10 Favourite Characters You Can Send Love Letters To

1.Minty (G3)

2.Funshine Bear, Wish Bear & Tenderheart Bear (Nelvana CGI Care Bears films)

3.Optimus Prime (Armada)

4.Lady Penelope & Parker

5.Alan, Brains or Tin Tin Kyrano

6.K9

7.Orko (2002)

8.Agumon, Gatomon or Gabumon

9.Jetfire (Cybertron)

10.Brum

Presenting My New Favourite Song!

A Terrible Influence - A Review Of What Happened Last Time

Flurry is becoming such a Caillou for her teenage years - she hates having her hair brushed! Lucky Brum doesn't have hair, he doesn't need a brush.

Adventures Of An At Home Globetrotter

What a day I've had - and quite an exciting one. With my support worker, it doesn't matter how she plans it, but how I plan it.

First off all we went to the train station for our picnic. I've never been to a train station before. There were two men nearby cooking away for the restaurant, and there was a huge enormous tree with white willow flowers, and lots of benches where people can sit and wait for their lunch while waiting to catch a train. There was even an outdoor cafe, and a small wooden carving of a train housing lots of flowers.

And then, we went all the way to the 'Noisy Town', Golspie. First we went to Lindsey's, aka The Blue Peter Store, and guess what? I not only bought a wordsearch, but also some bubbles and some shades for in case my eyes get blinded by the hot sun. For in this weather, journeying around the country is like walking through a long, hot desert. And the best part about the wordsearch I got was it contained a wordsearch full of kids' shows - Babar, Binka, Boo, Softies, Oswald, Pingu, the Tweenies, and best of all.....BRUM!

The delusional little kid on four wheels had his own place on the wordsearch, but of course this book was talking about the terrible times he spent chasing things and causing a public disturbance. That's Series 3. The proper Brum is the one who always helps others and discovers new things about the community of friends he helps build - that was from the '90s. He loves that era, don't you?

#respectfor90sbrum

Anyway, our next stop was the charity shop. I wanted to buy a CD, but I couldn't decide what CD to buy. I wanted to get Now Christmas, but my support worker said Christmas was a long way away. So, I went looking for books to read - there were so many, I couldn't decide what to choose. So many choices, so little time. But finally, I chose a treasury of five minute stories as well as a Daisy novel and a Top Gear Search & Find book featuring Stig and lots of pop culture references.

While there I met this nice young woman named Amy, who was a bit silent most of the time, but we managed to bond through paying for my stuff. Then my support worker and I went for a little drive, and I took some selfies of me myself and I with my cool shades on. I felt like Rainbow Dash in her limosine!

And finally we went to the Spar to get a chocolate bar and something cool to drink. Of course the car was being a bit of a bully and pulled my shoe off, and then my music glitched out and halted most of the time, but somehow for some reason I managed to ask my support worker if I could have a moment of quiet, and I did. When we got in, it was different to how I last visited it.

Everything was in different places, and there was a barista at the far back of the shop. And guess what else? Galaxy Milk Chocolate drinks! Of course I chose the chocolate bar and the can of Coke, because there were fruity fizzy drinks in there, and Mum said fruity fizzy drinks can cause tooth decay.

Still, what a fun day out I've had! I hope I can go on another one again. Don't forget to write! (I meant postcards, not to my blog)

Brum Told Me To Give You This Video If You're Feeling Sick...

Friend Of The Day: Brum

Feeling better takes time and effort - or at least, that's what some people think. Not when he's around.

When you see Brum as depicted in the '90s, he's the sort of guy you would like to air on your telly when you feel sick. His delusionally childish nature and curiosity makes him a geezer in a 3 year old's body, which makes him a good friend to have around when you're tired. His jokes, songs and stories will entertain you and make you happy in no time.

Brum Has Something To Say

"Ladies and gents and kids,

Not only was Paul Leather not the perfect director to help bring me back to kids' TV, he was the furthest thing from.

From the moment he brought me back to the box, I had to trust Anne Wood and not him. I had no choice. I needed Mrs Wood to protect me from my noisy, fast new adventures...to be my guide, to help navigate the difficult, confusing and vulnerable journey to becoming a brilliant little kid on four wheels, who makes his town a better place.

Mr Leather did none of those things. He may have done well with my friends the Teletubbies, but took a four-wheeled toddler's trust and innocence, delusional imagination and excitability and smashed it to bits in a five year mission to destroy a low stimulating, stream of conciousness format for a preschool docudrama that he killed a long time ago, through working on The Hoobs and everything.

And honestly, if my horrid 3rd season ever goes onto iPlayer, and I get into even more trouble, I honestly think that I never want to see Mr Leather's horrendous, ugly face again!

