Jackanory
0:15:51 > 0:15:53and now my story's begun.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55I'll tell you another about Jack and his brother...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57And now my story's done.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Jackanory.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Originally, it was a Whig political rhyme.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07It's all about going out and shooting a Tory
0:16:07 > 0:16:09and then shooting another one.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12So, we thought that might cause a bit of flutter
0:16:12 > 0:16:15if anybody cottoned onto that, but nobody ever did.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18There was once a very rich gentleman
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and he lived in a castle with a lot of fine lands.
0:16:21 > 0:16:27Well, to start with, the actors were a bit dubious about doing it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31You know, "Five 15 minutes'... Why should we?" and all that.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36But, gradually, they began to realise, and so did their agents,
0:16:36 > 0:16:42that five 15 minutes solo exposure was no bad thing for any actor.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Jean and Peter went out one day with their dog, Scamp.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48They ran into a meadow and Scamp broke free of his lead.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51It's a good show-off thing, Jackanory was.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54"What on earth is that?" he asked. "What?" said John.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55"That!" said Peter.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58And so many of my mates used to say, "How do I get on that?"
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Because the audience was huge.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04I mean, the whole of English childhood used to look at it.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09I won't be a minute, Vi.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12So, parents have much, much less time than in the past,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14to read to their children.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18The great thing about television is it's a classless thing.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20You are reaching out to all children
0:17:20 > 0:17:23regardless of where their home is
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and it's one of the great values of it, of course,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29is that children who may not have anyone to read them a story
0:17:29 > 0:17:31don't miss out.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35I used to imagine one single child
0:17:35 > 0:17:39and I'll come straight through the lens and talk to you.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Did you hear about that? Did you? Come on, I'll tell you.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44And then you've got them.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47And if you get that one in your mind, then you've got
0:17:47 > 0:17:48all the others as well.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54He didn't like to run until he was on the other side of the door
0:17:54 > 0:17:56and then he bounded down the stairs
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and out through the main entrance to his taxi.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I don't know why he's not just on television
0:18:00 > 0:18:03on a Bernard Cribbins channel, actually, telling stories.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Just there, on in the background. It would be great, wouldn't it?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Is that Bernard Cribbins? Yes, he's telling a story, yes, all-day, yes.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13No, you don't, Buster.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Bernard doing Arabel's Raven was a great favourite.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19They heard the phone inside the house begin to ring.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20HE MAKES PHONE SOUND
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Kenneth Williams, the voices were extraordinary.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27They've been expecting this kind of attack for years.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Not that he was easy.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32You were to be put out of action by sleeping pills in your muffins.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36And many, many people remember Judy doing A Dog So Small.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41He opened his eyes and watched the light fade and then,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46when it was so dark Ben could hardly see, he saw clearly.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51She had, then, all the magic that she continues to have.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53He saw that you couldn't have impossible things,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55however much you wanted them.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59And if you didn't have the possible things, you had nothing.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Jackanory's traditional storytelling feel
0:19:05 > 0:19:09cloaked the programme makers' rebellious intentions.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11MUSIC PLAYS
0:19:11 > 0:19:14It provided an opportunity to introduce filmed sequences
0:19:14 > 0:19:18to illustrate the stories - a sidestep around the restriction
0:19:18 > 0:19:21on the Children's Department.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26We were banned from doing drama, but we were allowed to do Jackanory.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29So, with a bit of creative accountancy,
0:19:29 > 0:19:34they saved up the days of filming which they didn't use on Jackanory.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40And then they did a Jackanory all on film
0:19:40 > 0:19:42which was, in fact, a play.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46It was a drama with actors but it had narration,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49so we hadn't broken any of the rules.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51This was just a way of telling a story,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54it just happened to have a few actors acting in it and so on.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59So, out of a lot of clever chicanery,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01children's drama was reborn.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04The spin-off, Jackanory Playhouse,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07brought stories old and new to life...
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Tis! Tis a witch!
0:20:11 > 0:20:14..and ran concurrently to the original,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16which had lost none of its popularity.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Telling stories, I think,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22is one of the most pleasurable things to watch, certainly to do.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25But it's also very valuable, I think.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Not long ago, there lived in London a young married couple
0:20:28 > 0:20:31of Dalmatian dogs. Pongo and Mrs Pongo.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35One of the most important things is you can't mess about with kids,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38because you're telling stories to a child
0:20:38 > 0:20:40who maybe never heard a story before
0:20:40 > 0:20:45told with such intensity or joy or whatever it might be.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47And I still get it from adults.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50There's a black cab driver, East Ender,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53he looks in the mirror and he says, "Do you know what?
0:20:53 > 0:20:56"Jackanory, it made me want to learn to read."
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Which killed me. It's wonderful.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02There are things that the physical book can do
0:21:02 > 0:21:04that the television can't.
