21 April 1964(1964-04-21)– 11 March 1988(1988-03-11) (repeats 14th March-14th October)
Play School is a British children's television series produced by the BBC which ran from 21 April 1964 until 11 March 1988, with repeats shown until 14 October 1988. It was created by Joy Whitby and was aimed at preschool children. Each programme followed a broad theme and consisted of songs, stories and activities with presenters in the studio, along with a short film introduced through either the square, round or arched window in the set.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, and it is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting. The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed-contract staff are included.
Joyce Field Whitby is an English television producer and executive who during her career has specialised in children's programmes.
The programme spawned numerous spin-offs in Britain and other countries and involved a large number of presenters and musicians during its run. Despite a revamp in 1983 Play School maintained the same basic formula throughout its 24-year history, but changes to the BBC's childrens output led to the programme's cancellation in 1988, when it was replaced by Playbus, which soon became Playdays.
Playdays is a British pre-school children's television program that ran from 17 October 1988 to 28 March 1997 on Children's BBC (CBBC), and was aired in reruns until 2002. The show was the successor of Play School and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational programme. The creator Cynthia Felgate had been executive producer of Play School.
Broadcast history
Play School originally appeared on weekdays at 11am on BBC2 and receiving Holiday runs on BBC1 in Summer 1964 and 1965 later acquiring a mid-afternoon BBC1 repeat as the opening programme of BBC1's teatime children's schedule. The morning showing was transferred to BBC1 in September 1983 when BBC Schools programming transferred to BBC2. It remained in that slot even after daytime television was launched in October 1986 and continued to be broadcast at that time until it was superseded in October 1988 by Playbus.
BBC One is the first and principal television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960, using this name until the launch of the second BBC channel BBC2 in 1964, whereupon the BBC TV channel became known as BBC1, with the current spelling adopted in 1997.
BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC1 during the daytime, apart from coverage of major news events which saw the programmes shifted to BBC2. In September 1983 programming was transferred permanently to BBC2 freeing BBC1 to develop its own daytime schedule. The strand, named Daytime on Two, remained on BBC Two until March 2010, later supplemented by the 'Class TV' strand on the CBBC Channel.
When the BBC scrapped the afternoon edition of Play School in April 1985, to make way for a variety of children's programmes in the afternoon, a Sunday morning compilation was launched called Hello Again!.
There were several opening sequences for Play School during its run, the first being "Here's a house, here's a door. Windows: 1 2 3 4. Ready to knock? Turn the lock – It's Play School." This changed in the early seventies to "A house - with a door. 1, 2, 3, 4. Ready to play? What's the day? It's..." In this version blinds opened on the windows as the numbers were spoken.
The blinds were no longer featured towards the end of the 1970s and the word "windows" was added before "1 2 3 4". The final opening sequence involved a multicoloured house with no apparent windows. This was used from 1983 until the end of the programme. This saw the most radical revamp of the programme overall (not just in the opening titles). The opening legend then became "Get ready. To play. What's the day? It's..."
Watch with Mother is a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1953 until 1973, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at pre-school children, a development of BBC radio's equivalent Listen with Mother, which had begun two years earlier. In accordance with its intended target audience of pre-school children viewing with their mothers, Watch with Mother was initially broadcast between 3:45 pm and 4:00 pm, post-afternoon nap and before the older children came home from school.
Paul Danquah, born Joseph Paul Walcott, was a British film actor, known particularly for his role in the film A Taste of Honey (1961), adapted from the 1958 play of the same name written by Shelagh Delaney. He later became a barrister and a bank consultant. His father was the Ghanaian statesman J. B. Danquah.
Brian Cant was an English actor of stage, television and film, television presenter, voice artist and writer best known for his work in BBC television programmes for children from 1964 onward, most notably Play School.
A section of each episode was a filmed excursion into the outside world taken through one of three windows: the young viewers were invited to guess whether the round, square, or arched window would be chosen that day, usually by means of the phrase, "...Have a look – through the....(whichever) window." A triangular window was added in 1983. Very often the film would be of a factory producing something such as chocolate biscuits, or of a domestic industry such as refuse collection, but a number of subject matters were covered, such as watching animals or fish, boats on a lake, children in a playground or at school, a family going tenpin bowling, people in a cafe and visiting a jumble sale, among other things.
A factory,manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial site, usually consisting of buildings and machinery, or more commonly a complex having several buildings, where workers manufacture goods or operate machines processing one product into another.
A jumble sale, bring and buy sale or rummage sale is an event at which second hand goods are sold, usually by an institution such as a local Boys' Brigade Company, Scout group, or church, as a fundraising or charitable effort. A rummage sale by a church is called a church sale or white elephant sale, frequently as part of a church bazaar.