Please...have sympathy for me. You all loved me in the '90s, didn't you?"

So that has been said.

Please leave your kindest words of comfort for Ragdoll's animatronic robotic car underdog in the comments!

10 British Kids' TV Classics Which Defied Creative Risks

Attention kids' TV lovers! I've just read Anne Wood's article about the uncertain future, and the bad news is: TV companies are finding content for the algorithm much easier to produce, wheras now everyone finds British kids' TV shows which define creative risks hard to do with so much money out of the bank!

*Crowd gasps in horror*

But don't worry, some classics have managed to defy the creative risks in different and amazing ways, from those classic dramas families can enjoy together to gentle, kind preschool shows that'll calm young viewers today. 10 of these, for example, defy these risks, and here they are in person:

1.Teletubbies, as seen above, manages to mix a boundaryless world of fun and learning with a sense of calm and relaxation, allowing toddlers to grow and develop at a calm steady pace. The show uses a mixture of giant costume puppets, animatronic robots, real life documentary footage and CGI to enhance the entertainment, and the learning experience.

2.Filmfair's Paddington series took British children's animation a next step forward by mixing one stop motion, cuddly teddy from Darkest Peru with paper cutout backgrounds and characters.

3.Brum, the '90s series, has an animatronic model car as a character, and uses silent human characters and miming, accompanied by gentle, motherly narration, to surprisingly touch the hearts of toddlers watching with their parents.

4.Thunderbirds may look like an average British '60s marionette series, but its combination of proper English dialogue, diverse range of accents - most notably American accents for the Tracy Brothers, Brains and Jeff Tracy, truly British accents for Lady Penelope and Parker and Malaysian accents for Tin Tin Kyrano and her father, simply named Kyrano - and mind-blowing special effects by Derek Meddings made it a low-stimulating yet high stakes classic, enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

5.The BBC's Narnia series defied how all classic children's book adaptations should be made, not with CGI or expensive special effects, but with a mixture of puppets, live actors and traditionally animated creatures - something Disney dared not do when they made their adaptation.

6.Spot, based on the books by Eric Hill, took out the high stakes and action-filled, problem-focused narratives and just focused on stream of conciousness stories focusing on the life of a boy Spot's age as he goes around playing new games and meeting new friends.

7.Kipper, another cartoon dog, took the low stakes, soothing narratives to a whole new level in the late '90s, combining slice of life stories and chilled out characters with some rather surreal and fantastical storylines that don't just rely on quests and high stakes, as mentioned with Spot. Instead, it relies on exploration and discovery, something all preschool shows should inherit, including Bluey.

8.The 2002 version of Andy Pandy brought back the storytelling formula long forgotten by kids' TV back then, making the visualised characters silent in order for the narrator, Mr Tom Conti, to express what they're saying to the young viewers watching and describe how they communicate in their world without speaking at all, proving even in the early 2000's, art is a simple form of communication for children who are deaf mute.

9.The Wheels On The Bus does what Cocomelon does, only in a slow paced, low stimulating, truly British manner. Its smooth, lesser detailed CGI and enjoyable songs, plus gentle narration by Dawn French and enjoyable eye candy, provided an entirely different way for kids to enjoy their favourite nursery rhymes while enjoying some originally written songs.

10.And last but not least, we have In The Night Garden, a soothing bedtime experience for children which mixes giant costume puppet characters which the youngest target audience can see themselves in with stop motion and inflatable prop characters and digitally enhanced CGI and special effects to demonstrate to even weary parents the transformative power about how play and toddler development can wind young children down at the end of a busy day. And during the time it was made, Ragdoll was as successful with that as it was with Teletubbies years ago.

But now...it's all gone.

With algorithm making shows easier to produce and kids' TV drawing kids' attention rather than telling them stories, with a demand for more overseas programmes to get them watching channels as a cow produces babies to produce more milk or our cornflakes.

And if today's loud, overstimulating overseas shows are a cow's babies, kids of today are the milk, once pure and fresh, turning stinky and curdled with every single attention-grabbing channel, show or Youtube video they watch. So those baby calves who are making the ratings plummet need us. They need us to get the BBC and ITV to make more programmes that'll nurture kids' minds in the low stimulating, risk-defying format and styles we've so long lost to CGI and special effects.

So, in honor of this, we give this risk-defying, calming, collected era a minute's silence. Cue the music, please...😢

The Second Coming, Explained (The Balamory Invasion)

ROCKO: G'day mates, I'm Rocko, and I'm going to tell you about the new season of Balamory. Balamory is the true beginning of the end of CBeebies. It starts with all of CBeebies' old characters being thrown in prizz!