0:21:04 > 0:21:05But equally, there are ways
0:21:05 > 0:21:08of bringing that same energy and enthusiasm
0:21:08 > 0:21:11right through the glass to say to somebody, "This is the story.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13"Do you want to know others? Go and find some others.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15"Write your own."
0:21:20 > 0:21:23We started off with Play School, then we had Jackanory,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26then we had, usually, a cartoon.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30# Top Cat... #
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Top Cat was weird because it had a very finished title sequence.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Beautifully hand drawn backgrounds, so finished
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and so gorgeous, actually. It looked lovely.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43And then it went into what was the production design,
0:21:43 > 0:21:44which was really stripped back,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46and I could never work out what that was all about.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It struck me years and years later, "Yeah, of course,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52"they've pitched the series on this really lovely look
0:21:52 > 0:21:54"and they've used that sequence as the title sequence
0:21:54 > 0:21:56"and they've realised they haven't got the money
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"to fulfil that all the way through the series."
0:21:58 > 0:22:01So they've stripped the backgrounds to almost what we call a UPA look,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03very, very stylised.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07How many times have I told you to keep your hands off my phone?
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Oh, how thoughtless of me, Officer Dribble,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I mean, Dibble.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14I didn't keep count. Should I have?
0:22:14 > 0:22:17It had some hilarious wisecracking voices
0:22:17 > 0:22:19and it was like a sugar-charged drink.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27As the afternoon went on and older children were coming in,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30the programmes got more demanding.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33That was the theory, anyway.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Vision On, in the late '60s, looks really natty.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41They had a great design.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Vision On had grown out of For Deaf Children...
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Hello.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49My name is Cyril Fry.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53..a programme developed in the '50s that used captions,
0:22:53 > 0:22:54but not signing.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03But viewers complained about its slow pace.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05It didn't look like other shows.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12When Top Of The Pops began in 1964,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16it was a surprise hit with deaf viewers because of its energy.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20# I live in an apartment on the 99th floor of my block... #
0:23:22 > 0:23:25With this in mind, producers Patrick Dowling
0:23:25 > 0:23:27and Ursula Eason developed a concept.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30A stream of ideas - Vision On.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35# Hey, you get off of my cloud
0:23:35 > 0:23:38# Hey, you get off of my cloud... #
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It didn't rely on the spoken word.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46And the visual excitement that was in there
0:23:46 > 0:23:49sometimes was quite anarchic.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Sometimes beautiful.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It was, basically, for all children.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The format deliberately leapt around and took off on tangents,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05to reflect a child's imagination.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10All anchored in the studio by Pat Keysall, who signed.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Hello. Today's theme is circles.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And artist Tony Hart.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20The only restriction, as far as we were concerned,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23was that nothing should really last
0:24:23 > 0:24:26more than a minute and a half, two minutes.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32So, if you think, in a 30-minute programme,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35we had to have more than 15 different items.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And all the different people we used,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43who were cottage industry animators,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47brought in lots and lots of new innovative ways
0:24:47 > 0:24:48of making television.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57And another animation came with a couple of guys
0:24:57 > 0:25:01who were only students.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04We did a very simple cell animation
0:25:05 > 0:25:08of a character that we called Aardman,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11because he was a, sort of, idiotic Superman.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Nobody knew he was called Aardman because, of course,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20this was basically a silent programme, so only we knew.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26And we used them over a number of series.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29All of the stuff is happening
0:25:29 > 0:25:31whilst we're, kind of, in the sixth form.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33And we thought, there's got to be a better way
0:25:33 > 0:25:35than doing this darn 2D stuff.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39So, we started using clay.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47And that's when, I think, we realised that this technique of clay and models
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and stop frame, actually, is great fun.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55We weren't good at it, but we had the luxury
0:25:55 > 0:25:59and the great opportunity to learn whilst getting it shown on TV.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07I used to particularly like the gallery.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I was always very judgmental, so when the gallery came up,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11I'd sit there saying,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15"Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, quite good, Oh, yeah! Very good.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17"Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish."
0:26:17 > 0:26:20We'd have ten out of maybe 6,000, 7,000.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24A lot of children were disappointed.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Thank you for sending us your lovely pictures
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and I'm sorry that we can't return any,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33but all those we show get a prize.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36What happened to those ones that couldn't be returned?
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Erm, I think they were recycled.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Vision On fulfilled the audience's interest in ideas.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54When the series came to a natural end in 1976,
0:26:54 > 0:26:59the team were determined to keep making shows to fuel that curiosity.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01We were left well alone.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06We were down in Bristol anyway and we really did what wanted.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13Their next project for the 4:30 audience was built around Tony Hart.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15You could say that this is a programme
0:27:15 > 0:27:18about making pictures with what isn't there.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20He was a great gentleman.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25He'd been a captain with the Gurkhas and he was a natural,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28natural person and natural performer.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30This old bit of sponge...
0:27:30 > 0:27:34Because he was so soft spoken, children would then think,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37"Gosh, I'm actually sitting beside him."
