Friday is a momentous day. CBeebies, the BBC’s dedicated channel for viewers aged six and under, will be 20 years old. There aren’t many television companies around the world that would devote an entire channel to bright, educational, inclusive output – but it isn’t until you have kids that you realise what a lifesaver CBeebies is. It is an utterly trustworthy place, full of wholesome stories and thoughtful messages. Among the wild west of YouTube and streaming platforms, it is an outpost where you know your children will always be looked after.
CBeebies has produced so much wonderful television that it is impossible to list it all, but here is a countdown of the 20 best shows from the past two decades. Happy birthday, CBeebies!
20 Tee and Mo
This show about a monkey and her son features a series of songs performed by Lauren Laverne. For the most part, the songs exist to remind parents that they are not alone in their mundane struggles – there is one about waking up, one about tidying up, one about the backbreaking effort of getting a child out of the house. And then there is a lovely lullaby waltz called Go to Sleep. Almost without exception, every new parent has been caught off-guard by Go to Sleep. Maybe it has been a hard day. Maybe you are incapacitated with exhaustion. Whatever the reason, there will be a time when Go to Sleep will come on unannounced and reduce you to rubble. Most parents have cried to Go to Sleep at one point or another. It is less a song and more a cruise missile to the chest. It should probably be banned.
19 Feeling Better
Hosted by Dr Radha Modgil, Feeling Better was a 2018 series designed to help children cope with the emotions they encounter while growing up. It was tremendously effective, too. Every episode saw Dr Radha attend to a puppet who was experiencing new and complicated feelings, by putting them into context, reassuring the puppet that feelings are normal, then singing a song about it. It was the sort of show that would struggle to be made anywhere else.
18 In the Night Garden
There are a couple of stages to watching In the Night Garden. The first comes when you are introduced to its army of nonsense characters – Igglepiggle, Makka Pakka, the Tittifers, the Ninky Nonk – and assume you have been concussed. But sit with it for a few episodes and In the Night Garden unfolds with a beautiful logic. Designed to appeal to a toddler’s mind, this is often the first CBeebies show a child will fall in love with.
17 Balamory
One of CBeebies’ launch offerings, Balamory was a live-action show about a small Scottish fishing community, shot in the village of Tobermory, on Mull. A bright, otherwordly series, Balamory was more traditional than the shows CBeebies would later produce, but it was a sensation nonetheless. It still is: 20 years on, the comedian Miles Jupp still hasn’t shaken his association with the show (he played Archie, the clueless aristocrat who lived in a bright pink castle, if you were wondering).
16 Grandpa in my Pocket
A series based on the titular age-old problem. Your grandfather was the beloved British actor James Bolam. In a procession of staggeringly inopportune moments, he kept putting on a magical shrinking cap, becoming the size of a mouse and speeding around the house, bringing toys to life like a cackling miniature poltergeist. This show was delightful, but, honestly, the grandfather was a handful.
15 Swashbuckle
The closest your children will get to Fun House or Finders Keepers. A fun, silly, nautical gameshow where young contestants are pitted against an uptight captain and her idiotic crewmates. You could write a thesis on the fact that, since the protagonists are pirates taking on the authoritarian might of the British navy, Swashbuckle is a way to indoctrinate children into the ways of guerrilla warfare. But you shouldn’t, because it would be stupid.
14 Bedtime Stories
Possibly the best-known CBeebies show, and certainly the starriest, Bedtime Stories ends each day on the channel. A celebrity will appear and read gently from a picturebook close to their heart. The level of celebrity Bedtime Stories attracts is amazing; Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Dolly Parton, James McAvoy and Elton John have all read stories. It isn’t always the biggest stars that shine brightest, however – I have a soft spot for Nadiya Hussain’s telling of My Little Star.
13 Tweenies
Tweenies predated CBeebies by three years, but heavy rotation in the ensuing years and its enormous cultural footprint means it deserves its spot. The series followed four young (but adult-sized) children as they played, sang, learned and (often, in the case of Milo) threw apocalyptic tantrums that were quickly followed by needy apologies. The Tweenies also released several singles. Their first was called No 1 and went to No 5. Their last, bewilderingly, was a cover version of the 1995 song Have Fun, Go Mad from the Dunston Checks In soundtrack.
12 Twirlywoos
Twirlywoos is a lesser-known effort from Anne Woods’ Ragdoll Productions – also known for Rosie and Jim and Teletubbies – but it is easily one of the best. Each episode happens across two parts. In the first, the Twirlywoos (a family of four bulbous seafaring creatures with propellers on their heads, along with their pet urchin) travel into the real world and create havoc for a succession of well-meaning but dimwitted humans. Once some lives have been ruined, the Twirlywoos head back to their boat and learn lessons about prepositions. Everything about Twirlywoos is impossibly charming; it deserves much more recognition than it gets.
11 Old Jack’s Boat
The most delightful show CBeebies ever made. In every episode, lovely, twinkly Bernard Cribbins boards his boat and tells a lovely, twinkly story to his adorably old dog. Not a huge amount happens in the stories – they usually revolve around the local community, which includes Freema Agyeman and Helen Lederer, and younger kids may be put off by the slower pace at first – but it is a great world in which to immerse yourself. Better yet, several episodes were written by Russell T Davies.
