It’s twenty years since telly took a Tubby turn

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. MARION McMULLEN looks at some childhood TV favourites as the Teletubbies celebrate their 20th anniversary

THE excited shouts of “Eh-Oh” were first heard 20 years ago as Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La-La and Po made their television debut. Young children across the country immediately fell in love with the brightly coloured characters with aerials sprouting out of their heads... although some adults were puzzled by Teletubbies talk and complained that it was babyish.

The pre-schoolers special was the creation of Ragdoll Production programme makers Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport and the first episode was broadcast by the BBC on March 31, 1997.

Anne once said: “The first presentations I made on the idea were greeted with a kind of stunned silence. Someone in the BBC asked ‘Are these real rabbits?’ When it was first shown to the US they thought it looked like a post-nuclear landscape caught in sunshine!”

Tinky Winky and Co went on to change the face of children’s television and become global superstars being seen by more than a billion children in more than 1200 countries across the world.

They reached the top of the musicsic charts with theireir single “Eh-oh!”!” and Teletubbies toys became top of the most wanted list for children, sending parents frantic trying to track down the cuddly toys.

David Walliams is one of those who provide the voices for the latest incarnation of the Teletubbies on CBeebies and says: “The first series was 20 years ago, and I remember w watching it and bein being completely intrigued. I was in my early 20s thethen and I’d never seen anything like it before and I was fascinate fascinated by this idea that it built somehow on some kind of science about what children responded to, what colours and shapes and the repetition of it.

“I was actually fascinated because it didn’t look or sound like any other children’s show you’d ever seen in your life. It felt like a real revolution.” And his favourite Teletubby? “For me, it’s Tinky Winky. He’s the biggest, he’s the purpliest and he’s the one I’d most like to give a hug to!”

The Teletubbies were not the first children’s TV characters to have their own language. “Flobalob” was the favourite expression of Bill & Ben, The Flowerpot Men. They made their first appearance in 1952 and became part of the Watch With Mother strand on the BBC which included Andy Pandy and The Woodentops.

However, the first programme aimed at young viewers began even earlier in 1946 when Muffin The Mule appeared on For The Children with Annette Mills. There was only one hour of children’s programmes a week at that time, but it led to the BBC Children’s Department being formed four years later.

Sooty and Harry Corbett made their TV debut on Saturday Special in 1952. Sooty never uttered a word – he would shyly whisper in Mr Corbett’s ear – although his puppet companion Sweep did squeak a bit in reply to questions. Being tight-lipped did not harm Sooty’s popularity. By 1955, Sooty had his own show and remained a successful part of the BBC’s children’s schedule until 1967 and then the show continued on ITV.

The original creators of Pinky and Perky were Jan and Vlasta Dailbor from Czechoslovakia. They came up with the idea of the singing piglets in 1956 and Jan carved the original puppets out of wood himself.

Pinky and Perky went on to appear on shows like Sunday Night At The London Palladium and The Ed Sullivan Show in America and were starring in their own BBC show by 1957.

Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and Tom Jones all performed with them over the years and the superstar swine also made more Las Vegas appearances in one year than Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr combined.

They did incur the wrath of clean-up campaigner Mary Whitehouse though. She is said to have written to the BBC’s Director General claiming they were a subversive influence on young children.

Eric Thompson, father of Oscarwinning actress Emma, narrated the cult series The Magic Roundabout in the 1960s. He provided the voices of all the characters from shaggy, sugar-loving dog Dougal to Brian the snail. The programme started life as a French children’s TV series called Le Manège Enchanté and Dougal was originally named Pollux.

Paddington also remains an enduring favourite. The misadventures of the marmalade-loving bear from Peru were first shown on BBC television in 1976 and were narrated by actor Michael Hordern.

Based on the books by Michael Bond, Paddington has gone on to star in several others TV series as well as his own film in 2014. The books have also been translated into 30 languages.

Jeremy Clarkson’s parents created the first Paddington Bear toys and the former Top Gear presenter was given the very first bear as a Christmas present when he was 12... his parents added the now famous Wellington boots to stop Paddington from falling over.