User:MacGyverMagic/In Progress/History of British children's television

British children's television dates back to 1946 with the BBC series For The Children, a collection of programmes that included the popular Muffin the Mule. A few years after television became popular in the United Kingdom following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953 in Westminster Abbey, the BBC introduced a series of successful children’s programmes, including Blue Peter, Pinky and Perky and Lenny the Lion. Blue Peter, then presented by Leila Williams and Christopher Trace, first aired on October 16, 1958, making it one of the longest running children's programmes in the history of British television that can still be seen today.

Television slots
On British television there have been two primary times of day that children's television was shown: late afternoon on weekdays and in the morning at weekends. For at least an hour on both BBC One and ITV there are dedicated programmes for children, with other terrestrial channels usually not catering so directly for the younger market.

Saturday morning

 * Notes:
 * Tiswas was initially only broadcast to the Midlands region by ATV, with other ITV regions picking up the show in later years.
 * Ministry of Mayhem (MOM) was renamed Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown in January 2006
 * Fully Booked became FBi for the 2000 series
 * Mighty Truck of Stuff was shown on BBC 2 from April to July 2006

Educational purpose
Many children's programmes have been used for educational purposes for a large range of ages and activities. 1980s cartoons such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and ThunderCats contained a moral to be learnt from the story.

Controversy
Despite its popularity, British children's television has not been without its share of controversy. Dramas like Grange Hill and Byker Grove have been critised for their subject matter.

Grange Hill
Grange Hill was conceived when Anna Home, head of the BBC's Children's Department, decided to produce more British drama instead of importing foreign programmes. The show's creator, Phil Redmond, aimed for a realistic programme about the working class. This led to a radical programme different than everything that was broadcast before. First, the programme featured issues that, while in the minds of children at the time, were never before shown on television. This naturally led to complaints by parents who thought Grange Hill dealt with issues which had not yet entered their children's minds. Also, Grange Hill was set in a mixed comprehensive school with mixed ability students rather than a private school. By showing the school's problems the programme also discussed schooling, which led to complaints by government and teacher who claimed the programme unneccesarily pictured the education system as failing. It probably won't come as a surprise that Grange Hill has been called "the Children's Department's most controversial product of the 1970s" and it continued to be so. During its run, the programme has dealt with issues ranging from drug abuse to date rape and asylum seekers and the writers didn't shy away from including character deaths either. The story line about character Zammo McGuire and his descent into drug abuse and his eventual recovery told during 1986-87 was perhaps the most memorable and controversial of all at the time. The story line implied drug addiction could happen to anyone which frightened parents. Producers set up helplines and information packs to show how socially committed the show was. People affected by the issues raised in the show can still call a helpline today. In addition to this storyline, the cast recorded a single about drug addiction and peer pressure called "Just Say No" which reached the top of the music charts in the UK. They also travelled to the United States and met Nancy Reagan as part of her war on drugs.

Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
Despite winning multiple BAFTAs presenters Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood received multiple complaints about their programme Dick and Dom in da Bungalow.

In September 2003, Wood was critised for wearing a T shirt sporting the phrase "Morning Wood". Complaints also came following a show in which McCourt 'gave birth' to the six contestants who were covered in gunge from between his outspread legs and following a near naked appearance to promote their show on the CBBC channel. Continuing controversy also surrounded the game "bogies" in which the two presenters battled to shout the word "bogies" the loudest in a public place. Harry Potter star Rupert Grint eventually beat Dominic Wood in a celebrity edition of the game played in the National Portrait Gallery in aid of Comic Relief. The show came to an end after 3 years on air, because McCourt and Wood wanted to develop different formats.

BBC website

 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/more/resources.shtml

News reports

 * "Tom and Jerry to cut smoking", Newsround article (accessed August 23, 2006).
 * "ITV stars attack kids' show cuts", Newsround article (accessed September 1, 2006).

Search engine results

 * Google results for article title name.
 * Google Book search results for "British children's television".