BRUM: What about the sinners that are left behind?

ROCKO: Well, Brum, they get to witness the second coming...of Miss Hoolie!

*Both gasp*

BRUM: Miss Hoolie is coming back? NO!

ROCKO: It's worse - Miss Hoolie is coming back for BALAMORY!

A seven-year war where Miss Hoolie and her soldiers battle all the classic characters the nation has cherished over the years. All leading up to a final showdown between Miss Hoolie and the very first characters to appear on CBeebies: the Teletubbies!

BRUM: Oh, that's great! But...who in the name of Big Town is going to win?

ROCKO: No one ever knows. There are however ten classic preschool shows from the '90s and '00s you can watch from the BBC: Teletubbies Everywhere, Bob The Builder, the original Teletubbies, Tweenies, Bill & Ben, Andy Pandy, Muffin The Mule, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat and Pingu.

Once we wipe Miss Hoolie from the face of the Earth, we will save British kids' TV from an Americanised fate!

BRUM: Wahey! And hopefully save the real Big Cook Little Cook too?

ROCKO: Erm...maybe.

Social Media Sucks, Okay?

You know that pink haired lass you see jumping high into the air with her friends and especially adorable little Taromaru? It's a bit of a trick question because you may have seen her before on my blog. Her name is Yuki - a delusional schoolgirl who has fantasies of a regular school life during a zombie outbreak.

Come to think of her and her friends attempting to survive during a zombie invasion, my dilusional behaviour comes from one word you shouldn't repeat in from of your own parents at home. What's the word?

Unrealism.

The 'U word' is a horrid word in our house, besides 'Why', 'Perfectionism' and 'Publishing'. It's also one of Pibby's 'No No Words', so we refuse to use it in our house. Why? Because all while I was addicted to tech, I was seeing too many social media posts of all these people living the high life - fancy clothes, fancy cupboards, fancy beds and all the marshmallows in the all the cereal and hot cocoa you could ever want.

But just saying the U word makes me shiver and quiver and shake and quake. Why? Because reading everything I see online, in books, on TV, in film, everywhere, has caused my insides and ideas to melt like they were ice sculptures in a sauna. All these high life, successful people - enough to make me use that word to make everyone angry.

And you're going to hate me for saying this, so listen carefully:

Dreams don't come for free, guys. You have to stick to those that don't make you feel like a slave. Ambitions come from nothing. Just a black abyss of slavery, death and destruction.

*clears throat*

Oh my god, what am I saying? Anyway, don't use your dreams for ambitional, working purposes. The true key to happiness comes from the behaviour of two classic BBC preschool characters: Brum and Binka. Their delusional behaviours don't come from success at all, but rather a childish imagination.

First of all, let's talk about Brum. Most people know the third series by now, which contains so much slapstick humor and fast paced chase scenes. But the second and first series made me imagine how Brum would view the town as he ventures along looking for a new friend - if he is voiced by Joe Pasquale, I believe he'd mistake everything for something else: princesses, fairies, dragons, pirates, everything in particular, as long as he is kind to everyone and gives grounded advice, the same way everybody in town does. Even the children of the town give him grounded advice.

Then there's Binka. Unlike Brum, whose childish self is depicted as an animatronic robot remote control car which rocks about and moves its headlights from time to time, Binka is a traditional hand drawn cat who only meows and exhibits cat-like behaviour. So, I think of Binka as sort of like The Secret Life Of Pets on age regression - Binka is an analogue of a three year old who discovers the world the same way a toddler does, but his delusional behaviour doesn't rely on success. It relies on curiosity and goofy behaviour, even Tango and Suki are delusional most of the time, because Tango is colour blind so he gets his colours wrong. He thinks the kitchen taps have colds, and that there's a cat from the future in the mirror.

So, judging from what we have learnt from School Live, Brum and Binka, do remember that delusional is a good word to replace the U word. Why? Because the U word means anxiety, stress and deadlines, and you're not working in an office at all are yeh? ARE YEH?!

So the D word is way better, because using that word means your imagination is closer to home, and you can get a better understanding of your world better.

Way to go - oops, er, I mean, good lesson, young Brum me lad.

Move Along, Nothing Special

It is an absolute OUTRAGE! CBBC, CBeebies and Channel 4 are at least trying to play their part in Autism Awareness Day, but with the rise of the streaming era, why? Why can't they even do something special for Autism Awareness Day?

First, let's start with CBeebies. They premiered Pablo only a few years ago, back in 2017, so there's nothing wrong with that. And CBBC has done - you guessed it - nothing special, focusing only on loud, overstimulating imports rather than a special kind of lineup. Listen here, you guys, if you want to do something special, then try and take those tips from me, right?

