As a child of the seventies I was lucky enough to have programmes like Catweazle, The Ghosts Of Motley Hall, The Muppet Show, and all the other classics we fondly remember today, to entertain me. Those shows shaped my imagination and inspired it. They gave me the burning desire to write programmes of equal wonder and quality and I’ve kept that passionate flame roaring all my adult life. Sadly though, over the last few years that flame has now been beaten down to the merest embers. And all the while my kids are offered nothing but acquired American TV dross with painfully unfunny child actors who think over acting is an acceptable form of entertaining.
As a writer you write about what you know. My diet of kid’s TV was a banquet of fantastic and imaginative stories - so I tried to do the same. My kids, if they want to become writers (and God knows I’ll do my utmost to dissuade them) will write about prissy teen dilemmas like what to wear to the prom. And that’ll be the limit of the story.
Like a good few other children’s telly writers, I have to do stretches in places like call centres and warehouses because no one is making any kids telly in this country. Save kids telly and you’ll save the future of imagination!
Dean Wilkinson has written for many show including The Ant & Dec Show, No Sweat, SMTV Live, Chums, Harry Hill’s Shark Infested Custard to name but a few. He is also the creator and writer of the CBBC shows Bad Penny and Stupid.
