She was in one of the most famous foursomes since The Beatles – but few would recognise Nikky Smedley until she says “Eh-oh”.
The dancer played sunny Laa-Laa in smash hit TV show Teletubbies for 365 episodes of its original run, from its March 1997 launch until February 2001.
With Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Po, Laa-Laa has become a global icon and the series has been watched in 120 countries, covering three billion viewers a year.
A single based on its theme song sold over a million copies and reached the No1 spot in December 1997.
Now Nikky has written a book about her life in Teletubby land.
She says: “I don’t think I’ve ever had a job that was so much fun. It changed my life and for six years, we were a real family. I’ll always be Laa-Laa. I still have friends who call me that and I’m ‘Auntie Laa’ to my nieces and nephews.”
Nikky, 59, was a struggling dancer when she saw an ad in September 1995 seeking “unusual characters” for a new kids’ show.
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For the audition, she dressed as a bistro table and did a skit about its love for a chair, but was blasé about the job until she met Anne Wood, founder of production company Ragdoll.
Nikky says: “She spoke so eloquently and passionately about wanting to make this programme for very young children with high production values. That’s when I thought that this might be huge.”
The cast were told to develop their characters’ unique personalities and catchphrases. They had to learn how to dance in 8ft suits, take clown and acrobatics workshops, and master puppetry skills to operate the mouths and eyes.
But filming at a set in Wimpstone, Warwickshire, from March to October each year was not always easy. Nikky recalls shouting at Anne over food on the set and John Simmit (Dipsy) swearing profusely as he ran down hills.
The oppressive costumes meant the stars gained a reputation for being moody.
Nikky says: “Your skin also needs to breathe. Today you can only be wearing that kind of thing for 20 minutes and you’d have an air break, but we could be in our suits for hours.
“My skin would crawl. I’d need to get out of there. We all got grumpy. The crew couldn’t understand it.”
Paramedics would give the cast rehydration drinks and the sweaty environment drove Nikky to shave off her shoulder-length hair.
The biggest drama came when Dave Thompson (Tinky Winky) was fired hours before the first series’ wrap party.
Anne and writer Andy Davenport were unhappy with his “interpretation of the character”. Nikky says they wanted to let him know quickly so he could get on with his life. But she says: “It still seemed cruel to me, and perhaps a little short-sighted.”
Dave would later sell a kiss-and-tell story about his antics on set but loyally refused to talk about his fellow cast members.
He was replaced by Simon Shelton as Teletubby mania gripped the UK.
Journalists went to Nikky’s parents’ home and her local, and photographers in helicopters tried to get shots of their real faces during filming. She even received sexually explicit letters from stalkers and toys from young fans.
Yet Nikky kept her anonymity. She says: “Sometimes people would say to their children, ‘This lady is Laa-Laa’ and they’d look at me like, ‘That makes no sense’.”
She did reveal who she played after a late flight to New York when a man at passport control asked if he would have seen her in anything.
She says: “He was so excited. He called his mates over and got me to sign his autograph book. The person on the opposite page was KC of KC and the Sunshine Band.”
The Teletubbies were signed by Simon Cowell and their single Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh, went to No1 in December 1997. But Andy barred them from being on Top of the Pops as seeing them in 8ft outfits would ruin Teletubbies’ magic.
Visitors to Teletubbyland were blindfolded to keep the location secret. The sight has since been submerged by the land owner.
Teletubbies merchandise raked in billions but Nikky had no royalties or repeat fees in her contract.
Anne gave each cast member a full set of original Teletubby toys, which Nikky keeps as her “pension fund”. Her other memento is a set of unused yellow paws for close-up shots.
With her salary, Nikky bought a house in Warwickshire, 10 minutes from the set, where she still lives
She is now behind the camera and has worked on TV shows such as Boobah and In The Night Garden.
She is also a choreographer for YouTube animation channel Cocomelon and trained the next generation of Teletubbies actors when the series rebooted in 2014.
In 2018 Nikky was heartbroken when Simon was found dead from hypothermia in a Liverpool street. Her book is dedicated to his memory.
She says: “Teletubbies rescued me from poverty and it was the first time I had a steady job. But more than that, it gave me confidence in my abilities. That was a real gift.
“The impact of that time stretches beyond that place and those years. Somewhere in the world, right now, a child is looking at Laa-Laa and laughing. I count myself pretty damn lucky to be able to comfort myself with that thought.”
Who played the four tubbies?
Tinky Winky
★Stand-up comedian Dave Thompson, 63, played the handbag carrying purple character in series one. But his voice was dubbed by another actor, post filming, and his contract ended.
★ Simon Shelton, uncle of Inbetweeners star Emily Atack and who was in kids’ show Incredible Games, replaced Dave. Dad-of-three Simon struggled with alcoholism and was found dead in a Liverpool street in 2018, aged 52.
Dipsy
★ John Simmit, now a theatre producer and comedy promoter, gave cow-print hatted Dipsy his dance moves. John, 58, calls the character his “furry godfather”.
His mum emigrated from Jamaica and he narrated Rush, a musical stage show about the Windrush generation. Of Tubby Custard, John once said: “Even Keith Richards would struggle to stomach that stuff.”
Laa-Laa
★Dancer and choreographer Nikky was artistic director of theatre company Geographical Duvet and in numerous bands before winning the role of Laa-Laa.
At one of her auditions for the show, she told a story about her dad accidentally giving her terrible carpet burns on her bum.
Nikky continued to work with Ragdoll after filming, teaching the cast of In The Night Garden to dance and directing episodes of Boobah. She is also a pilates teacher, writer, motivational speaker and expert in children’s storytelling.
Po
★British-Chinese Pui Fan Lee brought her heritage to the role of the smallest, red Teletubby and the character often spoke in Cantonese.
Pui, 51, became a CBeebies host and appeared on its Show Me Show Me. Po was her first job after drama school. She debated whether to take it, a friend told her: “It’s a regular wage and no one will watch it anyway.”
Switch on the Tele facts
■Teletubbies co-creator Andy Davenport’s love of astronauts and the Moon landings inspired the four characters.
■ It was to be called Teleteddies but the name was already taken.
■ It caused controversy when first aired as it replaced CBBC stalwart Playdays on the BBC Two schedule.
■ Teletubbies would be broadcast in 120 countries in 45 different languages, with three billion viewers per annum. The only show more popular at the time was Baywatch.
■ The programme won multiple BAFTAs, two Royal Television Society awards and was nominated for two Daytime Emmys during its run.
■ The original Golden Bear Toys dolls were the biggest selling toys of Christmas 1997, with more than one million bought by December 25 and fights breaking out in shops.
■ The rabbits used on set were Flemish giants, which can grow to up to a metre long, and were used to be in proportion with the characters.
■ Ragdoll Productions, including the rights to the Teletubbies, was sold to Canadian company DHX Media (now WildBrain) in 2013 for £17.9million
■ Over The Hills and Far Away: MyLife as a Teletubby by Nikky Smedley(£19.99) is out August 11.