At the beginning of the 1983 revamp, the windows were now referred to as "shapes" as in "'let's have a look through one of the shapes..." After the shapes being moved to a spinning disc, the programme went back to using windows which resembled those used in the late 70s, albeit with the addition of the triangular window. Whenever they were shown now, only the window that the show was using for the day would be the one that would be used on the set.
Each episode would also include a short story read from a book, introduced by checking the time on a clock. Normally the clock would show either an hour or a half hour and the young viewers were asked, "Can you tell what time the clock says today? Well, the long hand is pointing straight up, so that means it's something o'clock – and the short hand is pointing to the number...two (or whatever). So today, the clock says, two...o'...clock" (the latter phrase always delivered very slowly). This was followed by, "But what's underneath the clock?", and viewers would then see a turntable under the clock featuring certain items such as toy animals or clocks, which were, in a clever twist, always a clue to the forthcoming story. This was all accompanied by a slightly eerie, yet undeniably catchy, clock-like tune. (On one occasion, the item under the clock turned out to be none other than Little Ted, so the presenter concerned said, "What a very odd place for a toy to be!" and the story appropriately turned out to be about odd things).
Both the clock and the three window option live on in the children's programme Tikkabilla, which borrows much from Play School, while a similar choice of portal into a film clip was provided by the abdomen-mounted video displays in the children's show Teletubbies.
Tikkabilla is a UK children's television programme, shown on BBC One, BBC Two and on the CBeebies channel. The programme aims to educate pre-school children in an entertaining manner. The title "Tikkabilla" comes from the Hindi word meaning "Hopscotch", a popular children's game.
Teletubbies is a British pre-school children's television series created by Ragdoll Productions' Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport. The programme focuses on four multi-coloured creatures known as "Teletubbies", named after the television screens implanted in their abdomens. Recognised throughout popular culture for the uniquely shaped antenna protruding from the head of each character, the Teletubbies communicate through gibberish and were designed to bear resemblance to toddlers.
Most of the programmes were studio-based, but there were a number of outside broadcasts at a variety of locations, such as zoos, seasides, central London, churches, schools and farms.
There would also be songs, games, poems and stories, as well as regular painting and craft activities. The presenters would frequently invite the younger viewers to participate at home, usually by means of the prompt, 'Can you do that?' They normally signed off at the end of each episode by saying, "Time for us to go now, but only until tomorrow, so goodbye until tomorrow" – or, at the end of a week, "Goodbye, until it's our turn to be here again". (The latter phrase stemmed from the fact that the presenters changed from one week to the next).
From 1971 to 1984, Play School also had a sister programme called Play Away.
Many 2 inch Quadruplex videotape master copies of Play School editions were wiped by the BBC in 1993 on the assumption that they were of no further use and that examples of some other episodes were sufficient.[3]
Overseas sales and adoption
Don Spencer, who appeared on the original British version and also on the Australian adaptation
Play School was sold to Australia, and was then followed by local production. The Australian version has been produced since 1966. Similarly New Zealand bought the programme before producing their own from 1972 to 1982 & 1986 to 1989. The Canadian adaptation was Polka Dot Door and ran from 1971 to 1993.
Other countries including Lekestue in Norway (1971–81), Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain (1971–74), and Israel were provided with scripts and film segments so they could produce their own versions.[4]
Presenters
The first show was presented by Virginia Stride and Gordon Rollings. Other presenters throughout the 24-year run included
Many musicians worked on the programme over the years: they included Jonathan Cohen, William Blezard, Peter Gosling, Alan Grahame, Paul Reade, Spike Heatley, Alan Rushton, Pedro Goble, Anne Dudley and Peter Pettinger. Some of them, in particular Cohen, Gosling, Grahame and Reade, occasionally appeared on camera, especially during Christmas editions.[7]
Toys
The presenters were accompanied by a supporting cast of cuddly toys and dolls. The five regulars included:
Humpty, a dark green large egg-shaped soft toy with green trousers, to look like Humpty Dumpty from the nursery rhyme, appeared in the very first programme in April 1964. Several versions were made.
Big Ted and Little Ted, teddy bears. (Originally there was only the one Teddy, however this was stolen in the mid-1970s and replaced by the two Teds.)
Jemima, a rag doll with long red and white striped legs.