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Peel off carefully.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44He could take any object, or any series of objects,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46and put them together and make a picture.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50What I liked about those programmes
0:27:50 > 0:27:52is that you didn't need a big art cabinet.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56You could make things out of things that you had in the kitchen
0:27:56 > 0:27:57or in your desk at school.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Tony was at the centre of Take Hart
0:28:02 > 0:28:06and they wanted a character to be a foil to him, a comedy foil.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09So, could we come up with a character?
0:28:09 > 0:28:11And that's when we came up with the little character Morph.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14MUSIC PLAYS
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Yep, here's Morph, there he is. There he is.
0:28:21 > 0:28:22There he is.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25He's just plasticine.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27The simplest animation puppet.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30What a mess!
0:28:30 > 0:28:33And I think, for him, it was a great relief...
0:28:33 > 0:28:35And stay there.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38..that he could do something which wasn't always doing art.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40You could have a little bit of fun
0:28:40 > 0:28:42with this little imp on the desk top.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44MUSIC PLAYS
0:28:52 > 0:28:55So, I think he was really, really fond of him.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57They became inseparable, in the public's eye.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12Tony Hart was the sweetest man I have ever, ever met.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16- NEWS REPORTER:- A plasticine army of Morphs
0:29:16 > 0:29:18gathered outside Tate Modern yesterday
0:29:18 > 0:29:21in memory of one of Britain's favourite television presenters.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Tony Hart died earlier this year, aged 83.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31There was a spontaneous flash mob of Morphs on the Southbank.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34It was really quite extraordinary.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37An outpouring of love, really, for Tony.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51The Vision On visionaries weren't just into art.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Producer Clive Doig was also the originator
0:29:54 > 0:29:57of word puzzle programme Jigsaw.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00I was asked to go to an audition for Jigsaw
0:30:00 > 0:30:04when I had just had my first baby,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08the celebrated chanteuse and Strictly finalist Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Anyway, at that stage, she was weeks old
0:30:10 > 0:30:13and so I went to see Clive Doig
0:30:13 > 0:30:17and he, sort of, persuaded me to do it, really.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19That was the word.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Clive was puzzle crazy, so there were always clues within clues
0:30:23 > 0:30:25and things that you could follow over the whole series
0:30:25 > 0:30:28and things that you could follow that worked backwards.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30Did you get it?
0:30:30 > 0:30:32But if you didn't want to play, you could still have fun
0:30:32 > 0:30:34and that was Clive's idea, too.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36You can still watch a thoroughly enjoyable programme.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41Janet, you should call him Pterry. After all, he is a Pteranodon.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44But the P ought to be silent.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Those peas certainly aren't silent.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51She was amazing at being able to relate to these weird
0:30:51 > 0:30:53characters, including Adrian, who was quite mad.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55MUSIC PLAYS
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Adrian Hedley was the other presenter.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04He did a character called Nosybonk
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and, actually, that is the character that most people come up to me
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and say terrified them throughout their childhood.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12I can sort of see why.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19As long as we keep the therapists busy, that's the main thing.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23MUSIC PLAYS
0:31:28 > 0:31:32The lateral thinking extended to science and numbers.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35The amazing thing about numbers is that we're surrounded by them,
0:31:35 > 0:31:36yet we're still fascinated by them.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Go on, then, open the pyramid.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40I hate times tables, multiplication, division.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43That's why kids get fed up with this awful curriculum
0:31:43 > 0:31:47that we call maths and is really numeracy and nothing more.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49You can't have a hydrogen bomb in a TV studio.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51There's a limit to what they let you do.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Eventually, we were finding that we had enormous figures.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Tremendous.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59But 60% of our figures were adults.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Many of them were old-age pensioners.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06So Thora Hird never missed a programme.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11And if the practical exploration of academic ideas wasn't enough...
0:32:11 > 0:32:13# We are the Champions.. #
0:32:13 > 0:32:16..there was old school sporting endeavour.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18When we went to a school,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21you would obviously have the sports teachers there
0:32:21 > 0:32:23and they would put forward all the front row
0:32:23 > 0:32:27of the rugby team or the girls who played hockey best,
0:32:27 > 0:32:29and that's not what we were looking for.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33We were looking for characters
0:32:33 > 0:32:36and kids who'd worked well together.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Through the tunnel. Who keeps their hat on?
0:32:39 > 0:32:41What a great, great idea.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45And these were kids' programmes that absolutely touched the nerve.
0:32:45 > 0:32:46They caught on.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51I'm ready. Come and get it.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56And the Children's Department grew and grew and grew.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59It's Keith Chegwin here. Just thought I'd tell you to
0:32:59 > 0:33:02tune in watch Cheggers Plays Pop this Monday at 4:40 on BBC One.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04Eureka!
