Live webchat with Kay Benbow, Controller of CBeebies 1 - 2pm on Tuesday 1st February

[RachelMumsnet]

On Tuesday 1st Feb between 1 and 2pm we'll be joined by Controller of CBeebies, Kay Benbow. This weekend sees the launch of the new season of programmes on CBeebies. There will be some brand new shows in there - like Little Charley Bear and the upcoming animation Rastamouse - and some returning favourites. All will be revealed on Monday when we'll be linking to a trail for you to have a taste of what's coming up.

Kay was appointed Controller of CBeebies in May 2010, having worked in children's television for over 20 years. She was a producer on Tweenies and was insturmental in building the pre-school department as the CBeebies Channel was launched, devising and developing Tikkabilla and bringing in mumsnetter's favourite, Justin Fletcher.

Join us next Tuesday lunchtime or send a question to Kay in advance of the live chat to this thread.

Hello, I'm delighted to join you today, and I'll try and answer as many questions as possible. I've had a great time looking through all your comments, because they help me understand what CBeebies means to you.

(I know Donald duck is only half dressed but the Rasta mice look more human IYSWIM)

@LoopyLoopsPoopaScoop

Are you not concerned that Justin Fletcher has a few too many appearances? Nothing against the man, but he does seem to have a monopoly on the channel. Whatever happened to diversity?

Hi Loopyloopspoopascoop (what a name!). Justin is hugely popular with our audience and will continue to feature on the channel. However, I am keen to build a strong talent base of presenters. We have Katy in I Can Cook, Phil, who's the wonderful Mr Maker and, coming soon, we have Ben, who is Mr Bloom. We also have our wonderful presentation team, Alex, Sid, Cerrie and Andy, just to name a few. I was particularly proud of the CBeebies panto which made the most of all their talents and gave all our viewers a wonderful treat.

@bigbadbarry

I'd like to know if there are plans to develop anything for the too-old-for-beebies-too-young-for-cbbc group (v snappy title)? Grandpa in my pocket is the only thing we can really find on non-commercial channels that is suitable for my 6-year-old. There are shows on cbbc but I have to pick and choose very carefully; I am not comfortable just putting the channel on and leaving her to it.

Good question Barry and I understand your concerns. Its something that we talk about in BBC Children's and will continue to work on over the coming year. We try to zone content for the older children in Big Fun Time when we know they're home from school and later this year we'll try to point parents at the most appropriate CBBC content - like Arthur and Shaun - when we relaunch the Grown Up's section of our website.

@LeninGrad

Please run three Octonauts in a row, thank you.

How much for a DVD, go on, name your price, I'll pay it.

I'm absolutely delighted with the success of Octonauts and there will be merchandise available later in the year. What's important to us is the love for the show and you can catch it again on iPlayer.

@teddies

Hi Kay
How much TV do you think children should watch? Are you comfortable with CBeebies being on all day as "wallpaper"?

I love CBeebies because there are no adverts, no pester power - well, not much - unlike other channels. We love Come Outside and Show me Show me because mummy fancies Chris and Tikabilla, and agree that there should be more like that. Less animation, fewer dubious puppets like that one with the lassie in red and yellow which I have only caught once.

Please can you have a word with the Powers That Be and ask them to make the BBC DVDs a bit cheaper - especially ones like Something Special.

Thanks.

It's all about parental choice and I hope CBeebies is valuable to all parents. However, research does show that viewing programmes with your child and discussing the content is an incredible positive experience for our youngest viewers. We also try to support the parents through that section on our website and we intend to reinvigorate that site later in the year.

Thank you - will investigate Arthur and Shaun

@FooffyShmoofer

Hi Kay,

I just wanted to say that my son was born the very same week that CBeebies went live. It has been a wonderful fixture in our lives for the last almost 9 years.

Is there any way that we could see some CBeebies retro? The Shiny Show, The Story Makers, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Pablo the Fox and others all much loved by our son and I am sure would be loved equally by our daughter (2.5).

I think it's about a balance across our schedule. Everyone has their favourite shows and we try to respond to what's working for the audience at a particular time. However, we know that when we bring a much-loved show back, there's always appreciation for it. I try to strike a balance between new content and our most-loved shows.