Hamble was a little doll and one of the original five toys but dropped from the show during the 1980s to be replaced by Poppy. According to Joy Whitby, creator of Play School, Hamble was chosen as representative of a more "downtrodden", humble background than the "middle-class" associations that the teddy bears had.[8] She was disliked by presenters as she could not be cuddled.[9] According to the BBC website Chloe Ashcroft "did a terrible thing to Hamble. She just would not sit up...so one day I got a very big knitting needle, a big wooden one, and I stuck it right up her bum, as far as her head. So she was completely rigid, and she was much much better after that."[9] (This was mentioned in a BBC Radio 4 programme called Trumpton Riots, available on YouTube.) In the edition called Through The Arched Window (in which the Radio Times said that Chloe Ashcroft would be interviewed and wasn't) the knitting needle incident was mentioned, however the person admitting to it was Julie Stevens.[citation needed])
Poppy, a black doll who replaced Hamble in November 1986, in response to changing attitudes in society (the Hamble doll was also getting rather fragile at this point.)
A rocking horse named Dapple was first seen in May 1965 and made occasional appearances, when a particular song or item suggested it. The final line up of toys are on display as exhibits of the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford. However Hamble went missing after being dropped from the programme.
Bagpuss is a British children's television series, made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate through their company Smallfilms. The series of 13 episodes was first broadcast from 12 February 1974 to 7 May 1974. The title character was "a saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams". Although only 13 episodes were made, it remains fondly remembered, and was frequently repeated in the UK for 13 years. In 1999 Bagpuss topped a BBC poll for the UK's favourite children's TV programme.
Blue Peter is a British children's television programme that was first broadcast in 1958. The programme, which has had continuous seasons since it was first aired, is now the longest-running children's TV show in the world. It is currently shown live on the CBBC television channel. The show's content, which follows a magazine/entertainment format, features viewer and presenter challenges, competitions, celebrity interviews, popular culture and sections on making arts and crafts items from household items. The longevity of Blue Peter has established itself as a significant part of British culture. It was broadcast mainly from BBC Television Centre in London until September 2011, when the programme moved North to MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester. The show has also had a garden in both locations, known as the Blue Peter Garden, which is used during the summer and for outdoor activities. The programme has always featured a number of pets that became household names, such as dogs Petra, Shep, and Goldie, as well as other animals such as tortoises, cats, and parrots.
Hamble may refer to:
Play Away is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series Play School, it was aimed at slightly older children.
CBBC is a British children's television brand owned by the BBC and aimed for children aged from 6 to 15. BBC programming aimed at under six-year-old children is broadcast on the CBeebies channel. CBBC broadcasts from 7 am to 9 pm on CBBC Channel.
Tweenies is a British live action children's entertainment series created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan. The programme is centred on four lizard-like infant characters, known as the "Tweenies", playing, singing and dancing in a fictional nursery in England. They are cared for by two adult Tweenies and two dogs. Unlike the Teletubbies, the Tweenies are well developed and are able to communicate effectively.
Chloe Ashcroft is an actor and former presenter of several BBC children's TV programmes, including Play School, Play Away, Hokey-Cokey, Excuse Me, All Change, and Pie in the Sky. She also appeared in the Doctor Who story Resurrection of the Daleks, playing Professor Laird.
Carol Chell is a British children's television presenter and TV executive. She originally qualified as a teacher, and produced many educational TV shows in the 1960s. She is best known for her work as a long-serving presenter from 1966 to 1988 on BBC's Play School and from 1971-80 on Play Away.
Xchange was a factual entertainment BBC game show for children. It was broadcast initially on BBC Two and later the CBBC Channel. The programme was (mostly) transmitted live from studio TC2 at BBC Television Centre. Towards the end of the show, it was recorded the day before broadcasting.
Play School is an Australian educational television show for children produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is the longest running children's show in Australia, and the second longest running children's show worldwide, after Blue Peter.
Kaleidoscope was a BBC Radio 4 arts programme which ran for 25 years from 1973. It ended with the major schedule changes that occurred in April 1998, when it was replaced by Front Row.
ITV Schools was the educational television service set up in 1957 by the Independent Television Authority, broadcasting learning programmes for children ages 5 to 18 across ITV-affiliated stations. It was an example of public service broadcasting on a commercial television network.
Jonathan Cohen is a British pianist, composer and musical director.
Play School was a New Zealand educational television show for children. It was based on the British Play School show.
A roly-poly toy, round-bottomed doll, tilting doll, tumbler or wobbly man is a round-bottomed toy, usually egg-shaped, that tends to right itself when pushed at an angle, and does this in seeming contradiction to the force of gravity. The toy is typically hollow with a weight inside the bottom hemisphere. The placement of this weight is such that the toy has a center of mass below the center of the hemisphere, so that any tilting raises the center of mass. When such a toy is pushed over, it wobbles for a few moments while it seeks the upright orientation, which has an equilibrium at the minimum gravitational potential energy.
Words and Pictures is a British children's literacy television programme which aired as part on BBC as part of BBC Schools, starting in 1970.
References
25 Minutes Peace – Celebrating Play School (BBC TV programme, 1979)
Paul R Jackson, Here's A House – A Celebration of Play SchoolKaleidoscope
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