0:33:07 > 0:33:08The viewers' enthusiastic response
0:33:08 > 0:33:12vindicated the department's determination.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15They staked a claim for even more of the schedule space.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Monica Sims said,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20"We do every kind of discipline,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23"everything with the exception of news."
0:33:23 > 0:33:26And I thought, "I wonder if there's a way
0:33:26 > 0:33:29"of doing news for children."
0:33:31 > 0:33:34I went to see the head of news and he said,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36"Well, I can give you the studio
0:33:36 > 0:33:38"and you can have the use of my correspondents
0:33:38 > 0:33:41"when they've got nothing else to do."
0:33:43 > 0:33:47The means to make the show was secured. Now it needed a presenter.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52If you were in charge of children's programmes,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54what kind of changes would you make, if any?
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Mostly children instead of adults.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00You'd want more children involved in programmes?
0:34:00 > 0:34:02The adults are taking over the world.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Search was the BBC's current affairs show for kids
0:34:05 > 0:34:07and its host was John Craven.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11- Do you prefer Paul sitting in the seat to me?- Yes.
0:34:11 > 0:34:12Oh.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16I got a call to say that a news programme
0:34:16 > 0:34:18was being contemplated for children
0:34:18 > 0:34:21and we had six weeks to see if we could get it right
0:34:21 > 0:34:24and none of us had worked at television news before.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30All the research, statistics and focus groups
0:34:30 > 0:34:33stated that it was doomed to failure.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38Bernadette Devlin has tonight begun her six-month jail sentence.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Children hated the news. It was the man in a suit talking.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44It was boring.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48So it was a very dangerous enterprise, really.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51And if you lost the audience there, you were finished.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54- John, can you look at camera, please?- Anything for you, Patrick.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57First on BBC One, John Craven's Newsround.
0:34:57 > 0:35:04On Tuesday 4th April 1972, John Craven's Newsround went to air.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07There's been a lot of reaction to the report
0:35:07 > 0:35:10from the Government's Health Education Council
0:35:10 > 0:35:12which said that pets could make you ill.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17The lead story was something which affected children.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20In those days, corporal punishment was in the schools
0:35:20 > 0:35:22and I said on the day that they abolished caning,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26no matter what else happens, that's the lead.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29We've got 6.30, not 6.15.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33It was started on a shoestring. Everybody did things for free.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37We got the very distinguished foreign correspondents of BBC News
0:35:37 > 0:35:38to do items especially for Newsround
0:35:38 > 0:35:40because most of them had children'
0:35:40 > 0:35:42who didn't really know what their dads did for a living.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45This was the dad's chance to show their kids what they did.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48This is Michael Burke for John Craven's Newsround
0:35:48 > 0:35:49in Yorktown, Virginia.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53This is John Humphrys for Newsround in Salisbury, Rhodesia.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56This is Martin Bell reporting for John Craven's Newsround.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Now and again, the foreign editor would say,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01"I don't know how you've managed to work this, John.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03"Because I have John Humphreys in Beijing
0:36:03 > 0:36:06"refusing to close down the satellite
0:36:06 > 0:36:10"until he's done his piece for Newsround."
0:36:10 > 0:36:14These children live at the Sacred Heart orphanage in Danang.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Once a principal American army base, of the 300 here,
0:36:17 > 0:36:2150 are orphans whose parents have died in the war.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24One way we had of explaining world events was through
0:36:24 > 0:36:27the eyes of children abroad who were experiencing this.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33One of the very first examples of that was during the Vietnam War
0:36:33 > 0:36:36and I asked Martin Bell, who was reporting from Vietnam,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39if he had time, could he do a little bit for Newsround
0:36:39 > 0:36:43about what it was like to be a child in a village in Vietnam
0:36:43 > 0:36:46right in the middle of the conflict.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48American servicemen bring presents and help.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51But happiness for these and other orphans in Vietnam
0:36:51 > 0:36:54can't really begin until they find themselves in families
0:36:54 > 0:36:57where they are wanted and loved.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59And he sent us this very moving film
0:36:59 > 0:37:02about these young children in this village
0:37:02 > 0:37:05and it was the lead story on Newsround.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07And it was also exactly the same film
0:37:07 > 0:37:10which was shown on the Nine O'Clock News.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14And Martin couldn't really believe it.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16It just shows at times,
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Newsround and the main news could be on exactly the same level.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Details are still coming in about the shock news that
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Pope John Paul II has been shot.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37100,000 people may have died from starvation and disease in Ethiopia.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Choosing the right words is so crucial.
0:37:42 > 0:37:43Over the last 40 years,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46there have been some really horrible things
0:37:46 > 0:37:48happening just before five o'clock at night
0:37:48 > 0:37:51and quite often we were in loco parentis.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53There's no adult in the room at all.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56In fact, many times, adults have told me
0:37:56 > 0:37:58that their children have broken the news to them
0:37:58 > 0:38:02about something really important which they'd heard on Newsround.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06It was a time when the Children's Department had a real significance.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Children's television became a microcosm of adult television.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17You had lots of fun programmes, you had competitions and games.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21You had serious drama like Grange Hill.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23I ain't giving you more money.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26And you had Newsround. Newsround was always there at five o'clock
0:38:26 > 0:38:27in the middle of everything.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29And that's all from Newsround for today.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31See you at the same time tomorrow. Until then...
