Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Shows by Decade»1960s Television
    1960s Television 1970s Television 1980s Television Kids TV Shows P 5 Mins Read

    Play School

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 6 4 – 1 9 8 8 (UK)
    Approx 4000 x 20 minute episodes

    Here is a house, here is a door,
    Windows – one, two, three four.
    Ready to knock? Turn the lock. It’s Play School.

    Impressed by the gentleness of Romper Room and its soothing presenter, Miss Nancy, the BBC children’s television programme-makers were convinced this was the right attitude to strike with their own under-fives.

    Joy Whitby was brought in to set up the daily programme Play School in 1964. The first show was first aired on the second day of transmission on BBC2 – Tuesday 21 April 1964, at 11:00 am. Due to a power problem on the official night of the BBC2 launch, however, Play School actually became the first proper programme broadcast on the new channel.

    A mixture of songs and stories which entertained and educated the under five’s for 24 years, it made household names of many of its presenters, including Johnny Ball, Floella Benjamin (who got her start on TV playing a 16-year-old call girl in Within These Walls with Googie Withers), Derek Griffiths and the unforgettable Brian Cant.

    The presenters came from mixed backgrounds (teaching, acting), and inhibitions and embarrassment had to be left at the studio door, along with just about everything learnt at drama school.

    After you’ve been pretending to be a frog in front of a camera crew, you definitely aren’t going to have any inhibitions.

    “Hello! I’m painting by blowing. It’s so good because it doesn’t get your fingers dirty. Remember to blow down your straw, not suck. Otherwise, you get a mouthful of paint.”

    playschooljohnnyball_ps

    But perhaps even more famous than the long list of presenters were the Play School toys, Big Ted and Little Ted, A misshapen floppy egg called Humpty, Jemima and ugly old Hamble.

    Less frequently seen was creepy Olde English rocking horse Dapple, seemingly only ever called into service when the props men could actually be bothered shifting it.

    Each day had a particular theme. Monday was Useful Box Day, Tuesday was Dressing Up Day, Wednesday was Pets Day, Thursday was Ideas Day, and Friday was Science Day.

    And every afternoon, you’d get a camera shot of the clock and a pause before Brian Cant or whoever would tell you what the time was (so you could guess first), the camera would then draw back to reveal a turntable with a little model on it which would introduce the story.

    The other staple segment was the visit through one of the windows to see a short film of men digging a road, a family of ducks in a village pond or a trip around a factory to show how footballs are made.

    The round window certainly got more of a workout than the arched window or the square window but they were all accompanied by that pleasing big swoosh of harp music.

    By the early 80s, Play School was transformed into a more modernist knockabout comedy affair in the style of Play Away.

    Out went Hamble (who the cast called “the tart with a heart”), traditional tales, and much of the educational drive; in came culturally diverse replacement doll Poppy, sock puppets Bingo and Cuckoo (who came perilously close to infringing the copyright of The Banana Splits), a Heath Robinson mechanical clock and recurring sketches – most notably puppet-driven Breakfast Time parody “TTV” (with a diseased-looking puppet cat called Scragtag).

    playschool_301

    Many of the older presenters were shown the door and replaced by young upstarts such as Ben Thomas, Wayne Jackman, Iain Lauchlan, Liz Watts and Sheelagh Gilby.

    It didn’t catch on, and a couple of years later, a determined effort was made to return to the familiar core Play School values, and some of the earlier presenters and toys were even brought back on board – but it was too late, and the show ceased in 1988.

    TRIVIA
    playschoolwindowsBig Ted, Little Ted, Humpty, Jemima, and Poppy are now housed at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. Hamble was lost after being dropped from the show in the 1980s.

    In the Canadian Play School, which is called Polka Dot Door, there are two Humpty Dumpty’s (Humpty and Dumpty) and only ONE Teddy! It’s like an alternate universe – And they don’t have three windows, just one Polka dot door.

    An Australian version of Play School has run continuously since 1966, making it the second-longest-running children’s programme in the world. Throughout its long run, the show has introduced many of the country’s most notable performers, including Lorraine Bayly, Ruth Cracknell, Noni Hazlehurst (pictured below), and John Waters.

    playschool_oz

    Brian Cant
    Johnny Ball
    Julie Stevens
    Derek Griffiths
    Floella Benjamin
    Virginia Stride
    Toni Arthur
    Carole Ward
    Rick Jones
    Gordon Rollings
    Lionel Morton
    Jonnie Silvo
    Eric Thompson
    Miranda Connell
    Phyllida Law
    Anne Morrish
    Chloe Ashcroft
    Carol Chell
    Fred Harris
    Jon Glover
    Maggie Henderson
    Carol Leader
    Ben Thomas
    Wayne Jackman
    Iain Lauchlan
    Liz Watts
    Sheelagh Gilby

    Big Ted
    Little Ted
    Hamble
    Humpty
    Jemima
    Poppy

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Smith and Goody
      Smith and Goody
      1 9 8 0 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes This Thames Television series starred Mel Smith and Bob Goody and…
    • Ding Dong School
      Ding Dong School
      1 9 5 2 - 1 9 5 6 (USA) 1100+ x 30 minute episodes I'm your school bell, Ding dong…
    • Saturday Gang
      Saturday Gang
      1 9 8 6 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes 1 9 8 8 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes…
    • Zoo Time
      Zoo Time
      1 9 5 6 - 1 9 6 8 (UK) 500+ x 25 minute episodes With videotape and film expensive, and…
    • Gammon and Spinach
      Gammon and Spinach
      1 9 7 8 - 1 9 8 4 (UK) This Yorkshire Television production featured former Play School presenter Valerie…
    • Question Time
      Question Time
      1 9 7 9 - current (UK) Based on the BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions?, Question Time was first broadcast…
    • Bod
      Bod
      1 9 7 5 (UK) 13 x episodes The main character of this bizarre British kids TV show was a little…
    • ARVO/Alexander's Afternoon/The Alexander Bunyip Show/Alexander Bunyip's Billabong
      ARVO/Alexander's Afternoon/The Alexander Bunyip…
      1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 8 (Australia) Alexander Bunyip first appeared on Australian television in 1979 in…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleWorzel Gummidge
    Next Article Fantastic Four, The

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site

    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small. 

    Thank you so much.
    Enjoy your trip in the time machine!

    You may also like

    • Play Away
      Play Away
      1 9 7 1 - 1 9 8 4 (UK) Approx 500 x 30 minute episodes Play School's family spin-off, Play Away, ran…
    • ARVO/Alexander's Afternoon/The Alexander Bunyip Show/Alexander Bunyip's Billabong
      ARVO/Alexander's Afternoon/The Alexander Bunyip…
      1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 8 (Australia) Alexander Bunyip first appeared on Australian television in 1979 in…
    • Chockablock
      Chockablock
      1 9 8 1 (UK) 13 x episodes The "star" of this BBC children's show was a huge yellow mainframe…
    • Romper Room
      Romper Room
      1 9 5 3 - 1 9 9 4  (USA) Various  (UK) Various  (Ireland, Finland, Portugal, Switzerland, Morocco, Gibraltar, Australia)…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.