CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMES

As well as all the pre-school work I have done, I have also written plenty of programmes for older children, from age 5 through to teenage. They are:

	COOK & CO (PeakViewing Interactive) Made for interactive cable TV, this was a sitcom for the 6 to 10 age range. Set in a rather anarchic café, it featured a cast of puppets, a lot of slapstick and a recipe for children in each show. Made in 2001, it was a series of 26 programmes, of which I wrote 13 and the multi-talented Wayne Jackman wrote the other half. Another former colleague with whom I was reunited on this show was Richard Robinson, who designed and made all the puppets.
	COOK’S BOOK (PeakViewing Interactive) Cook & Co spun off into a further series in 2002, featuring two of the main characters – the excitable Chef and Soapy the kitchen frog. Again, a series of 26 programmes, with Wayne Jackman and me writing half the programmes.
	CHICKEN FEED (PeakViewing Interactive) More interactive mayhem – an educational series disguised as a manic quiz show set in a chicken coop, with a large cast of puppets designed by Richard Robinson. This was made in 2001, and again there were 26 programmes shared equally between Wayne Jackman and me.
	CATS’ EYES (BBC) Not a show I was supposed to be working on – but in 1995 the series writer was taken ill, having written all but one of the programmes. With the recording deadline looming, I was asked to step into the breach and write the remaining programme at short notice – which I did.
	THE BOOK TOWER (ITV) The BAFTA award-winning Book Tower ran for years, and for the 1988 series I was commissioned to dramatise two books for teenagers. These ran as a serial throughout the series of 8 programmes, and were then reassembled as half-hour dramas for separate transmission.
	YOUR MOTHER WOULDN'T LIKE IT (ITV) This was a cult teenage comedy show, for which I was commissioned to write a load of sketches. The series of 7 programmes was transmitted in 1987.
	TICKLE ON THE TUM (ITV) Tickle on the Tum was an amazing series for younger children, set in a village where the dustman was played by Billy Connolly, the doctor by Bill Oddie, and every other character was a star. Fronted by Ralph McTell, it featured songs, stories and sketches; I was script editor and provided material for 40 programmes in 1986.
	BEHIND THE BIKE SHEDS (ITV) Set in a bizarre school called Fulley Comprehensive (I plead guilty to that one!), this was a mixture of comedy sketches and songs aimed at 9-13 year olds. For the first series of 8 programmes in 1983, I was script editor and shared the writing duties with John Yeoman. Not to be confused with the second series, which was rather different and which I didn’t work on.
	SUNNY SIDE UP (ITV) This was a lively magazine show aimed at the teenage audience, comprising sketches, songs and factual reports. I was script associate and writer for two series – 13 programmes in all – in 1982.
	AD-LIB (ITV) Ad-Lib was the precursor of Sunny Side up – the same sort of audience and magazine format, fronted by a team of young presenters. Again I was script associate and writer, and the series ran for 8 programmes in 1981.
	INSIGHT (ITV) This was the first programme I ever wrote – a highly-visual educational magazine programme for deaf children. Fronted by Derek Griffiths, it won a BAFTA nomination for the first series of 14 programmes in 1979, and a second series of 14 programmes followed in 1980.