0:38:31 > 0:38:33Goodbye. Goodbye for now. Bye-bye.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35It was a very important part of many people's lives.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Back in the 1970s, channel chiefs were persuaded that factual
0:38:47 > 0:38:48and even fun programming
0:38:48 > 0:38:52justified increased spending for the weekday schedules.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54But fantasy proved a harder sell.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The problem is that drama is enormously expensive.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02- Take your leave, Sir. - No, Monsieur Le Baron.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05- This time it is you who are to take your leave.- You must be mad!
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Not any more!
0:39:07 > 0:39:11It doesn't cost any less than what it does for adult drama,
0:39:11 > 0:39:13but children's drama is vital.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17That's why we were so upset when it was taken away.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21For a time, drama was bought in from across Europe
0:39:21 > 0:39:23and dubbed or narrated.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26# On white horses let me ride away
0:39:26 > 0:39:30# To my world of dreams so far away... #
0:39:30 > 0:39:32We were all besotted with White Horses.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36And if pushed...I won't, but I can still sing the theme tune.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38# Two white horses... #
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Yes, all of that. Love that.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Steady, lad. Hold him!
0:39:43 > 0:39:46Oh, he's running away again.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50And the singing, ringing, dinging, flinging tree, yes.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57I had nightmares about it into my late 20s.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59We'll put the tree in here.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01What will happen to the fish?
0:40:01 > 0:40:06The way that the Princess behaved, was so incredibly cruel.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11Take them out! Hurry up!
0:40:11 > 0:40:15The visuals on it were very different, very, very magical.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21They were very creepy and that would either give you nightmares
0:40:21 > 0:40:23or you'd be drawn in and fascinated,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26even though you didn't really understand a word.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33As a kid, that really, really upset me and the sound...
0:40:33 > 0:40:34I can hear it now.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I'm going to have a damn nightmare tonight!
0:40:36 > 0:40:39MUSIC PLAYS
0:40:41 > 0:40:43But as the department proved themselves
0:40:43 > 0:40:45and budgets were negotiated,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48adaptations of classic English novels were made
0:40:48 > 0:40:50for the afternoon audiences.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Do people call you Al or Bert?
0:40:54 > 0:40:57I don't like my name being abbreviated.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00And who designs sets when he should be doing his homework?
0:41:00 > 0:41:02No quarrelling, please.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Now, look, we have the problem of the broken window.
0:41:06 > 0:41:07It was great fun.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10It was great fun except it was uncomfortable wearing these vests
0:41:10 > 0:41:12that the girls had to wear under their costumes
0:41:12 > 0:41:14to hold bosoms in place,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16because we were all considerably older
0:41:16 > 0:41:18than the ages we were playing.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Oh, look! It's hatching.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27I think there was an overall tendency of BBC kids at that period
0:41:27 > 0:41:28to be a bit middle-class.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32And I think it was something that a lot of us
0:41:32 > 0:41:36felt quite strongly about, because that wasn't the way things were
0:41:36 > 0:41:38and the world was changing.
0:41:41 > 0:41:47And although I am a huge supporter and fan of the classics,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49I did want to do more contemporary stuff
0:41:49 > 0:41:54that was more relevant to the lives of children as they were living it.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58Hence, Grange Hill.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02Marion Edwards?
0:42:03 > 0:42:07It was controversial right from the beginning
0:42:07 > 0:42:09and there was a lot of complaints.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Suddenly, the powers that be kind of sat up
0:42:12 > 0:42:14and noticed what was happening
0:42:14 > 0:42:18and Monica Sims defended it very, very strongly.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23Don't let me ever let me catch you doing that again. Understand?
0:42:23 > 0:42:24Aside from Grange Hill,
0:42:24 > 0:42:29you had things like adaptations of Bernard Ashley's Break In The Sun.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34The very, very strong story about child abuse,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36which I'm not sure that you could do today.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39- Well, have they sent you home to get it?- Yes, they have.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42It's got to be in today, otherwise I can't go.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Oh, yeah, does he know about your mum's headaches?
0:42:44 > 0:42:48And about me being out of work and about you wetting the bed?
0:42:48 > 0:42:50- Were you dry last night?- Yes, I was.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52That's two nights in a row, like you said.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54We always tried to keep the balance
0:42:54 > 0:42:58between the contemporary
0:42:58 > 0:43:00and the historical and the fantastic.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04And because there was enough money,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06we could do both.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12I may bring more than my show in my box of such delight.
