Adults have Night Nurse, CBD drops or wine. While administering these elixirs would be a case for calling Childline, the nation’s toddlers have access to something equally soporific, a soothing ritual to transport them off to Noddy Land with a speed and efficiency that ensures their parents can reach for the rosé as soon as their offspring’s sleepy head hits the pillow.
For 13 years, CBeebies’ bedtime stories have been working their somnolent magic via the simple, low-cost, age-old formula that is a human being reading a book. At 6.50pm in living rooms across the country, families with small children settle down in front of the TV, forget their cares and listen to soothing tales of dogs with bonnets, picnicking bears and tigers who came to tea.
