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Watch with Mother was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at tiny tots to pre-school children aged 6 months to 5 years old, a development of BBC radio's equivalent Listen with Mother, which had begun two years earlier. In accordance with its intended target audience of pre-school children viewing with their mothers, Watch with Mother was initially broadcast between 3:45 pm and 4:00 pm, post-afternoon nap and before the older children came home from school.[1]
| Watch with Mother | |
|---|---|
 The opening titles from 1952. The film was reversed so the title appeared to flower. | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 1952 – 1978, 26 years |
The choice of Watch with Mother for the title of the series was intended "to deflect fears that television might become a nursemaid to children and encourage bad mothering".[2]
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Although Andy Pandy had been regularly broadcast every week since mid-1950 (normally on Tuesdays),[3] and was joined by Flower Pot Men in December 1952 (normally on Wednesdays),[4] the name Watch with Mother was not adopted until April 1953,[5] shortly before the programming was expanded to three afternoons a week with the addition of Rag, Tag and Bobtail that September.[6] The "classic" cycle of shows was in place by September 1955, with the first showing of The Woodentops.[2]
Broadcast at 1:30 pm each day,[7] it comprised:[2]
- Picture Book – Mondays, from 1955
- Andy Pandy – Tuesdays
- Flower Pot Men – Wednesdays
- Rag, Tag and Bobtail – Thursdays
- The Woodentops – Fridays, from 1955
Each of the five classic shows actually consisted of only a very small number of episodes, all made on film – and all in black-and-white. Typically, not more than 26 programmes were filmed for each show, this being sufficient for a run of six months as there was only one broadcast per week. The aim was to provide children's programming on the cheap: the BBC Children's department had an extremely tiny budget, and needed a collection of films which could be endlessly repeated, typically in six-monthly cycles, for its undemanding pre-school age audience.
From April 1963, Watch with Mother was moved to 10.45am (with a further slot at 1.30pm from September 1963). Tales of the Riverbank joined the Watch with Mother Monday slot in December 1963, and caused worries that the original five shows would be replaced.[8]
Subsequent shows that occupied the Watch with Mother slot were as follows:
- Pogles' Wood - Mondays from 1966 to 1973
- Joe - Mondays in 1966, Tuesdays from 1971 to 1972
- Camberwick Green - Mondays from 1966 to 1985
- The Herbs - Mondays from 1968 to 1975
- Fingerbobs - Mondays from 1972 to 1984
- The Flumps - Mondays from 1977 to 1988
- Bizzy Lizzy - Tuesdays from 1967 to 1971
- Trumpton - Tuesdays from 1967 to 1985
- Mary, Mungo and Midge - Tuesdays from 1969 to 1973
- Bagpuss - Tuesdays from 1974 to 1986
- Mr. Men - Tuesdays from 1974 to 1988
- Bod - Tuesdays from 1975 to 1984
- Thomas - Tuesdays in 1975
- How do You Do! - Tuesdays from 1977 to 1980
- On the Farm - Wednesdays from 1970 to 1973
- Barnaby - Wednesdays from 1973 to 1978
- Ragtime - Wednesdays from 1973 to 1980
- In the Town - Wednesdays from 1973 to 1977
- Heads and Tails - Wednesdays from 1977 to 1988
- Over the Moon - Wednesdays from 1978 to 1982
- Chigley - Thursdays from 1969 to 1985
- Mr Benn - Thursdays from 1971
- Along the River - Fridays from 1970 to 1972
- Along the Seashore - Fridays from 1970 to 1975
- Along the Trail - Fridays from 1970 to 1977
- Teddy Edward - Fridays from 1973 to 1978
- Ring-a-Ding - Fridays from 1973 to 1977
- Rubovia - Fridays in 1976
- Play Board - Fridays in 1977 to 1980
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In 1978, the Watch with Mother title was dropped, as it was considered to be dated, and the strand was known as See-Saw from 1980 to 1990.[2] A Watch with Mother video became a best-seller in 1987, and was followed by a second and a third in 1989 and a 'best of' in 1993.[citation needed]
A 45rpm promotional single was available to radio disc jockeys, for promo only, entitled "Flob-A-Dob-A-Ben", in 1987. The single was not released on general release and was played often as a novelty record by Radio Trent on the Andy Marriott Television Show.[citation needed]
In the early 2000s, the shows Andy Pandy and Flower Pot Men were remade as stop motion animations (the latter as Bill and Ben), which aired on CBeebies.[citation needed]
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Between 1987 and 1993, four compilation videos with Watch with Mother shows have been released by the BBC.
| VHS Name | Release Year | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Watch with Mother (BBCV 4091) | 5 October 1987 |
|
| Watch with Mother 2 (BBCV 4286) | 2 October 1989 |
|
| Watch with Mother: The Next Generation (BBCV 4280) |
2 October 1989 |
|
| The Very Best of Watch with Mother (BBCV 4966) |
5 April 1993 |
|
- For the Children, a television programme for school-age children that ran from 1937.
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