0:43:12 > 0:43:18Drama became an essential in the later part of the afternoon schedule.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20BLUE PETER THEME TUNE
0:43:21 > 0:43:25But the jewel in the crown was always Blue Peter.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28Working late is one of the film editors.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31She's putting the finishing touches to the opening film
0:43:31 > 0:43:33for the next edition of Blue Peter.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Started by John Hunter Blair in 1958,
0:43:39 > 0:43:44Blue Peter was a 15-minute show aimed at 5-11 year olds, bridging
0:43:44 > 0:43:48the gap between Watch With Mother and a magazine show for adults.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Items on toys and animals were there from the start,
0:43:51 > 0:43:56but it wasn't until 1962 that the show hit its stride,
0:43:56 > 0:43:59revamped by new producer Biddy Baxter.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Biddy Baxter arrived
0:44:01 > 0:44:05and she had the tremendous idea about what children wanted.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07She seems to have a private line
0:44:07 > 0:44:10through to all the eight-year-old minds.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14- Three, two, one.- Off we go.
0:44:14 > 0:44:15Right from the very beginning,
0:44:15 > 0:44:19we wanted to produce a programme that really involved viewers at home
0:44:19 > 0:44:21so that they weren't sitting there like cabbages
0:44:21 > 0:44:23and letting the programme swill over them,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26but we left them with something to do afterwards.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Just about 2st.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31You little terror.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33It was exciting to join
0:44:33 > 0:44:37and I thought it was terribly important to have a logo.
0:44:37 > 0:44:43And so we commissioned a young up and coming unknown artist,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Tony Hart, to produce an emblem.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52And we had this ship on everything connected with the programme.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59The music changed and the opening sequence changed
0:44:59 > 0:45:00and in came the badges.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Of course, that was another thing we had.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06I think pretty much the same lines as John, go for this suit.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08It's called a jumpsuit.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12It's been designed specially for men by a designer called Gloria.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15"Where's your badge?" "Oh..." I wish I'd had one tattooed.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19It was almost a sackable offence if we'd done a film
0:45:19 > 0:45:23and we hadn't put our badge on. You had to be very careful.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27That was one of Biddy's laws. You wear the badge.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29That's the funny bit.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32He gives the big bit to Sarah and I get the little bit.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Just apply your minds. Stop panicking.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39THEY SING
0:45:39 > 0:45:41Biddy was a fulcrum and all of us
0:45:41 > 0:45:45knew perfectly well that however much we bumped around in the ether
0:45:45 > 0:45:49she was in the middle and that was good to know.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53She believed in Blue Peter. That was the important thing.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55And I think to a large extent we did as well.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57I'm upside down!
0:45:59 > 0:46:02But it was the feats of derring-do which proved the presenters'
0:46:02 > 0:46:05commitment to bringing us great TV and kept the viewers hooked.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08John did some incredibly brave things.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10We never had any insurance for any of those things.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12If John had fallen off Nelson's Column,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15goodness knows what would have happened.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17That's a bit dirty. Never mind.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19I don't suppose anybody will see that.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26The best job in television without any doubt.
0:46:26 > 0:46:27Here we go.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31I hated parachuting. I mean I really hated it.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36But I also like the fact that I hated it and I could still do it.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38I'm only a beginner so I'm going to race two other beginners.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43All three of us were in different powerboats.
0:46:43 > 0:46:44I couldn't go any faster.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47What a fantastic battle this was turning out to be.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50It was great. I was loving every second of it
0:46:50 > 0:46:52until I heard a terrific crash.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55And we hit a sleeper.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58We turned round and there was no back of the boat
0:46:58 > 0:47:01because the sleeper had flipped the engine up,
0:47:01 > 0:47:05which actually missed my back, I was told, by about that much.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08It could have sliced down the whole of my back.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10What had started out as a sport had in a fraction of a second
0:47:10 > 0:47:12turned into a near disaster.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14I wasn't pulled out immediately.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17It was, "Hang on, stay there. No, just stay in the water.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19"We'll just get the camera ready and we're filming."
0:47:19 > 0:47:22So I was there shaking from the shock of this having happened
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and sort of doing a piece to camera in the water.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29I'm very cold and rather wet and shaking a bit.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31They were fun but I think of all the things
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I'm probably the most proud of with Blue Peter
0:47:33 > 0:47:35I would say it was those Christmas appeals.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39Look at this. We've got right up to the 10,000 mark,
0:47:39 > 0:47:43which is two thirds of the way towards the final target
0:47:43 > 0:47:47of 15,000 parcels for our Blue Peter tractor for Africa.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49I think it's absolutely fabulous
0:47:49 > 0:47:51and let's hope that we can get it for Christmas.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55There had been a sort of tradition
0:47:55 > 0:47:57before I joined
0:47:57 > 0:47:59that shortly before Christmas,
0:47:59 > 0:48:05the Blue Peter studio was filled with every imaginable kind of toy.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09And it was a rather uncomfortable feeling.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13"What's in it for me? What am I going to be given at Christmas?"
