From Andy Pandy to Zebedee: The Golden Age of Children's TV

It is axiomatic for people from older generations to refer to "Golden Ages," as a means of contrasting the roseate past with the less attractive present. We have the "Golden Age" of television drama, which apparently occurred during the Sixties and Seventies when budgets were plentiful and there were only three channels to choose from. There's the "Golden Age" of Saturday night television, which took place in the late Seventies when THE GENERATION GAME, THE TWO RONNIES and STARSKY AND HUTCH ruled the BBC's roost (and formed the subject of a BBC Four documentary broadcast in 2014).

Hence to commission a program such as FROM ANDY PANDY TO ZEBEDEE is almost guarantee to attract audiences of nostalgia freaks willing to relive their childhoods when they came home from school and parked themselves in front of the television from 4.30 till 6.00 p.m., when the news began.

It makes for a good televisual story; the only problem is that it is not strictly true. There were good children's programs in the WATCH WITH MOTHER slot for preschoolers during the Fifties and Sixties, which provided valuable lifelines for stay-at-home mums. ITV mined a rich seam of children's material at 12.00 each day with short programs such as RAINBOW and INIGO PIPKIN. And we cannot forget the huge impact made by Saturday morning joyathons such as TISWAS and SWAP SHOP. As with all television shows past and present, there were good and bad products; some well remembered, others not. It was only a "Golden Age" for those who believe that the onset of satellite and cable led to a "decline" in production standards - a claim that is manifestly untrue in light of the quality material currently broadcast.

Nonetheless it was pleasant to relive the programs of one's youth and look at how presenters managed to overcome the stilted camera-work to produce some genuinely innovative work. Derek Griffiths was (and is) a multi-talented singer, actor, musician and lyricist, who could liven up any situation. Storytellers such as Bernard Cribbins and the late Kenneth Williams found a natural niche on JACKANORY. The soft-voiced but immensely versatile Tony Hart proved that you did not need to shout to attract children's attention. And the late lamented Eric Thompson moved from PLAY SCHOOL presentation into scriptwriter and voice artist for THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT.

The BBC examines its own children's output from the early days of broadcasting.

For me it is another bout of nostalgia and allowing me to tell my kids the kind of programmes I viewed as a youngster such as Andy Pandy where you could still see the strings, Jackanory always a treat when Bernard Cribbins or Willie Rushton was the storyteller and Play School especially with Derek Griffiths who popped up in my school once touring in a school version of Play School.

In the afternoons ITV ruled during the school lunch time hour with Rainbow, Button Moon or Pipkin. Nowadays kids are not allowed to leave school during the lunch hour.

There was a lot to pack in during 60 minutes and as a treat we had talking heads who actually appeared in these programmes such as Bernard Cribbins whose fellow actors were envious who had 15 minutes a day to himself talking to the screen.

However despite highlights such as Vision On, The Really Wild Show, Morph, Grange Hill and Newsround it was not all good news with the kids output.

I could never get into Blue Peter, it always struck me as a programme where people did things I would never get a chance to do or went to places where I would never get anywhere near. As a grown up I actually did manage to travel a bit but at the time it just felt remote.

A good slice of yesteryear despite some wobbly dramas with ropey special effects or shows you might not had given a second look in the days of 3 channel television.

This fun documentary works mainly as a bit of nostalgia for people of a certain age (me!). It focuses on the Children's Department of the BBC and how it produced a disproportionate number of well-remembered and interesting programmes between the mid 60's to the mid 80's. The narrative suggests that the advent of ITV kickstarted this, with the BBC being forced to up their game to compete and ended with the introduction of the satellite stations, when the corporation could no longer compete financially. Whatever the case, in the years in question, the BBC certainly did put out a good amount of memorable telly, both internal productions and more odd-ball foreign imports, such as The Magic Roundabout and The Singing Ringing Tree. The historical context is definitely interesting but at the end of the day, this doc really works best as a concise reminder of many shows we experienced in our infancy and there is sure to be one or two that jog dormant memories. All-in-all, a quality slice of TV history.