For Autism Awareness Day, you guys could all abandon your loud, noisy programmes and instead show classic programmes, like some of the ones up above - except Bluey and Hey Duggee, because the characters act too wild and crazy. You could air shows like the above mentioned original Teletubbies, Little Bear, Bob The Builder, Pingu, Postman Pat, even Series 1 and 2 of Brum. But no, you have to keep up with the times. The BBC hates retro programming.

And what about you, CBBC, hmm? How far have you come with such an abomination of shows so far?! I mean, doing only one autism-related show in the form of My Life isn't fair, what about your entire lineup? Don't you even care about anyone else other than yourselves and your tummy-tum-tums?! There's loads of lazy people at the controls pigging out on crisps due to all the money the BBC lost, and because of that, you're not focusing on British kids with autism!

To make things better, you could've at least aired some calm classic kids' shows like Byker Grove or Narnia or Grange Hill or even Strange Hill High and Scream Street for that matter, but noooo, you don't care about the needs and preferences of every child with autism. You are disrespectful and rude, which is why CBBC might've yanked you off the air for good and always, so stop telling the autistic children of the UK to shut up and do something else, do something useful, just for once, PLEASE?!

And Channel 4 isn't proving useful either. I mean, they have made a police drama made by a crew of autistic people, which is good. But why? Why haven't they made their channel and all their programmes autism friendly too, just for this day? I mean they could've aired their old kids' shows, for instance: The Hoobs, Cubeez, Angela Anaconda, the Clangers, The Magic Roundabout - but:

*WRONG Panel Buzzer Noise*

They just couldn't. They don't have the money to do it. Neither does CBBC, CBeebies or ITV. All they do is spend their money and time on miserable programmes and imports from America rather than something special for the day.

Now listen here, Ofcom, if you're going to let autism-friendly British kids' TV die down, I suggest we all strike back and do what's right for autistic people and what they watch all across the UK!

WHO'S WITH ME?!

"Me me me!"

"I do, I DO!"

Question Prompt: Oi Oi, Kids!

What is your favourite episode of the first two, slightly underrated (to me) seasons of Brum?

Brum's Bush Childhood

From the moment Brum was raised by Mama Kangaroo in the '70s, he and Blinky were best friends. Blinky spent his toddlerhood learning to walk with no clothes on, and Brum grew up too - even though some cars don't, he never did in heart.

A Rhyme About Remembering Friends, By Brum

When the screens go off

And classics seem never,

Keep us in your heart!

Remember us forever.

It Was A Strange Day, Folks...

BINKA: Yeah, it had been a very strange day indeed.

TANGO: How? I don't see anything strange around here.

BINKA: Listen here, Tang, my *ahem* other owner-apart-from-Mum-and-Grandma-and-Auntie had been into shops, for the first time, in SEVEN YEARS!

TANGO: Aroo aroo aroo! That's fantastic!

BINKA: I know, right, Tang, her day started off quite normal. While I was walking through the street, I saw her actually go into the chemist's. WITH HER SUPPORT WORKER!

TANGO: WHAT?!

BINKA: Strange world, eh?

TANGO: Even stranger than when Dad 1's little nephew comes over. He always wants me to chase his favourite remote control car.

BINKA: Not that, I meant, my friend discovered some absolutely amazing things. Medicines and bottles and boxes and powders and potions and lab equipment, which for some reason I had lying around somewhere.

TANGO: I think they must be scientists, right, Binky? I always believe Grandad was a mad scientist, always cooking up some new experiments with dog food for me to try.

BINKA: Yeah, your grandpa and his weird dog food experiments. But none as weird as the fact that my other-owner and so and so ordered actual Voltarol, and actual E45!

TANGO: Is that like a robot, Binky? One that can do the housework, and one who can transform with the help of the most ENORMOUS lion robots on the planet?!

BINKA: No, I think they're two creams. E45 is designed to heal sore toes and tootsies and fingers after they've been stubbed, and Voltarol, as far as I've studied even though us cats have small brains, helps ease something called 'Cramps' and 'Pain'.

TANGO: Pain?! Oh no, Binky, it's too scary! But, I think Cramps are little rhinos inside your feet, jabbing at the surface until you are totally in pain.

BINKA: Not that, according to my owner, foot cramps come when you are hard at work organising your room. She had it about last night, and used Voltarol to make it heal quick as my leopard cousin Albati. But, at least she didn't pick Mum up and swing her around like in those god-forsaken adverts. I don't watch adverts anyway, they are too loud and annoying. But here's the key difference:

- Unlike Grandma's boring so called 'Voltarol', I think that actual Voltarol made pain GO in double quick time.

