Australia’s
national broadcaster has not fared well in the digital age. Like many other
free-to-air networks ABC TV has struggled to compete against Pay TV, Netflix
and better-funded news and current affairs channels such as the BBC, Sky and Al
Jazeera. Apart from lawn bowls and women’s football the ABC has virtually
abandoned sports coverage and its locally commissioned drama is also, at best,
patchy. No wonder the network relies on endless re-runs of Doc Martin and Father Brown.
But
there is one market sector where the ABC is pre-eminent: children’s television.
For millions of parents all over Australia, like me, ABC Kids is an absolute
godsend. Peppa Pig, Dinosaur Train, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, Mike The Knight, Thomas And
Friends and The Clangers have
been a vital part of my 18-month-old son’s upbringing – along with healthy
doses of horseplay, outdoor fun and reading books. Like most kids of his age,
Myles is obsessed with The Wiggles a
show which has more bright colours and cheesy dance routines than the Eurovision Song Contest. When the Hey Duggee theme song comes on Myles
goes into full James Brown mode, stomping his feet madly and waving his arms
around in total abandonment. He couldn’t be happier.
Psychiatrists
warn about the dangerous impact of television (and other screen exposure) on young
minds. In Australia the recommended daily dose no more than two hours – the
American Academy of Pediatrics says babies and toddlers should watch no
television whatsoever until they turn 18 months. Although these guidelines are
presently under review, children’s TV is often depicted as a type of malicious
electronic nanny. That is not the experience in our household, where Myles
watches small but intensive segments of his favourite programs before heading
back to his room to play with his toys, ride his trike or just run down the
corridor laughing.
Unlike
the vacuous mental floss that adults endure each evening on the free-to-air
networks, the shows on ABC Kids are mostly stimulating, well written,
fast-paced and grounded in old-fashioned moral values. Programs such as The Octonauts and Dirtgirlworld are highly educational, dealing with issue such as
species loss, pollution, sustainable agriculture and the importance of
recycling household waste. Sesame Street and its offspring the hilariously madcap Furchester Hotel teach about the
importance of tolerance in a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society,
while Fireman Sam, another Myles
favourite, demonstrates the need for personal heroism in order to preserve
community life. Set in the fictional Welsh seaside town of Pontypandy, the
program features the unflappable Sam, his fire tender Jupiter, the
accident-prone kid Norman Price and Italian café owner Bella Lasagne. The
original idea for the series was developed by two retired firefighters from
Kent.
Some
of the shows on ABC Kids are clearly designed to appeal to adults as much as
their offspring. Few fathers will fail to identify with Daddy Pig, the well meaning
but ineffectual head porker from Peppa
Pig, now one of the world’s most successful entertainment brands for tiny
tots. Some of the episodes have an absurdist comic tone similar to that of the
early films of Jacque Tati. I particularly enjoyed the episode when the
children have a furious argument during International Day. “What is going on?”
asks Madame Gazelle, the class teacher. “America, Russia, Spain and Greece
won’t share the sandpit,” explains a pupil. The well-horned teacher gives the class a right ticking off: “Is this how you think
the countries of the world behave?”
But
adults will struggle to penetrate the alien world of the Clangers, a community of knitted beings that live on a blue planet,
communicate in high-pitched whistles and whose only interest seems to be eating
soup. The ubiquitous Teletubbies, a
fixture on our screens since 1997, presents a similar challenge for anyone over
four years old. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po, the four asexual
protagonists, spend every episode saying “hello” and “bye bye” to their
audience, with only short breaks underground to eat Tele Custard. Is this the
kiddies’ version of Seinfeld?
Despite its paper-thin narrative Teletubbies has been the subject of great controversy over the
years. The nonsensical babble spoken by the Teletubbies has been condemned by
psychiatrists and early learning experts. In 1999 Tinky Winky was falsely
“outed” as a gay role model by the Reverend Jerry Falwell because the male
figure is purple (the colour of Gay Pride), has a triangle on his head (another
Gay symbol) and carries a women’s handbag. The Polish Ombudsman for Children
Ewa Sowinska was also worried about the handbag and ordered a full
investigation, but Tinky Winky was eventually declared fit for Polish
consumption.
First launched as a stand-alone channel in 2001, ABC Kids has survived many challenges, such as the withdrawal of government funding, management indifference, network amalgamations and constant time slot changes. There was much fanfare when Play School turned 50 last year, but that show, however worthy, represent steam-age children's entertainment. The atmosphere is like a Sunday school class – wooden and patronising. Clever, informative and gorgeously illustrated programs, often using the latest CGI techniques, such as Mike The Knight, Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, Dinosaur Train and The Octonauts demonstrate that with a little imagination, and humour, children's television can match adult program-making in every department. And the kiddies' tunes are so much better than ours.