0:48:14 > 0:48:18And we thought it was a really good opportunity
0:48:18 > 0:48:21to explain to the audience that there would be
0:48:21 > 0:48:24some children somewhere who weren't going to have a nice Christmas,
0:48:24 > 0:48:26who weren't going to have Christmas presents.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28This is the Blue Peter hamper. Are you going to
0:48:28 > 0:48:30- tell everybody what is going to happen with it?- Yes, OK.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Chris and I discovered that quite a few children this Christmas
0:48:34 > 0:48:37wouldn't be getting any toys. We were rather worried about that
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and we thought we'd like to do something about it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40And then we had an idea
0:48:40 > 0:48:44and we thought maybe you would all like to help by sending in a toy.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47In the following years, the strategy changed.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51The viewers were asked for things that they could easily lay their hands on.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55Rubbish that could be converted to cash.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58No sooner had we finished the last line of the address than
0:48:58 > 0:49:00the envelopes started arriving, pretty much.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03It was always really astonishing.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06You didn't have to have money for this.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10It wasn't about money. It was about doing.
0:49:10 > 0:49:11It was about collecting.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15It was about thinking. It was about coming up with ideas.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18If it was collecting stamps, one child could send one stamp,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20so they felt they contributed.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Another could send bookloads of stamps.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27Whether it was helping at home or overseas,
0:49:27 > 0:49:31Blue Peter viewers surpassed the targets year after year.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36To tell a child that they can effect huge change where
0:49:36 > 0:49:38you are perhaps getting glimpses
0:49:38 > 0:49:42of some shattering pictures of children who are starving,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46to feel that you can effect a change
0:49:46 > 0:49:49and then you see films where other children are getting involved
0:49:49 > 0:49:54and it becomes the effect of collective action...
0:49:54 > 0:49:59For all the sort of apolitical aims of Blue Peter,
0:49:59 > 0:50:04that in itself is a truly pure political act, isn't it?
0:50:04 > 0:50:09That, as a collective, you are able to make a change for the better
0:50:09 > 0:50:13and the value of that, it's priceless, isn't it?
0:50:23 > 0:50:26Each afternoon of children's viewing
0:50:26 > 0:50:28marched inevitably towards the evening news.
0:50:31 > 0:50:32But in 1965, the schedulers
0:50:32 > 0:50:36hit on a way of delaying the inevitable.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38This is Mr Rusty.
0:50:38 > 0:50:43He used to be a happy man, but now he's sad.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45There's no magic in life any more.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Made in France by Serge Danot and Brit Ivor Wood,
0:50:53 > 0:50:58the rights to Le Manege Enchante were bought by the BBC.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH
0:51:13 > 0:51:16The beautiful French animation required re-writing
0:51:16 > 0:51:17with an English language script.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19BOING!
0:51:19 > 0:51:21And the man tasked with the translation
0:51:21 > 0:51:24was Play School favourite Eric Thompson.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26A Grundig machine came to the house,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30to his study, with two huge wheels on
0:51:30 > 0:51:36and the film would just go through from one wheel to another.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40And a tiny, tiny little screen in the middle.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43"Who are you?" said Mr Rusty.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45"I'm Zebedee. Zebedee."
0:51:45 > 0:51:49"What do you do?" said Mr Rusty. "Magic."
0:51:49 > 0:51:51The animation is simple, I would say, politely,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53because they don't sort of...
0:51:53 > 0:51:55- emote.- They don't emote do they?- No.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57- No.- They jump and they move.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59They wave their heads and they wave their arms,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02but they're not conveying any emotion at all,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05which is why Eric could write different stories.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09The French was absolutely...
0:52:09 > 0:52:14SPEAKS IN HIGH PITCH
0:52:14 > 0:52:19SPEAKS IN FRENCH
0:52:19 > 0:52:21..horrible.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Zebedee asked Florence what she would like to do today.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28Thompson redid it. Consequently, it's very, very quiet.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32She would like to do something restful, like picking flowers.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34His choice of words is heaven.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37"What's your name?" said Dougal.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42"Brian," said the snail. "Brian?" said Dougal.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46"Snails aren't called Brian, snails are molluscs."
0:52:51 > 0:52:53The resulting combination of wry writing
0:52:53 > 0:52:57and Thompson's tones charmed children of all ages,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59especially those returning from work
0:52:59 > 0:53:01and switching on to catch the headlines.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06"Come down, Dougal," said Florence.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Because it was in that transition space
0:53:08 > 0:53:10between the end of children's television and the news,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13almost regardless of what age you were, you would see it.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16"All the birds are up," said Florence.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18"That's their problem," said Dougal.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21It was so well timed by the BBC because it was just before the news,
0:53:21 > 0:53:23so Mum was getting the tea ready,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Dad was coming home, you know, and the kids were out of the way,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28being occupied. Very clever.
