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  • The Guardian

    Crocs, Clangers and custard-eating aliens: the 50 greatest ever children’s TV shows

    Jul 31, 2023 8 minutes

    Summer’s well and truly here! And that can only mean one thing for kids: spending countless hours indoors watching quality TV. But what are the greatest kids’ TV shows ever? We put together a panel of Guardian arts writers and asked them to name the best-ever small-screen creations for children that can still be watched, from retro 1970s stop-motion delights to hilarious animated streaming shows – and much more.

    For zero to five-year-olds

    Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures
    Tall, curly haired and boundlessly enthusiastic, Andy Day is an immovable mainstay of BBC children’s TV – with good reason. His show about constantly travelling back in time to fix the exhibits he breaks in his museum day job is suffused with playful authority and is packed with wonderful wildlife clips.

    Bagpuss
    Oliver Postgate’s sepia-toned 1970s masterpiece in which found oddities – fiddles, jewels, pincushions – are presented to a cloth cat, a toy woodpecker and a rag doll by their owner Emily. Overflowing with period charm, Bagpuss has a quirky grace that still enraptures children.

    Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom
    It’s no surprise that Joe Brumm, creator of award-winning puppy animation Bluey, initially worked on Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom. It’s genuinely funny. Made by the brains behind Peppa Pig, this cartoon about fairies and elves is also brilliantly quirky and inventive.

    “A cartoon about an Australian dog” might not

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