Do you have any plans to bring back Fun With Phonics or something similar? The thing I love about cbeebies is the educational programmes. My son learnt to count before he was 2 because of Numberjacks although he still has nightmares about the numbertaker and he is nearly 4!

@scrappydappydoo

Posted and it disappeared - try again..
We love cbeebies especially show me show me, octonauts and now charley bear.
My two also love Dora and Handy Manny and I was wondering if there are any plans for language learning programmes of cbeebies?

Hi Scrappydappydoo & the others who've asked a similar question - You'll be pleased to know we're launching a new show on the CBeebies website to introduce different languages to our young audience. The Lingo Show features French, Spanish, Mandarin, Welsh, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish and Somali and introduces children to the magic of language and different cultures through an all-singing and all-dancing family of international bugs.

Don't like the West Indian / wrong accents in Tinga Tinga - surely there are enough real East African's in Bush House that could voice this?

Re: Rastamouse, I am surprised and somewhat depressed that you are promoting a sexist culture that advocates drinking, illegal drug taking, as 'fun' and 'cool' to my impressionable (mixed race) daughter.

In the interests of fairness to other religions I assume we can expect to have a fundamental Christian mouse, a Muslim / Sharia mouse, a Hindu mouse etc?

Hate Justin except in Gigglebiz, Show me Show me, Tweenies, Teletubblies and that annoying one with the piplins. Hate babytalk and CGI.

Love Come Outside and agree about need for more older female presenters. Actual Mum's would be great. And can you bring back jackanory please and more Charlie and Lola and Scooby Doo (which we both love).

@littleducks

I'd like to comgratulate Kay for her work on Tikkabilla, that is a truely fab childrens programme (almost as good as my nostalgic fav Playdays)

I would like some new shows to have real people in, instead of being strictly animated/puppets.

That said my two do seem to like Charlie Bear (seemed to me like Wibbly Pig which is on a sky channel) and they adore Uugle (not sure if thats right) the creature who sleeps in the flower in show me show me.

I am sad that were are switching from cbeebies to commercial channels alot now that mine are older, i think cbeebies has the preschool childrens market covered but should do more for infant school children (my dd is 4 and in reception)

Could you develop something educational and interesting, like Come Outside maybe?

Oh and I think Zing Zilla's, Waybuloo and Space Pirates are dreadful.

I think you're quite right, LittleDucks, I think it's our 'real people' that make CBeebies distinctive. I will continue to commission programmes with talented presenters, like the new series Mr Bloom's Nursery and continue with shows like I Can COok, Mr Maker and Nina and the Neurons.

@Fizrim

DD loves Space Pirates! She also likes Me Too, which is not a favourite of mine. Is Lenny Henry going to rival Justin on the voiceover front on CBeebies (is Rastamouse the same one as the Jackanory Junior story?)

My personal least favourite CBeebies show is Jakers. Whose idea of Ireland is that?!

DD loves Alphablocks - I think that's a really engaging programme. I don't feel the same about Numberjacks, we need 'numberblocks'!

Thanks for a fab (ad-free) channel, we love it!

Hi Fizrim, yes Rastamouse is the one we did on Jackanory Junior. And this time Reggie Yates is the voice. The series is based on the popular books, but with the creators writing new storylines for the series. We're very proud of the show because we think it looks lovely and offers something new to the channel.

@cobbledtogether

There's great stuff on cbeebies, but the music programs always seem to miss the mark. Carrie and David'd pop shop was dire and space pirates just as bad. ZingZillas is slightly better, but no overacting children in it, which helps.

Do you have plans for any better new music programs?

It would really help me to know what you mean by 'miss the mark' as music is incredibly important on CBeebies. Zingzillas aims to bring a wide range of world music to our audience in an entertaining and engaging way. It features some wonderful musical guests like Julian LLoyd-Webber, Sir James Galway and Nicola Benedetti. Plus everything from bhangra to bluegrass. So music will continue to be important on CBeebies.