0:53:30 > 0:53:31It was sort of written for adults.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Or rather, let's say it wasn't written for children,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37it was just written for an intelligent audience of any age,
0:53:37 > 0:53:38I suppose.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Really? Why does everyone have to be so stupid?!
0:53:42 > 0:53:46While the kids were quite happy to take the stories at face value...
0:53:46 > 0:53:48I knew that would happen.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50..the grown-ups looked for deeper meanings
0:53:50 > 0:53:53and a myriad of myths sprang up around the show.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Treasure!
0:53:55 > 0:53:57To some, it was a political satire on the French.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02He called the dog Dougal because we lived in Scotland at the time
0:54:02 > 0:54:06and he was, as far as I was concerned, a Scottish dog.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09But the French were very upset,
0:54:09 > 0:54:11because they thought it was de Gaulle
0:54:11 > 0:54:13and we were being rude about their president.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17What?
0:54:17 > 0:54:23What? What? What? What? What?
0:54:23 > 0:54:26To others, it was all a psychedelic trip.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31I'm afraid she's been affected by all those poppies she's been eating.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33I mean, Dylan was supposed to be full of drugs and things.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36I'll, er...sleep on it.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41My husband wouldn't know a drug if it stood up and shouted.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Where's my leading lady?
0:54:43 > 0:54:44And to one or two,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48it was all about Mrs Thompson in the shape of Ermintrude.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52I'm a film star! Film star!
0:54:52 > 0:54:56Because I'm theatrical.. and wear hats.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59- What would my mother say?! - It was rubbish.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02I don't think any of them were based on anything.
0:55:03 > 0:55:08When, in 1967, the BBC moved The Magic Roundabout to an earlier slot
0:55:08 > 0:55:12in the children's schedule, there was a national outcry.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16"Pay freeze, £50 travel allowance, high taxes
0:55:16 > 0:55:19"and now you've altered the time of The Magic Roundabout.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24"What else are we children over 30 going to be deprived of?"
0:55:24 > 0:55:26It's time for bed.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31It was clear that this five minutes
0:55:31 > 0:55:34had become a focal point in the nation's viewing habits,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37a much needed drop of feel-good before facing the news.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39That was our target.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42That was the Holy Grail to get that five minutes before the news.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51I kind of like the bizarreness of The Clangers.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54I liked trying to decipher their language.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57WHISTLING
0:55:57 > 0:56:02The Clangers spoke unto every nation in a musical language,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05but we still understood every syllable.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09The Clanger scripts were written out in full, in English,
0:56:09 > 0:56:10and we played it, so...
0:56:10 > 0:56:12CLANGER VOICE
0:56:12 > 0:56:14Was the bloody thing stuck again?
0:56:22 > 0:56:25They're very gentle and live their own lives
0:56:25 > 0:56:27and I think they would be very alarmed if they got tangled
0:56:27 > 0:56:31with our sort of life, the life of earthly civilisation.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38The contract to run Britain's main satellite television network
0:56:38 > 0:56:40has been awarded to a group backed
0:56:40 > 0:56:43by some of the country's most successful companies.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48As soon as satellite came in,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52that was the end of the golden era of children's television.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57Often the funding for the cable stations came from the States,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00so you've got the rules of business now operating
0:57:00 > 0:57:03as distinct from the idea of service.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Increasingly the child audience were seen as consumers,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13as TV shows were created to sell toys, games and books.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17And in this new era of children's television,
0:57:17 > 0:57:21appetites are fed on demand and round the clock.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26When we were doing it, kids watched for about an hour and a half.
0:57:26 > 0:57:27It rolled over into the news,
0:57:27 > 0:57:31it rolled into reasonable current affairs and I think kids got
0:57:31 > 0:57:35a better chance of getting a nice rounded education, not from us,
0:57:35 > 0:57:38but from what they saw and what they were watching at that time.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Hello.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44- Do you mind a lion in your shop? - Not at all.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47I want some... Get down!
0:57:47 > 0:57:50You're handing your audience something quite precious
0:57:50 > 0:57:53when you're giving them entertainment aimed just for them,
0:57:53 > 0:57:57because childhood is pretty short and if it works for them,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00like all the programmes that we remember, they will remember it.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04They'll remember it in a way you never will really with your adult viewing memory.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06I'm not coming down until you give me that ball.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08It was so important, children's television.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12Because of its richness, it covered all aspects,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14so I think it did a good service.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19Do you know what I think is absolutely marvellous about
0:58:19 > 0:58:22most people who've worked in different generations
0:58:22 > 0:58:24of children's television?
0:58:24 > 0:58:27We all think we were in the golden age.
0:58:27 > 0:58:28Goodbye, children.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31# I know we've come a long way
0:58:31 > 0:58:35# We're changing day to day
0:58:35 > 0:58:40# But tell me Where do the children play? #