It’s the top trump card for BBC chairman Sir David Clementi. His ‘OK kids, if this behaviour doesn’t stop, I’m cancelling Christmas’. Every time the license fee is under threat or the BBC is rattled, we’re reminded that it could mean the end for CBeebies. Forget BBC One, sod the news channel and scrap MOTD (I TAKE IT BACK, just move Saints up the running order for once I beg of thee). But come between a nation of parents and CBeebies and you are going to have a riot on your hands.
As a single mum, I look for support wherever I can. It takes a village, after all, and when your village set-up is naturally that little bit smaller, occasionally you let strangers watch your kids for you. Strangers, that is, such as Andy of prehistoric adventures fame (my fave, I love you Andy), Rebecca and Sid who have taught my son more about imagination play than I’ve ever had the energy to teach him, or Molly and Mack, who actually live life as part of a single parent family, helping him to normalise our set-up in a way other media for some reason (despite the fact we make up 25% of the parenting population) fails to do.
Waffle Doggie (he really is such a good dog), Hey Duggee, Catie (and her amazing machines), CBeebies is full of friendly, educational characters that I trust my son with while I run to the loo, put dinner in the oven, answer an email or microwave that cup of tea for the third time. These guys are the most supportive, dependable co-parents in the world (between the hours of 6am and 7pm only, but still) and scrapping CBeebies would do more than downgrade the quality of my son’s television. It would break up our family.
Don’t mess with CBeebies. It’s keeping our nation going.