The Christmas TV season will soon be upon us and this is my round up of the top TV picks for Kids this Christmas. Christmas TV in the past has given us some classics like ‘the Snowman’, ‘the Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Morecambe and Wise’.
From my own childhood, I remember being amazed by the animation of Wallace and Gromit and in stitches at the comedy gold of Only Fools and Horses: Del Boy and Rodney running through the streets of Peckham as Batman and Robin.
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Another trip down memory lane. A lot of my childhood memories include kid’s cartoons; it’s no surprise really, I was a kid at the time after all. There are lots I could choose from, but one of my favourites was ThunderCats … ThunderCats, ThunderCats, Ho!
I am not much of a TV addict, I love films, but it takes a special TV programme to maintain my interest. This summer however I have been engrossed in the new Netflix series Stranger Things. TV has changed a lot in recent years, especially for Netflix fans. Previously you would wait from week to week to find out what happened, now you wait 15 seconds for the next episode to play. I’d heard a few things about Stranger Things and seen a few trailers which caught my interest and decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed and watched the whole 8 episodes in the course of 3 days. A bit of background: On November 6, 1983 in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes mysteriously. Will's frantic mother, Joyce, searches for him while Police Chief Jim Hopper launches his own investigation. Will's friends Dustin, Mike and Lucas discover a psychokinetic girl who claims to know Will's location. As they uncover the truth, a sinister government agency tries to cover it up, while a more insidious force lurks below the surface. Credit: Wikipedia I would describe it as The Goonies v Alien and that in part explains some of its success. It manages to create nostalgia for all your favourite children’s 80’s films such as the Goonies, E.T. and Stand by Me but with the mature themes of 80’s horror classics such as Alien, The Thing and Poltergeist. The cast is phenomenal in their performances, from the child actors to the performances by Winona Ryder as Will’s mum Joyce and David Harbour as Jim Hopper the town sheriff. The soundtrack also deserves a special mention. Just like the constant references to 80’s life in the show, the soundtrack also takes you back to the 80’s with its blend of synthesiser and songs like The Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go. This a true modern classic and is certainly up there with True Detective and Lost. If you have fond memories of the 80’s, then this show will take you back. If you’re intrigued, then here’s the first 8 minutes to get you hooked: You can sign up for a Netflix 1 month free trial at Netflix and the great news is that the show has been approved for a second season to premiere in 2017
. When you’ve watched the show, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
As a Dad I am always on the lookout for the next big, kids’ TV programme. This is for 2 reasons, firstly because like most Dads I am still a big kid inside. Secondly because between 6:00am and 7:00pm I accept the fact that my little boys are in charge of what goes on TV, so it’s better if it’s something I might enjoy as well.
Thankfully a new show is starting on CBBC on Monday 25th July at 6:00pm which might be something we can all sit down and enjoy. The programme has already won this year’s Pulcinella Award for Best Kids TV Series. The story comes from the Bottersnikes & Gumbles books by Australian author S.A. Wakefield. The goodies are the Gumbles and the baddies are the Bottersnikes; they battle in a forgotten valley of abandoned junk.
The series follows 3 Gumbles: Tink, Bounce and Willi. They love to have fun around their junk valley, but have to avoid the Bottersnikes. The Bottersnikes are the stinkiest, ugliest, laziest and meanest spirited creatures. They eat mattress stuffing and rusty nails.
The programme focuses on the Gumbles as they try to outwit the Bottersnikes. It looks like it is aimed at an older audience than Cbeebies, which is currently L’s channel of choice, but without the fighting of something like the Avengers cartoon. You can check out a few sneak peek clips here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/bottersnikes-and-gumbles Me and L are certainly excited to tune in and with trumping, shouting and pulling of nose hairs in the sneak peeks it looks like our kind of humour. We’ll give you a full review once we’ve seen the first episode. |
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