Children’s television is one of the jewels in the crown of British culture, yet far too many people dismiss it as moving wallpaper, forgetting how influential it was in their own early lives. It is particularly important that in a world in which children are assaulted by media messages on a host of electronic platforms, children’s TV should remain a beacon of quality and positive values. Yet currently quality programmes are under threat as never before. However much many of us may welcome a ban on junk food advertising during the hours children watch television, the objective result will be a massive decrease in the amount of revenue available to be spent on high quality children’s programmes. At best they will be replaced by wall-to-wall imported animation, at worst by nothing at all. Unless we move quickly to ensure children’s television is properly funded, a central part of the modern child’s world will be cheapened and debased.
Tony Robinson is an actor and presenter whose experience of children’s television ranges from sketches and songs in Play Away, via a villainous Sherrif of Nottingham in Maid Marion to high-energy storytelling in some of the world’s great tales.