TANGO: I do wish there was Voltarol for dogs with a thing called 'Mange'. You can't imagine how painful it is, it's like cancer for dogs! All your fur falls out, and then you become so itchy you can't stop scratching.

BINKA: Gross, right. Anyway, what Other-Owner didn't manage to tell us was that because of her digital detox, she actually managed to help a shop owner who had dropped her belongings on the floor. And she didn't freak out, either, because there were absolutely no screaming kids. Come to think of it, they make my ears hurt.

TANGO: Mine too. My ears always bleed when I hear them. They are so loud they could make Dad 2's prized glass statues shatter.

BINKA: Anyway, let's move on. Then, Other-Owner met an old teacher of her's who was coming down the road. Unfortunately, I can't tell her actual name, because COPPA is everywhere, not to mention a thing called 'algorithm'.

TANGO: No wonder we were forced to not exist anymore, algorithm is scary. It makes everything loud and fast.

BINKA: There is a way to stop it, but I'll talk about it in another post. Anyway, next stop was a picnic by the beach. From there, my Other-Owner did something absolutely incredible.

TANGO: What was it? Did she take parkour lessons?

BINKA: No, I think parkour is too dangerous. Plus, you would need a very hard tool called 'Training'. What Other-Owner actually did was walk all the way to the post office, which she believed belonged to Mailman Moe, and pick out some things to cure her mucus-filled throat.

TANGO: Bleaurgh! Disgusting!

BINKA: Even as disgusting as slimy raw fish and meat before it's cooked in the air fryer. It makes me retch too. Anyway, Other-Owner picked out a colouring book, a notebook, some sticky notes, a wordsearch ma-

TANGO: Wait! Binky! You need to tell everyone about what she found in there. I bet the Disney and dog ones were the highlight - my American cousin Odie was there, I wonder if I'm featured? I'm already the star as it is!

BINKA: More than that, Tang, I think the main highlight is quite obvious - it's our home, CBeebies!

TANGO: Wahey!

BINKA: Her old favourite childhood channel was featured, so not only you, me, Suki and Spit were all featured, but also some of our other friends, alongside some very noisy modern favourites like that big brown dog ripoff of a certain purple dinosaur, were there too - Brum, Tilly, Tom, Tiny, Donkey, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La-La, Po, dear old Noo Noo and his dry jokes and commentary, Angelmouse, Quilly, Oswald, Little Petal, Hutchkin, Ellimum and Baby Ellie - dear god, how we miss 'em.

TINKY WINKY: No you're not, mate, we're right 'ere!

BINKA: Oh thank god, guys, I thought you were all gone forever.

LA-LA: I think we must be still here. You all might be wrong. If so, can you let us have a turn at reciting Other-Owner's story, one after another?

ALL: Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?

BINKA: Alright then, go ahead.

BRUM: I'll go first, because I am her most favourite. When I saw her park at Invergordon, I was most excited because she was going to the hardware store - the stalls in there were absolutely huge. Just about the size of a skyscraper in that city Duke told me about. New York, that's it.

NOO NOO: The hardware store had lots of nice things, some shiny, smooth, rough and squishy. She was going around, trying to look for some things on her list. Since her Mum had the list, she had to pick wisely - like those choices of three the Teletubbies had to make when they can't decide.

TINKY WINKY: I was about to say that, thank you very much. Those decision making Teletubbyland stories were a hit with us. Heh heh! She chose five things - I wanted her to get three packs of pens, but she only chose one. She chose a bunch of other stuff too - notebooks and sticky notes and stuff.

DIPSY: Look, Tinky, I didn't mean she was buying all the stuff in the shop, because it might attract the police. Even Miss PC Bluelight, even though Brum here misses him very much. Five is just right, like Goldilocks would say in one of our favourite stories.

LA - LA: Ahem, talk of police and crime makes us very scared. The best part came when our friend ran across April showers to get her coat. And you know what we were like when we encountered various toys and objects sometimes and tried to discover how to play with it or how it works. Like that washing line, or that flag, or those gloves which Tinky Winky wore on his ears!

PO: Hee hee hee, quite a highlight. After that eventful run, she and her support worker went to the sweet shop - I always thought Tubby Custard was sweeter, and even La La and Tinky Winky are sweeter. There wasn't a wide variety since my friend last visited, but the sweet jars were on the shelves. Way up high, like when I flew high in the air because everyone else handed me their kites!

NOO NOO: Well I never! I think I might've heard of a flying Teletubby before. I think it might've been a bird! A parrot, even.

