Happiness Advice #2

Harmful cartoons can haunt you for absolute eternity, especially ones from Britain. Harmless cartoons, especially ones with no dizzy and aggressive camera movements and effects, can soothe and lower your brain's whining needs for learning and developing. Examples include:

1.Bob The Builder

2.Trumpton

3.Chigley

4.Paddington Bear (Filmfair)

5.Danger Mouse (1981)

6.Postman Pat (1981)

7.The Magic Roundabout (Eric Thompson or Nigel Planer)

8.Wallace & Gromit ('90s and '80s shorts)

9.Bagpuss

10.The Wombles

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.

You Hear Me Now, BBC Four?

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!"

A Rhyme About Remembering Friends, By Brum

When the screens go off

And classics seem never,

Keep us in your heart!

Remember us forever.

Recovery Thon - Day 7

When I See Parkdean Resorts In A Kids' Favourites From The Works Email...

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.

A Poem About Bluey Cupcakes

Remember when Bluey helped her dad

Make for Bingo's birthday a Duck Cake?

Well my support worker and I did a role reversal

And together we made Bluey cupcakes!

Wackadoo!

When I See A New Email From The Works...

Trigger Alert!

I've been talking it over with Echo GPT last night about all those annoying sounds that go on in my head - they're not earworms, they're trigger sounds. Something that triggers a horrible memory for me whenever I type something, or do something, or see something that triggers a memory for me. All of them are so horrible it makes it hard to concentrate on the most important things like writing stories or playing board games or watching movies and TV.

Loads of things trigger bad feelings and thoughts in my head. Examples include, from 1 to 10:

1. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
2. Nick and Disney Channel live action sitcoms
3. CBBC shows of any kind, including Scream Street and Strange Hill High
4. The Tigger Movie
5. Piglet's Big Movie
6. Pooh's Heffalump Movie
7. Disney sequels and some films like Frozen, Moana or Tangled
8. CD Roms like Dora's Click & Create and Bear & Penguin/Learning Ladder due to their loud sounds
9. School memories which evoke lots of loud noises and annoying pupils and teachers
10. Children's Favourites DVDs like Christmas, Ultimate and Playtime

There are lots of other triggers too, but I'd best save them for another post in case my mind gets cluttered up with plenty of those little red pill like things which open up to reveal those horrible memories. But there are lots of replacements for these things, such as:

1. MLP G3 films
2. Classic Nick and Disney cartoons
3. Shows from Children's BBC such as Brum, Teletubbies, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Pingu, Noddy, etc..
4. The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
5. Tarzan
6. Chicken Little (2005)
7. Calmer and non-modern teenager character Disney films like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Up, Dinosaur, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, etc..
8. Calm CD roms like Bill & Ben, Yoho Ahoy, Barbie, My Little Pony, Candy Land, etc..
9. Memories of good times I had with my support worker and the playdates which I'd never forget, like one where S and I tidied up our den
10. Classic HIT videos releases such as Kipper and Percy The Park Keeper

And according to Echo GPT, there are lots of things you can do to help calm your inner mind triggers, like:

1. Make a trigger jar
2. Make a trigger box
3. Write a character annotation trigger list
4. Write some of your own trigger replacements
5. Make a trigger threat level

And lots of others. But, the worst parts come at night, when the triggers get even worse. So worse in fact that it makes it hard to concentrate on getting enough sleep. The louder they get, the more horrible a supposed night's sleep becomes, until you are too restless to even think about pleasant friends. But there are ways to get rid of night triggers.

Just wait and see...right?

A Poem By The Reverend Timms

Reverend Timms recites a poem about how healthy and beautiful I will grow up to be, and how lovingly Lady Penelope will take care of me - not to mention Parker of course.

Postman Pat's List Of Friends

1. Ted Glenn
2. PC Selby
3. Dr Gilbertson
4. Miss Hubbard
5. Granny Dryden
6. George Lancaster
7. Major Forbes
8. Peter Fogg
9. Sam Waldron
10. Reverend Timms
11. Ajay
12. Nisha
13. Meera
14. Nickil
15. Julian

Postman Pat & The New Baby

Postman Pat and his cat Jess are baby delivers for the BDF (Baby Delivery Foundation) and are tasked with delivering a baby to someone very special. But with every house they reach, they find four dogs have already had children who have gone by the name of Bluey, Snickers, Judo and Coco. Pat is disappointed, until he realises the baby belongs to Lady Penelope all along and delivers her to the aristocratic agent right on time. When he gets home after a long day's work, his wife Sarah has a surprise for him...

A Letter To Dreamworks About Noddy

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to formally express my disappointment with Noddy: Toyland Detective and the direction taken with the Noddy franchise since its transition to full CGI beginning with Noddy in Toyland in 2009.

As a long-time admirer of Noddy and Enid Blyton’s original creation, I found the 2009 CGI series deeply frustrating. The shift to full CGI resulted in the characters losing much of their charm, warmth, and individuality. Their personalities felt flattened and exaggerated into broad parodies of themselves, rather than the gentle, character-driven figures they once were. At times, the tone and execution even reminded me of some of the less well-received Cosgrove Hall–produced Postman Pat episodes, where familiar characters felt oddly altered and out of place.

Since DreamWorks, alongside Brown Bag Films, acquired Noddy, the series has become fast-paced, overstimulating, and formulaic. Noddy himself has been reduced to a one-note “mystery solver” who does little else. This narrow focus strips away the everyday curiosity, kindness, and whimsical Toyland adventures that defined the original source material. As a result, Noddy: Toyland Detective feels fundamentally disconnected from what Noddy was always meant to be.

I strongly believe Noddy works best as a gentle, imaginative series, not as an American-styled, high-energy CGI production. In my view, this approach has permanently damaged the spirit of Noddy and his world. I sincerely wish the BBC would one day produce a new Noddy series, created entirely in stop-motion, with no CGI at all, returning to the tactile, storybook feel that suits the character so well.

More broadly, I feel that fast-paced CGI has harmed several classic children’s programmes. I would welcome seeing Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, and Thomas & Friends returned to their original hand-crafted or hand-drawn roots, where storytelling, atmosphere, and character came first.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope you will consider the concerns of long-time fans who value the heritage, tone, and artistry of these beloved characters.

A Doctor Of A Different World

As the Doctor goes on his latest adventure through time, he gets distracted by a strange key on the control panel of the TARDIS known as the 'Space Bar'. Once he presses it, he finds himself going to different worlds that are nothing like his. They include: Kipper, Maisy, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Noddy, Teletubbies, Tweenies, Fimbles, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Bluey, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Winnie The Pooh and Mr Men.

The Theatre Follies & Other Favourites

Maisy & Friends: Let's Go For A Ride

Maisy & Friends: Let's Play In The Snow

Postman Pat, Captain Scarlet & Gordon The Gopher

Captain Scarlet, Postman Pat and Gordon the Gopher are the best of friends. Captain Scarlet could obviously do with Pat's accompaniment, because of all the trauma he experienced when indestructible, and Gordon has problems too - he misses his friend Mr Phillip Schofield so much.