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Children’s TV: the surprising story
Iolo’s Anglesey
Konnie Huq is the eternal Blue Peter presenter. She left the children’s show almost 15 years ago, but still bursts with optimistic values.
Earlier this month I interviewed her about her BBC children’s television retrospective, Kids TV: The Surprising Story (BBC1). Konnie strongly believes that we can heal the world through television by teaching toddlers and schoolchildren ’empathy in generous doses’.
“If every child were given love and the right values,” she said, “we will have a generation of future adults who will solve all of society’s problems.”
It’s a nice idea and Konnie is a genuine, nice person. But when I re-watched her show, I saw a very different message – about how quickly our former days are slipping into the past.
Earlier this month, I interviewed her about her BBC children’s television retrospective, Kids’ TV: The Surprising Story (BBC1). Konnie fervently believes that by teaching toddlers and schoolchildren ’empathy in generous doses’ we can heal the world through television
In black and white Blue Peter clips, Val Singleton walked with a lion on a leash. Johnny Ball, the bubbly presenter of Think Of A Number, was dressed as the devil in a fiery hell – and kept performing even when his tail caught light.
“That can never happen again,” Konnie told me. ‘Some things look so dangerous – I get goosebumps watching John Noakes climb Nelson’s Column’ [in 1977] without a safety harness or even with a helmet.’
Compare that reckless act with today’s health and safety obsessions. Last weekend’s Doctor Who was even criticized for a scene showing the Tardis perched on a cliff in Dorset, the signature Durdle Door. Apparently this scenic moment could encourage fans to climb the rocks. Well, you can’t be too careful.
The children’s clothes and hairstyles were charmingly dated in Konnie’s documentary, of course, but other details illustrated just how distant the recent past really is.
There were also lapwings in Iolo’s Anglesey (BBC2). “The chicks are quite comical,” he said. “They look like wind-up toys.” In the photo: Iolo Williams
Noel Edmonds’ Saturday morning telephone show, Multi-Colored Swap Shop, was launched in 1976 after someone at the Beeb read that more than half of British homes had landlines installed. In other words: almost half of the population still had to go to a pay phone if they wanted to make a call.
Two years later, the junior soap Grange Hill began. At the time, it was billed as a rough slice of life in a rough high school. Today, the students are enthusiastic drama school students who have a great time acting tough.
‘From the start,’ claimed Konnie’s voiceover, ‘children’s television challenged convention.’ While I loved every minute of this nostalgic hour, I think the reality was very different. As much as the Beeb tries to shape each generation, they will grow up to be something completely different.
Noel Edmonds’ Saturday morning telephone show, Multi-Colored Swap Shop, was launched in 1976 after someone at the Beeb read that more than half of British homes had landlines installed. In other words: almost half of the population still had to go to a pay phone if they wanted to make a call. Pictured: Huq with Floella Benjamin
Naturalist Iolo Williams had his eyes on new generations when he saw ravens and cormorants nesting in North Wales. There were also lapwings in Iolo’s Anglesey (BBC2). “The chicks are quite comical,” he said. “They’re like wind-up toys.”
Lapwing numbers have declined in recent decades, he said — another reminder of the receding past. I often saw lapwing couples, but I haven’t done that for years. The most spectacular shot, filmed in the island’s Cors Ddyga wetlands, captured a ‘food transfer’ between marsh harriers in flight. The male releases a vole in its claws so that the female can catch in the air, like trapeze artists.
This captivating half-hour also showed us vipers in the undergrowth next to a disused railway line and an ermine meandering along a path — “like a long sausage with legs,” Iolo said.
The only niggle was that this glimpse of spring in Anglesey airs in October. Later in the evening, Iolo joined Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham for Autumnwatch. It seemed strangely incongruous.