ANGELMOUSE: Wait - earlier on at Mailman Moe's store, she got a gross of wrapping paper for her Mum's special Mother's Day surprise. I miss my mum - she was a lioness. Quilly's parents were regular birds, Hutchkin's parents grew up in the '60s which is why their baby was born a hippy, Oswald's parents supported his condition which makes him speak two times, Spencer was homeschooled and his dad was a garage owner, and Little Petal grew up in the country with two regular human parents: who just happened to be a boy and a girl, who know she is a doll.

QUILLY: Ellimum's story is the most heartwarming. Isn't it obvious? Her huge parents, Elligran and Ellipa, helped her when she gave birth to Baby Ellie, and have supported her with her nutrition, development and what's best for her. And we know our friend's Mum knew what's best for her, because she has that special power that made her one of a kind.

SPENCER: Yes, I am very proud of my father, always obsessed with cars like I am. Anyway, upon entering the sweet shop, she met our childhood friends Alison and Archie, who helped her choose three groups of sweets as a surprise for Mum. Fizzy cola bottles, smooth cola bottles and little watermelon sweets.

ELLIMUM: That's quite a nice surprise. They even packed an extra bag of Cola bottles just for our one of a kind friend.

NOO NOO: I wish she saved some for us. I can't drink fizz, it makes me absolutely bonkers!

BINKA: But the most important thing we heard was, Alison watched all of us because she and her 'Little Grownups' - what we call children - watched every single one of us as a family. Before carry-around computers took over. Before those loud, fast CGI cartoons took over. Before...before...OH NO! *cries*

TANGO: It's not fair! I want to go on TV again!

LA LA: Me too!

*Baby Ellie cries*

ELLIMUM: Now now, my little Ellie, it's okay.

NOO NOO: Is it me or do I feel something about to pour out of my eyes?

*Brum sobs*

BINKA: Oh, er...Brum?

BRUM: All those happy days, before I even was forced to grow up and become a loud slapstick superhero. I miss everyone - Jabari, Liam, Jackie, Grandpa John, Firefighter Joe and his funny jokes and one liners, Miss PC Bluelight, Mr Devon and Mrs Amsterdam...and even dear Miss Lollipop. She always knew what to do. I wish she was still here.

BINKA: I wish so too, and so do all of us, right, mates?

ALL: Of course/quite right/yes!

BINKA: So Brum, whenever you want to hear about your fond memories of being with Miss Lollipop and all the others, Alison is the one to turn to as well as our friend. She has that essence of Miss Lollipop inside her, and Archie has that essence of Grandpa John, whom Liam always visits during the Summer holidays.

BRUM: I miss everyone too. Even Firefighter Joe...he, Gordon and Omar always knew some techniques to make me laugh, even when it was raining. During the times I visited him, even when I tried to stop Tyrone and Tyson from bullying my friend Shania and tearing her doll to bits on their dad's bonfire.

BINKA: Well there were others during that time - not just Joe, Gordon and Omar, but also Paul, Gary and Tom. Each of them had their own style of humor, remember?

BRUM: Erm....er....*gasps* Oh! I remember, Paul can transcribe funny words out of words I find difficult, and can make funny noises. Gary has a part time job as a balloon modellist, and makes jokes only a stand up comedian at a club would. And Tom? Oh he's an excellent one - he always gets the times of the day wrong. Like, when it's time to spring into action and save a cat from a tree, he always thinks it's lunch, and when it's time for training, he thinks it's time for gym class and hides in the corner. He's just as dillusional as me!

*Everyone laughs*

DONKEY: Ah, lovely. Always nice to see friends laughing together.

TINY: I think I feel some water in my eyes.

TOM: Me too, I wish she visited Mrs Alison more often, like our days out when you always visited Nana Mule.

TILLY: Oui, je crois que CBeebies me manque aussi.

DONKEY:

New friends can bring back memories of old,

So you'll always feel warm when the snow's deadly cold.

Recovery Thon - Day 7

A Peaceful Picnic

Hello, dear friends, I am Badger. I'm so glad you've come across this post. It seems that to us CBBC characters, listening to the music of Cee Lo Green has triggered fond memories of Luke, Resus and Cleo, who tragically gave their lives in the fight to de-Americanise British kids' TV. That, my friends, is what our mourning creator thought about when she went on a picnic with her support worker.

They had sausage rolls, pork cocktail sausages, a chocolate brownie (no Haribo milk bottles were available, but I dare say that Mole loves to steal them from the corner shop near White Deer Park) and of course a strawberry milk. While she tucked into her meal, my friend was happy to listen to all the calm sounds around her - sheep bleating, pheasants calling out and water splashing gently. When she saw her support worker walking across the beach, she imagined Luke wearing his clothes and Cee Lo's shades and walking in mournful slow motion across the beach, thinking about how his home turned out today.

