I’ve seen a lot of campaigns come and go during my forty-plus years on the planet. Some of them I agreed with, some I did not.
However, it breaks my heart to know that we all live in an age where we have a campaign to save Children’s Television.
I had always believed that all the channels made programmes for children, no matter what. I grew up in the seventies. A simpler time when you only had three channels to view. The children’s programmes were many and diverse. They (the programmes) entertained, educated, informed and in some cases, inspired us. The very reason that I entertain children and work in the television industry is due to my watching some great programmes when growing up. I have been very fortunate to have worked with some of the people who helped make my childhood viewing experiences such a joy. I noticed that the core ethic these programme makers had in common with each other, was that they knew they were making programmes that would be a part of children’s lives.
Children’s Television should not be allowed to disappear. Instead, people of influence should give children’s programmes the reverence, and budget they deserve.
Dave Benson Phillips
Children’s TV Presenter, Broadcaster, Entertainer and Unofficial Nanny to countless telly-viewing children across Europe, Asia and the U.S.
