‘Teletubbification’: Children’s Television in Crisis

You’d think that the news that beloved children’s programme The Clangers is to be resurrected and ‘improved’ would instil anyone with any fond memories of the show to welcome its long-awaited return with open arms. At least, I’m almost certain that is what the BBC expects of their ever-faithful audience. If they’re anything like me, however, this news invokes little but feelings of indifference. Maybe I’m just a miserable cynic, shaking my fist in spirit at the television and relentlessly complaining that kids’ TV just isn’t what it used to be. That’s just it though – it isn’t.

Times are changing. I remember a time when children’s programmes seemed as though some thought had gone into their production. Take Britt Allcroft’s Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Since HIT Entertainment took over in 2002, the show’s quality began to wane. People probably won’t agree with me – it’s still popular, and is unlikely to come to an end any time soon. But the original series, based on The Railway Series by the Reverend W. V. Awdry, had connections with actual events, with the engines based on real trains, and so maintained a certain realism and educational value that has long since been diminished. But of course, kids won’t notice. No! Kids are stupid. Now it’s exactly the same as every other generic children’s show, having been reinvented in a frankly hideous computer-animated (CGI) format. To the producers, it might seem like progress. To me, it seems generic, lazy and conformist. I’m under the impression that there’s just no originality or effort anymore. And I’m not alone.

Back in 2011, ex-Play School presenter Floella Benjamin identified a ‘crisis’ in children’s programming, urging broadcasters to wake up to this revelation. Of particular note is the eradication of BBC Schools programmes that served both an educational and entertaining purpose. Since then, kids’ television has succumbed to what I like to call the ‘Teletubbification’ effect, perforated with tame, lazily animated and clichéd characters all learning the same morals, and talking down to children, with an increased focus on improving programmes from a technological standpoint, culminating in a lack of focus on what is truly important.

Let me begin by addressing my standpoint when it comes to CGI: I have nothing against it as an art form or even as a medium. My issue primarily stems from its ubiquity in contemporary media, particularly with regard to children’s programming. To the production companies, it may look like a technical marvel, but better resolution doesn’t mean better programming and storytelling. It’s lazy. It’s bland. And it’s everywhere! One by one, our favourite kids’ shows are suffering at the hands of this highly rendered fiend: Noddy, Fireman Sam, Bananas in Pyjamas… The list goes on.

The Clangers, meanwhile, is apparently to remain a stop-motion animation. All the same, Peter Firmin, co-creator of the original series of The Clangers, proclaims that the show’s ‘reinvention’ will be “technically improved”, stating that “when you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made”.

“This is a new Clangers for a new age” he proudly announces.

But surely this isn’t entirely necessary. These so-called ‘limitations’, some might argue, are what made these programmes unique and memorable, together with dedication to a decent script and a firm focus on providing a useful service for young viewers. Why not come up with something new, something innovative like they used to, rather than lazily resurrecting classic programmes? There seems to be too much focus on nostalgia and making things look good, so much so that quality kids’ television is rapidly disappearing, and they consistently resort to ruining our cherished programmes by converging them under the same basic format. It’s just not the same. I suppose we should be thankful that the new Clangers are to be traditionally animated, at least for now. Whether its reinvention will have a lasting impact is too soon to say, and while I hope the new series will maintain the same quality as the old, I can’t help but feel that classic programmes like The Clangers and even Thomas & Friends, as we remember them, have reached the end of the line.

 

Sources:

BBC News. ‘Children’s TV is in crisis, says Floella Benjamin’. 3^rd February 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12357997

BBC News. ‘Clangers to make TV return’. 15^th October 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24523203

Runcie, C. The Telegraph. ‘Clangers to return with a new series in 2015’. 15^th October 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10377644/Clangers-to-return-with-a-new-series-in-2015.html