Then, they went to the hair salon to get her hair done. And judging by how itchy her back was, it seems she had a ball talking with the hairdresser about what she's been up to. She talked about baking and playdates and that sickness bug she caught, and of course, digital detoxing. She's been having that detox thing ever since last Thursday afternoon, where when it got to lunch she would switch everything off and go and do something else instead.

Come to think of it, I miss Why Don't You...those young scamps and rascals hosting, getting kids to play and learn. I miss them so much, as does Fox. As much as he misses Brum, Noddy, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, or Pingu for that matter. I miss them all.

I was walking past the hair salon yesterday with Mole on the way to the store to get him a squishy, for he was developing anxiety and he too was going onto a digital detox from too much screen time for seven years flat. While we passed, we peered round the door to eavesdrop on what our friend was talking to her hairdresser about. One of the things she talked about was:

A small four year old boy who screams to get his way and get out of getting a haircut. No matter what she and his grandpa did to bribe him in, be it sweets or a question about what he wants for Christmas, he just refuses, and then yells:

"BYE!"

After the appointment like it never happened. Thank you for the honors, Mole.

"Your welcome, Badger."

Although it felt painful at times, and the hair mousse smelled of gone off apple champagne, it went well, and my friend got a Galaxy and a Milky Way bar. Oops! I forgot. I have to show you a clip from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Milky Way's famous car advert...

And when my friend got home, her mother constantly talked about how beautiful her hair was, and even her dog Mylo went all soppy over it, and turned into a polar bear rolling about on her bed. I think it reminds me of a dog we ran into while we were on our way to White Deer Park. It got all soppy whenever we mentioned anything about snow.

Soppy disease, I call it.

And now, without further ado, I present the song that was playing in my friend's head as she thought about not just Luke, but also Twilight Sparkle and her husband Mordecai too, they got married three years after production on Friendship Is Magic. Kindly do the honors for us, Cee Lo.

Spectrum Is Weird - A Story About Detoxing

All Summer, everything had been totally weird. My mummy Lady Penelope and her butler Parker have gone off to visit some friends in Paris for an entire month, and they had let Destiny Angel and Symphony Angel stay with me to babysit and keep me company. I didn’t mind them in the house while my mummy was gone, they always helped me along the same way my mummy did.

Recently, about last month, mummy helped me develop a healthy habit where I turned everything off at lunch and engaged in other screen free things - and that’s what Destiny, Symphony and I enjoyed doing in the last few weeks of this month. August.

At 12 today, I put all the electronics away and turned everything off. I went into the bathroom and dabbed my eyes with a cold wet cotton pad. With each time I held the pad to my throbbing eyes, I counted slowly all the way up to 10.

“1….2…3….4…5…6…7…8…9…10.”

And then, once I left the bathroom, I went to have myself a light snack in the dining area - ready salted crisps, a plate of Bourbon biscuits and a mug of Coke Zero. Destiny and Symphony were already having turkey with mash and vegetables for lunch courtesy of Lil, who I was glad was still back in the kitchen to provide the meals. My eyes were almost this close to slamming shut, but it was okay, Symphony said it was good for my eyes to stay off screens after six hours.

After lunch, we relaxed for a little while. I snuggled into Symphony’s bosom while she cuddled me and told me how proud she was of me for putting away my technology. I was just about to close my eyes and fall asleep near Symphony’s warmth when the clock slowly went ding….ding…ding. A-ha! Must be time to clean out the full cupboard.

Destiny and Symphony had a fun time sorting out what we wanted and what we didn’t want. We placed all the things we wanted into a large pink box, and all the things we didn’t want into another box. Everything I wanted nearby, I placed into my room. I was lucky Destiny found some pens, because I took some plastic cups from the dining room cupboard and placed all of them in.

Then I discovered two sticker activity books and raced back to the dining room to complete them. Some of which I already did, others - well, let’s just say they are left unfinished. Destiny and Symphony were taking tea in the lounge. They didn’t even hear my loud giggles of excitement from staring at a screen for far too long.

“She’s so quiet, we’ve almost forgotten she’s actually here.” smiled Destiny.

“She must really be enjoying her puzzle books - must do her good to get back into physical activities.” smiled Symphony.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Destiny went to answer it. It was Mailman Moe, with a parcel, a postcard and two letters.

“Package and postcard for Miss Sybil, and one special golden letter for Destiny and Symphony Angel,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” said Symphony as he handed the parcels to her.

As soon as Mailman Moe left, Symphony went into the dining room and called: “Sybil! You got mail!”

I jumped up and grabbed the package and postcard from Symphony’s hands, full of excitement at what it could be.

