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first person
“We are creating the viewing habits and tastes of tomorrow; childhood memories are vivid so the shows we create had better be good.”
a grown up job
Steven Andrew argues that quality not just quantity must be the benchmark for children’s television
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Anthony Minghella, Phil Redmond, Renny Rye, Paul Abbott, Russell T Davies, Ant and Dec, Dawn Airey and Nigel Pickard have one thing in common. They all started their careers in children’s television.
I note this because it’s impor- tant to remember the role chil- dren’s television plays in the industry as a whole. Sure, people
pay lip service to its value, but it’s often a kind of pat you on the head “don’t they do welI” kind of acknowledgement, good for dogs and really small children.
There is a sense that somehow we are all just waiting to get a grown up job, which is not the case. Children’s television is fan- tastic arena, unfettered by adult demands for detectives, murder
and celebrity we are free to roam in the land of innocence and wonder, where anything can and does happen.
A bit cheesy perhaps but you get the point. More importantly it is essential we protect this for the viewers and programme makers of tomorrow.
On the face of it, children’s television today looks to be in