19. Play School
Running for 22 years, Play School is another British Institution that is fondly remembered by anyone over the age of 30. Okay, it wasn't very exciting but there was something soothing about watching the antics of Humpty, Jemima, Hamble, Big Ted and Little Ted, even if they just sat there. Each episode afforded a peek through the circle, the square or the triangle and the viewer would be treated to footage of children playing, people eating in restaurants or something similarly compelling. There were songs and stories and much learning to tell the time. Many of us were reared on Play School, it was a nice soothing little programme that was educational. Not as successfully educational as Sesame Street which was bold, brash and bloody determined to make you learn. Play School represents the old guard of children's television. We do not have patronising hippies dressed in pink beckoning us through the window anymore. I think the BBC has wiped most of the stock containing episodes of Play School, as they find it irrelevant. I could have given it a good home!
Clare Simpson
Contributor
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
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Clare