@teddies

Agree on dirtgirlworld. I thought it was quite disturbing.

Kay, is it true that you are not allowed to show the Come Outside episode about crisps because of healthy eating propaganda policy? If so, can I just go ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH please?!

That's a funny one, it's actually nothing to do with health. It's about product placement issues.

Please can we have some more Razzledazzle - reruns will be fine. DD loved it when she was tiny and I'm sure DS would love it too.

Really love Show me Show me - we really missed Chris and Pui when they stopped presenting all the linky bits.

Mighty Mites - we don't need another series thankyou (or anything else with Sarah Jan in, sorry)

Not keen on people in daft costumes generally here, like Tweenies/Zingzillas. Quite like Space Pirates though

Can we have Swahili kids programs too please, an option for Tinga Tinga in swa would be great.

Would just like to say that I think the Big Fun Time strategy you talk about is working well. With a 3yo and 6yo to cater for, teatime tv including Gigglebiz, Octonauts and Grandpa in my Pocket is engaging for both. I know lots of 6yos don't watch CBeebies any more, prob particularly when led by older siblings, but we're hanging on in there, which is really good. 6yo will be ready for some CBBC I am sure but there's plenty of time for that, and while I don't want to infantilise him I also don't particularly want to launch him into teen and adult shows with aspects that may confuse or upset him before time. CBeebies definitely feels like a safe pair of hands!

@Querelous

Don't like the West Indian / wrong accents in Tinga Tinga - surely there are enough real East African's in Bush House that could voice this?

Re: Rastamouse, I am surprised and somewhat depressed that you are promoting a sexist culture that advocates drinking, illegal drug taking, as 'fun' and 'cool' to my impressionable (mixed race) daughter.

In the interests of fairness to other religions I assume we can expect to have a fundamental Christian mouse, a Muslim / Sharia mouse, a Hindu mouse etc?

Hate Justin except in Gigglebiz, Show me Show me, Tweenies, Teletubblies and that annoying one with the piplins. Hate babytalk and CGI.

Love Come Outside and agree about need for more older female presenters. Actual Mum's would be great. And can you bring back jackanory please and more Charlie and Lola and Scooby Doo (which we both love).

I think Rastamouse is all about making a bad thing good, it's about showing the right way to do things, it's about taking the right path. It's not about promoting any particular style of living apart from respect for your fellow human beings (or mice).

@CharliePixie

Would just like to say that I think the Big Fun Time strategy you talk about is working well. With a 3yo and 6yo to cater for, teatime tv including Gigglebiz, Octonauts and Grandpa in my Pocket is engaging for both. I know lots of 6yos don't watch CBeebies any more, prob particularly when led by older siblings, but we're hanging on in there, which is really good. 6yo will be ready for some CBBC I am sure but there's plenty of time for that, and while I don't want to infantilise him I also don't particularly want to launch him into teen and adult shows with aspects that may confuse or upset him before time. CBeebies definitely feels like a safe pair of hands!

Thanks for your positive response, can I ask whether older shows at the weekend would work for you?

madamimadam they won't be able to remake Come Outside in the way you suggest - Pippin has now gone to live in the big kennel in the sky.

@CharlotteBronteSaurus

i'm sure some would disagree, but is there any chance of a bit more rotation in the schedules?
like most families we know, we tend to have certain times when the telly goes on - late afternoons in our case. this means dd1 has seen every episode of driver dan, and grandpa in my pocket twice, but never gets to see charlie and lola, or show me show me.

Hi CharlotteBrontesaurus. We do get lots of questions about how often and when we rotate our shows. We have to make tough choices when scheduling to try and appeal to as many people as possible. We try to select a mix of shows - both old and news - whilst balancing the habitual viewing of pre-schoolers. We use research into how pre-schoolers watch television to ensure we provide a balance of programmes that suit children's mood throughout the day and also what age children are watching at any point.

Can I just say, CharliePixie, if only the effort that goes into Cbeebies was matched on CBBC it would be worth watching...as it is your 6yo isn't missing much...'diddy dick and dom', 'heads' etc all low budget awful nonsense. But that's not your problem, Kay!