Are You Ready to Play? Celebrating The Tweenies
Creative TV programmes for children are often as well loved by mum and dad as they are by the little ones! Here at Amoralia, we enjoy the odd bit of children’s telly and recognise it as an important educational tool as children get older. Although it’s not recommended that babies or toddlers watch TV until they are past their ‘terrible twos’ we think it’s useful to explore what’s out there. In our continuing series looking at kids TV, today we’re exploring The Tweenies.
Colourful, positive and educational, The Tweenies was launched by the BBC on 6th September 1999. Written by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan (both of whom already had kids TV production experience) the adventures of the Tweenie gang had the winning combination that made it a hit with audiences.
Each episode followed the adventures of the four Tweenies as they attend playgroup and learn new things through stories, songs and play. The determined Bella, shy Fizz, playful Jake and energetic Milo embodied personalities most children could relate to. Their animal friends included Doodles the red and yellow dog and his pal Izzles, who was purple and yellow. As with most children’s TV programmes, important life lessons were introduced as the characters learned to share and resolve arguments under the guidance of playgroup workers Judy and Max.
There were 390 Tweenies episodes made and although production stopped in September 2003, these are still repeated (particularly on CBeebies) and you can get hold of DVDs. It’s a pity that the toys that once accompanied the series are now harder to come by!
If you fancy reminiscing about your old favourites (we love a good day dream) there is plenty of information online. Who knows, you might even find some programmes that your own child will be able to reminisce about!
Image: http://bbc.in/1rNT49X