10 Dipdap
A wildly inventive series of three-minute shorts, Dipdap revolved around a simply animated character forced to overcome the obstacles created for him by a line drawing. There was something beautifully timeless about Dipdap – it was a 21st-century show with the feel of a 70-year-old Warner Bros cartoon. Don’t be surprised if children are still discovering it anew several generations from now.
9 Gigglebiz
Justin Fletcher has a whole array of CBeebies shows to his name – there is Something Special, if you need something soothing, or Justin’s House, if you want to feel as if you are trapped in a hellish liminal soft play centre for ever – but Gigglebiz is probably the best showcase of his talents. An all-out sketch show that appeals to children and parents, Gigglebiz earns its place for never pandering to its young audiences. Also, it is a sketch show. Do you know how rare those things are these days?
8 Maddie’s Do You Know?
Maddie Moate is one of CBeebies’ all-time breakout stars – and her ascent began here. Maddie picks a thing she wants to learn more about – soft-play cushions, say, or toilet rolls – and visits the factory where they are made. Deep down, it is an update of those old Sesame Street production-line segments, but Maddie’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for everything she sees really sells it.
7 Let’s Play
In which Sid Sloane and Rebecca Keatley dress up in the uniforms of various professions then travel magically into their world. By itself, Let’s Play would be a perfectly diverting television show, but what pushes it over the edge is the dizzying number of characters Keatley and Sloane play. There is one episode, set in a courtroom, in which Keatley simultaneously plays a claimant, a defendant, a witness, a member of the jury, two lawyers and an usher. It is astounding – Kind Hearts and Coronets told in 20 minutes. People should have thrown flowers at Keatley’s feet as the credits rolled.
6 Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures
Like Justin Fletcher, Andy Day has an entire squadron of CBeebies shows. Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures is the most popular and the best. The conceit is simple – Andy travels back in time to interact with various prehistoric animals, by digitally inserting himself into Walking With Dinosaurs footage – but Andy is a bright and charming guide throughout. The manner in which he travels back in time, involving a magic clock in a museum that Andy seems to remember only when anyone mentions the word “time” to him, defies logic to such an extent that it gives adults something to pedantically overanalyse during the long days of parenthood. A godsend.
5 Numberblocks
A show so staggeringly effective that they use it in schools. Prior to Numberblocks, shows about maths would be about characters doing maths. In Numberblocks, the characters are the maths. They throw themselves together and pull themselves apart to demonstrate mathematical principles in a satisfyingly visual way. This means that children are able to latch on to relatively challenging ideas with ease. If I had grown up with Numberblocks in my life, I would be much less stupid as an adult.
4 Rastamouse
Rastamouse is a stop-motion animation about the crimefighting adventures of a Rastafarian mouse who also performs in a reggae band. While it might not be the most culturally accurate show CBeebies has ever made – Benjamin Zephaniah criticised the characters’ West Indian accents – it is one of the most loved. The characters are beautifully designed, the humour is happily offbeat and, as someone who has suffered through more CBeebies Spotify soundtracks than most, I can gladly attest that the music isn’t at all insufferable.
3 Teletubbies
Of course Teletubbies is up there. For 25 years, it has been the archetypal BBC kids’ show – which is odd, given that it’s about a group of infantile custard-drinking aliens who blunder around under the watchful gaze of a baby trapped in the sun. But this loose relationship with adult logic is exactly what makes Teletubbies so special. Point a preschooler – any preschooler – at an episode of Teletubbies and they will be transfixed. The creation of Teletubbies was a watershed moment when it came to presenting information to children. The fact that it is still so popular underlines how important it is.
2 Bluey
Joe Brumm’s Bluey isn’t just one of the best children’s television shows of all time; it is one of the best shows full stop. A show about a family of Australian blue heeler dogs, Bluey is in reality a series of short films, each with its own distinct mood and soundtrack. There is Takeaway, a story about a father trying to entertain his children, set in one location and told in real time. There is Sleepytime, scored to Holst’s The Planets, in which a young girl travels through space in order to gain the bravery to sleep alone. There is Movies, which includes a big Disney-style musical number. There is Camping, which involves a genuinely ostentatious time jump to show how the main character is faring in adolescence. There is Flat Pack, in which, no joke, the characters roleplay evolution, from prokaryotes all the way to a posthuman utopia. Bluey is absolutely breathtaking television and it deserves to be watched by everyone.
1 Hey Duggee
If anyone tries to tell you that children’s television was better in the good old days, sit them down and make them watch Hey Duggee. Grant Orchard’s animated series about a dog who runs a cub-scout-style youth group might well be the best kids’ show ever made. It is fast, it is funny, it is sweet, it is educational, it is visually distinct, it throws adult references into the mix with wild abandon (one episode is an Apocalypse Now riff, for crying out loud). And, Lord, is it inventive. In one episode, the characters become puppets; in another, ceramic mugs. To watch Hey Duggee is to watch a television programme struggle to constrain the scope of one man’s limitless imagination. It is utterly astonishing and much, much better than anything you watched as a child.