I could almost recognise Mailman Moe’s blueberry scent from how his hands held the package and the postcard before he even handed them to Symphony in the first place. First, I gently opened the parcel. It can’t be! It was a pathfinder-a-day puzzle book. “Thanks, Mailman Moe!” I cried, as if thanking Santa on Christmas morning, and as if Moe were actually here. I then looked at the postcard. A glossy, chique pink picture of a beautiful painting of the Eiffel Tower shone proudly on the front of the postcard, smelling sweetly of roses. I then looked at the back of the postcard. What I read made my heart melt in joy.

“Darling,

I am having a wonderful time in Paris. I do hope you’re doing okay with Destiny and Symphony. I hope they’re taking good care of you. Wish me luck, darling.

Love,

Your beautiful mummy,

Lady Penelope

XXXXOOOO”

Almost immediately, tears filled my eyes. I smiled a gentle yet wobbly smile, and whispered: “Wish me luck, mummy.”

Meanwhile in the lounge, Destiny opened the golden envelope with Symphony’s help. It was from Talking Pictures TV, and it shone brightly in the light of the setting sun outside as Symphony read:

“Dear Destiny and Symphony,

In the last few days you both did a jolly good job looking after our most loyal viewer, Sybil, during the first three days of her digital detox. Since she has sworn to stay off screens every time it reaches 12 O’clock at lunch, it is very important that some of our viewers need a break from the screen too.

So, as a reward, you and the rest of Spectrum have been invited to air your old adventures on our channel again. Won’t say no more here. Tell you on Saturday.

Many thanks,

Mike, Noel, Sarah and Bob.”

At once, excitement building up in her chest, Destiny squealed like a hormonally excited teenager and threw herself into Symphony’s arms, delighted with the news.

“I know, it’s exciting isn’t it?” asked Symphony, stroking Destiny’s silky blonde hair.

“Mmmm, I know, but Talking Pictures TV wasn’t complete without Captain Scarlet. And now, it is.” responded Destiny Angel.

From the dining room, they could hear me singing: “Daaa-da-da da-daaaa-da-da da-da-da-da-da!” I was doing a pathfinder in my puzzle book themed around The Simpsons.

“Just doing a Simpsons Pathfinder in my puzzle book!” I called from the dining room. Destiny and Symphony laughed. They loved my sense of humor just as much as mummy, Parker and everyone else in the mansion did.

At 8 at night, I put on my jumper and trousers and went with the two Spectrum Angels for a walk in the mansion gardens. Along the way, we happened to meet my friend Brum. He offered to join the walk too, but he got very scared when he saw a big huge red thing pass by in the distance. “A big monster covered in flesh!” he cried, but I chuckled and said, “Nonsense, Brum, it’s just a van in the distance.”

While on our walk, I talked with Brum about what the F word meant to him. Surprisingly, to Brum, it didn’t mean swearing at all, but due to him being an analog of a three year old boy, he told me it meant going to a restaurant of fried chicken. I asked my two Angel friends if we could go to KFC in the big city tomorrow, and when they said yes, Brum did a victory chuckle and tried to high five me, but couldn’t because he had wheels.

After saying goodbye to Brum, I went back inside to warm up by the fire. I had already changed back into my pyjamas, and I snuggled close to Destiny Angel, feeling very tired. 

“Thank you for putting us on Talking Pictures TV,” sighed Destiny Angel softly. “It wouldn’t be possible without your three days of detox.”

“My pleasure,” I smiled. “If you want, we can host a viewing party with the rest of Spectrum on Sat-ooh!”

Destiny and Symphony sat up in surprise. I was feeling my tummy tighten, and I was getting very cold.

“Girls, I feel like I’m so cold I’m going to be sick,” I groaned softly.

“Dear me,” sighed Symphony, “I think it’s time we put you to bed.”

After cleaning my teeth in the mansion bathroom, I stumbled into the bedroom and tumbled under the sheets, exhausted as anything. Destiny and Symphony did the same, except afterwards they got changed into their pyjamas, laid some extra blankets on the bed and prepared a nice, soft hot water bottle to lay at my feet.

Then they snuggled into bed together, with me in between. It felt so cosy - being between the two Angels was like being tucked into bed in Heaven. My eyes were already starting to feel a bit tired, so Destiny Angel turned out the light and whispered: “Goodnight, girls.”

“Goodnight,” whispered Symphony.

“Goodnight, you two.” I whispered back.

The two gave me a unified kiss on the cheek, causing me to giggle weakly, and then, with a smile and thoughts in our heads filled with an afternoon filled with friendship, good food and helping others, we fell fast asleep under the softness and what is Lady Penelope’s bed.

THE END.