20 Great TV Shows for Young Children. Part 1

1. The Clangers
The Clangers was a popular animated series of short stories about a family of mouse-like creatures who lived on a small blue planet. They spoke in whistles, and ate green soup supplied by the Soup Dragon. The programme was broadcast by the BBC from 1969 until 1972. In October 2013, it was announced that The Clangers is to return with a new series.

2. Bagpuss
There were only 13 episodes of Bagpuss ever made, and they were first shown on the BBC in 1974. Each was set in a shop owned by a little girl named Emily. Emily would find lost and broken things and display them in the window so their owners could find them.
Bagpuss the saggy old cloth cat would come to life after Emily left the shop, together with various other toys including Gabriel the toad, a rag doll called Madeleine, a wooden woodpecker bookend named Professor Yaffle and the mice carved on the side of the «mouse organ».

3. The Magic Roundabout
Shown in the five-minute slot just before the early-evening BBC One news between 1965 and 1977, The Magic Roundaboutregularly attracted an audience of over eight million.
The main characters were a young girl named Florence, Ermintrude the pink cow, bouncing Zebedee, Dougal the shaggy dog and Dylan the rabbit.
The seemingly innocent children’s animation series included witty commentary for the adults, allowing two generations to enjoy it.

4. Roobarb and Custard
Thirty episodes were made of the Roobarb and Custard cartoons, which were broadcast on the BBC from 1974. They depicted the friendly rivalry between Roobarb the green dog and Custard the pink cat from next door. The narration was provided by the actor Richard Briers, who died this year.

5. Rainbow
Rainbow was broadcast on ITV between 1972 and 1992. It was set in the Rainbow House, where the puppet characters of Zippy, George and Bungle lived. Their human friend Geoffrey would attempt to calm them down and keep the peace when they argued.
The main story would be interspersed with songs from Rod, Jane and Freddy, and stories read from the Rainbow storybook, usually by Geoffrey.

6. The Wombles
The Wombles are returning to television in 2015 in a new series using computer-generated imagery (CGI). The Wombles made their TV debut in 1968 in a story broadcast on Jackanory and were later given their own BBC series (1973-75) which was directed by Ivor Wood using stop-motion and Film Fair puppets. The environmentally-friendly animals, who picked up litter on Wimbledon Common, were created by Elisabeth Beresford, who died in 2010

7. Animal Magic
Animal Magic ran from 1962 until 1983 on the BBC. The first presenter was Johnny Morris, who was joined by Terry Nutkins (pictured) in the early 1980s. The show combined jovial voiceovers applied to various animals from Bristol Zoo with some basic education about them.

8. Play School
Play School ran on the BBC between 1964 and 1988. It featured a mixture of presenters, and a supporting cast of toys including Big Ted and Little Ted, a rag doll named Jemima, an egg-shaped toy named Humpty, and dolls Hamble and Poppy. Pictured here are presenters Brian Cant and Chloe Ashcroft.

9. Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine was created by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, and came to television on ITV in 1984. Former Beatle Ringo Starr was the storyteller up until 1991. Thomas was depicted with a cheeky and self-important personality.

Источник: telegraph.co.uk