100 Objects Of ’90s Children’s TV book
The Wombles are included in a new book celebrating “the last great decade of British kids’ television”, using one hundred inanimate (and occasionally imaginary) everyday items.
Author Thom Gray takes us on a journey through the pre-Millennium televisual landscape, told through one hundred chapters, with shows and genres represented through select ‘objects’ such as the paintball gun that blinded PJ in Byker Grove; the magical 50p from The Queen’s Nose; the equally mystical William’s Wish Wellingtons; the terrifying Forfeit Furnace from Get Your Own Back; and Mildred Hubble’s broomstick.
And Thom has revealed that the object representing the late-1990s Wombles TV series is… a tidy bag!
100 Objects Of ’90s Children’s TV features contributions from Sir Tony Robinson (Maid Marian And Her Merry Men); Pat Sharp (Fun House); bestselling author Mark Billingham; Anne Wood (Rosie & Jim, Teletubbies); Tim Whitnall (Mike & Angelo); Paul Abbott (Children’s Ward); Gareth Jones (How 2); Matthew Robinson (Byker Grove); Mike Jupp (The Dreamstone); Andrew Norriss (Bernard’s Watch); and many more.
For Wombles fans, the chapter about The Dreamstone also has a few paragraphs about Mike Batt’s involvement in providing the programme’s music. And there’s an entry about Postman Pat that features an exclusive interview with animator Ivor Wood’s widow Josiane.
The book features cover and interior illustrations by Martin Baines, and a foreword by former Live & Kicking presenter Steve Wilson. He writes: “What this book captures so brilliantly is that children’s television was never just background noise. It shaped generations. Those shows are far more than just something we watched to pass the time. They are time machines… Back then, millions of us watched the same things together, at exactly the same time, and those programmes became part of our shared national identity. I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced it both as a viewer and as a presenter.”
Thom says: “Growing up, I had many TV favourites which shaped my childhood and no doubt the childhoods of millions of other ’90s kids, be it a whimsical puppet show, nail-biting drama, or chaotic game show. Yet despite the quality of the programmes the ’90s had to offer, I feel the decade is rarely acknowledged within the history of children’s TV, overlooked in favour of the ‘golden era’ of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
“This book offers children of the ’90s (and those who missed all the fun the first time round) a chance to reconnect with the last great decade of kids’ TV, featuring exclusive contributions from those who were there at the time. It’s been incredibly nostalgic for me to rediscover the shows that shaped my childhood, but also fascinating to hear the stories behind their creation and production.”
Order from the publisher Candy Jar Books or from Amazon.