Over the hills and far away, Teletubbies come out to play… the four cuddly, brightly coloured characters – Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po – first burst onto our screens in 1997, and have delighted generations of pre-schoolers ever since.
Their theme tune shot to Number One in the singles charts in 1997 and stayed in the Top 75 for more than six months. Merchandising sales have been in the billions of pounds for the past 20 years.
The series was first created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport nearly a quarter of a century ago. They named the quartet after the TV screens on their tummies. Anne and Andrew sold their company, Ragdoll to a Canadian media company for £17.4 million in 2013.
With their baby language, repetition and easy to follow plot lines, they’ve been awarded several BAFTAs and nominated for two Daytime Emmys. But there have been plenty of moments that haven’t been suitable viewing for little ones…
At it like rabbits
If those bunnies scampering around in Teletubbyland looked big, it’s because they were. The producers used Flemish Giant rabbits, who were renowned for mating so often while on camera, that filming had to be stopped regularly and whole scenes reshot to make it less X-rated.
Tinky tragedies
The oldest of the four Teletubbies is a gentle soul, fond of singing songs like “’Pinkle winkle, Tinky Winky, pinkle winkle, Tinky Winky woo.” He is purple, has a triangle antenna on his head, and he also carries a red bag, which was the subject of some controversy in 1999 when it was assumed he was gay.
Hardline US evangelist Jerry Falwell attacked the show, warning parents that “Tinky Winky is purple, the gay pride colour, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle: the gay pride symbol.”
Dave Thompson was the first person to climb into his costume. However, Dave was “asked to leave” after the first series because his “interpretation of the role was not acceptable”. It was implied that Dave had made Tinky Winky too effeminate.
Dave responded to his sacking, saying: “I am proud of my work for them. I was always the one to test out the limitations of the costume. I was the first to fall off my chair and roll over. I took all the risks.” Dave eventually went on to perform with the Naked Balloon dance troupe in 2014.
He was replaced by actor Simon Shelton, who saw all four Tubbies reach huge success in the UK and US. In 2013, Simon said, “We used to receive a lot of fan mail from kind and parents, I suppose we were a bit like The Beatles or Take That of children’s television.”
Tragically, Simon was found dead in 2018 from hypothermia. He had a high concentration of booze in his system and had known to have had problems with alcohol.
The banned episode
A cut-out lion chasing a cut-out bear, voiced by veteran actors Eric Sykes and Penelope Keith, doesn’t sound too scary. But there was something about the episode, titled See Saw, that was considered too frightening for children.
Could it have been the creepy music and the jumpy cinematography? The episode was banned in several countries and taken off air until 2000, when it was adjusted to make the sounds and vision less scary.
Stinky Winky, Dipsy…
Dipsy is the green maverick, with the antenna like a dipstick. His skin tone is slightly darker than the others and he wears a cool hat. He was played by stand-up comic John Simmit for four years, before John returned to the touring circuit.
He revealed, “Dipsy would say, ‘Papa Come Papa Come To Po’, which was actually my take on a classic reggae rhythm track calledThe Whip. And I’d slip in Jamaican dance moves, a Bogle there and a Tatty here. People spotted my little wink to my culture and I’m proud of that.”
But the sweet-looking creatures were actually unpleasant to be around. All that jumping around and rolling around on the Teletubbyland hills meant the cast got incredibly sweaty.
John continued: “We had to wear really ugly underwear like those old Western long johns, which was essentially a onesie, but it was so it could absorb the sweat,” he adds.
“When we were out of costume, you’d have to turn your face the other way and speak to us at a distance because we were reeking and so sweaty you could wring us out. Huge props to our dressers for putting up with us!”
Glad to see the back of them
When the Teletubbies reached the grand old age of 10, they celebrated by receiving the keys to New York City and the cast’s identities were revealed for the first times.
But not everybody has loved the cuddly quartet.
The owner of the land on which the series was first created, Rosemary Harding, got so fed up with people trampling over her property that she flooded the field in Wimpstone, Warwickshire and turned the former set into a pond. At the time, Rosemary said: “We’re glad to see the back of it, people were jumping fences and crossing cattle fields.”
‘Ello, ‘ello, eh-oh
According to the Daily Mail in 2002, the Metropolitan Police used to ask candidates who wanted to join Special Branch to name all four Teletubbies during their entrance exam.
If they couldn’t prove that they had the knowledge, they would lose marks. And what nobody ever knew until recently was that the Tubbies’ favourite food, Tubby Custard was actually an inedible mix of mashed potato dyed with red and yellow paint.
Oh no, is that Po?
Three of the costumes are about 10 feet high, while little Po is still six feet tall. The cast were able to take a break between filming by sitting on the small seats hidden inside their suits.
Po, who is red, has an antenna like a bubble-blower and loves riding on her scooter is the baby of the group. She was played by Pui Fan Lee, who also became famous to a generation of pre-schoolers when she starred in Show Me, Show Me on CBeebies.
But Pui had already starred in a series that was definitely adults-only. In C4’s Metrosexuality, she took part in lesbian sex scenes.
She said: “Yes, I was Po, but I am an actress, and the role looked interesting. I didn’t take the lesbian role to be deliberately controversial.”
Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/dark-teletubbies-secrets-children-wont-24125330