Below the Frame

Today was awesome! Plus, whatcha think of Vicki Genfan today? Yesternight, Mr. Tumble read our Bedtime Story, called Susan Laughs (which Justin previously read) in makaton. 

Thanks, Justin, for reading our 2nd Makaton bedtime story! (Bitz and Bob's Rob Delaney read 10 in the Bed first)

Hi, my name is Andrew Ben Day. You might've seen me exploring dinosaurs or presenting the links in between shows. A Month ago was the 17th anniversary of the launch of CBeebies (yesterday was NBeebies' sixteenth and a half), only one presenter was here for that.

Sid

You might've seen the Rad new trailer for the Channel 5 crossover with CBeebies, you all know what I'm talkin' about! The one where Sid beamed us all into the Channel 5 set because he was barfing. 

Now, I'm gonna interview Sid about how he became a presenter (he was one of the founders).

I was one of the producers of the early days of Broom Cupboard (I was 18 when it started). In 1994, I met with one of the Broom Cupboard presenters, Chris Jarvis (Fully Booked, Step Inside). We talked about there being a Children's BBC spin-off network for pre-school children. Sue Monroe (Playdays, The Shiny Show) and Nicole Davis (School of Secrets, Topsy and Tim) were there as well. Later in 1999, we went to the University of Manchester and studied early childhood education. We took the Children's Television class. There, we were looking for a new presenter and after looking for many but most of them said No, the first to say Yes was Pui Fan Lee (Teletubbies). There, we also met Liam Dolan from CBBC. As teachers, we wanted a network that would both educate and entertain children while featuring CBBC pre-school programmes such as Teletubbies and Tweenies, so we signed a deal with Ragdoll Productions (Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Twirlywoos) and Tell-Tale Productions (Tweenies, Boo!, Fun Song Factory). After both companies said so, we launched the network on February 11th, 2002 with help from small loans of family and friends. We became so successful that we quit teaching. 

We're asking Sid what it was like to work with Chris, Pui, Sue, and Nicole. All he said was "Fuhgetaboutit"!

Meanwhile, Warrick is showing us how to operate Oucho and Dodge.

The Presenter and Crew Lounge Band is closing with a performance of the Something Special Hello song.