MEMORIES OF CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMES

Early children's television programmes were full of spoken received English, (previously known as the King's or Queen's English) which the majority of folk did not speak. Thinking back, the BBC 'Listen With Mother' radio slot in the weekday afternoons was equally as plummy and posh. While children probably accepted there was a bunch of chatterers who did not speak not like them, their families and their friends, the important thing was, the programmes were theirs, they belonged to them. It introduced young minds and ears to listening to stories and mini serialisations. The plum speech didn't matter, anyway, you didn't copy their speech patterns, you just learned to understand it....like learning another language!

Television was a similar story, but I think changes in interaction and speech patterns altered marginally quicker than they did with the children's radio programme slot. As we did not have a television in our house, I only saw children's programmes very occasionally. There was, I remember, the odd stripey-dressed puppet Andy Pandy and The Flowerpot Men in monochrome, jumping around inside a small square bottle-bottomed window. I have no idea what he or they did. 

When I became parent myself, I watched the children's programmes on television with the kids. The daily radio children's slots had vanished long ago.  Rosie and Jim,  who were lively-looking squeaky-voiced puppets, appeared on their brightly painted canal barge houseboat; a programme with Tony Robinson,(now the presenter of the archaeological digs T.V Time Team)  who, in those days, sat at a computer and during the programme he would summon the animation shape of  'Wordeee', to demonstrate the sound, the use and the writing of the magic 'e'.  

I watched the whole series of Sesame Street, it was brilliant for teaching young eyes, ears and minds all sorts of useful things, like sign recognition; snippets of various genres of music; titbits about nature and loads of activities. The little parable style stories, beautifully enacted by colourfully dressed animal characters guided by adults from many ethnic backgrounds, introduced children to the real multi-cultural world.

IT WAS ONLY A MISCALCULATION

"This unfortunately, was a miscalculation". Apart from being the understatement of the year, thus far, the so-called miscalculation has caused fear, almost mayhem and a diplomatic incident. It is yet another issue, between Russia and Georgia, who are at the best of times no more than very cool ex-partners.

The cause of the polemic is a TV programme that was broadcast showing the Russians just outside Tbilisi with their tanks; the commentary stated that there was a Russian incursion, an attack, a war situation. People who switched on part way through the programme were frightened witless. They would not have been party to the introduction about this being a scenario that was up for discussion on what could happen and how such an event might be handled by the State and individuals.

A Georgian diplomat was called by a friend to suggest he watched the programme. He initially considered returning to London to 'continue his work' and also grabbing arms. It then dawned on him that the pictures were showing the wrong season,it was clear that something didn't compute. From the war scenes and commentary, the programme cut back to a studio audience to discuss the points arising. At this stage, the diplomat tried to contact his friends, only to find the cell phones were not working. It was not clear if the network had been cut or was simply overloaded with use. However, with a major contact network out of order, dreadful things could have happened. The reality is that there are Russian tanks some miles from Georgian capital city, but they are currently static, for the time being parked at peace.

The Russians do not believe that there could not have been Georgian Government complicity, that the programmers acted on their own and uncensored, unlike, it was said, the Russian Media that is totally controlled. (Opportunity for a dig). The TV company has breached Georgian broadcasting regulations and has to be punished, advised the diplomat.

When asked why they had not transmitted a message simultaneously with the scenario, stating, 'THIS IS A SIMULATION' the spokesman for the programmers/TV station replied, "This unfortunately, was a miscalculation".

And how.......