The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Grampian TV favourite put children in spotlight
It was the programme that encouraged thousands of northeast children to stay safe, keep active and Bee-lieve in themselves.
And, from the moment Romper Room was beamed into households in October 1963, it attracted an audience who flocked to the Grampian TV studios to meet presenters such as “Miss Lesley” and “Miss Anne”.
They taught the youngsters about road safety, provided close encounters with spiders and tadpoles and offered them tips and advice on growing up in the Swinging ‘60s.
The series, which had originated in Baltimore a decade earlier, was turned into an international franchise with local production teams creating their own programmes in many countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and (on 75 stations in) the United States.
It was transformational for many of the participants and Aberdeen was one of the liveliest venues anywhere in the world because the producers brought the kids on to the set, where they interacted with their adult hosts.
That provided a stern test for Lesley Blair, who was just 19 when she broke two of TV’s so-called golden rules: never work with children or animals.
But the youngster, who combined presenting with teaching drama and elocution at the city’s Albyn School, following a
successful stint at the Ellen Rutherford School of Drama in Dundee, was a natural on camera, who had previously interviewed The Beatles at the height of their fame.
She visited New York to take part in training for the series and, in the first week of Romper Room’s transmission, more than
300 fan letters flooded into the Aberdeen office, as children watched the 15-minute programme at 4.45pm before being entertained by Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
This was an innocent show but it was one that captured young people’s imaginations because the likes of Lesley and Anne
Milne talked to their audience, not down to them, whether they were organising snowball fights outside or being shown the drill by the Tufty Club.
Indeed, Rosemary Sisson, the executive producer of the programme, was delighted at how it was developing when she visited the region in 1968.
She said: “I love the Aberdeen Romper Room, I think these local children are delightful and Aberdeen is one of only two centres (the other was Belfast) which features children actually in the programme.”
But who were those little mites in front of the camera? And what are their memories of being involved in a series that lasted for 14 years?
Gillian Brand, nee Brown, recalled: “I was only four years old in 1964 but I remember my mother driving us from Kemnay to Aberdeen to the studios on numerous days and I clearly recollect the outside of Grampian TV with the logo on the wall.
“I remember the presenter, Lesley Blair, and being led through the doors into the studio where the filming took place.”
Blair – who died in 2007, aged 62 – spoke about the excitement she derived at seeing the gleam in children’s eyes: “The enthusiasm of the kids was inspiring.”
Anne Milne, who died earlier this month, was another of the presenters who formed a close bond with her audience – even though it meant controlling her nerves when dealing with creepy-crawlies!
Her daughter, Caroline MacFarlane, recalled: “My mother had a terror of spiders and when one of them made an appearance and crawled off the table, you could see her jump while she was on air, but she continued.
“The two characters on the show were bees drawn on a board. One was called Do Bee Good and the other was Don’t Bee Lazy.”
They certainly sparked a buzz among the youngsters in the Romper Room.
As the 1970s progressed, viewing figures fell and it was axed – but the programme is remembered fondly by everybody who worked on it and by those who learned so much from the presenters.