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Australian Story - Season 31 Episode 18 - Child's Play: Play School turns 60 englishsub fullepisode🎉 Secret Engagement
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00:15Hello. It's incredible to think that most Australians under the age of 65, that's more
00:21than four-fifths of the population, grew up watching play school. This is where all the
00:26props are made. If you're over 80, you may even remember switching it on for your children
00:30for the first time when it started in 1966. Whether your era was John and Benita or Jay
00:38and Justine, the mere mention of these guys, Big Ted and Jemima, will probably send you
00:43soft with nostalgia. To celebrate the program's 60th anniversary, let's go through the Arch
00:48window for a rare look at what happens behind the scenes.
00:56Well, today is the Super City special. It's quite different to a normal play school.
01:10This special episode is in front of a live audience of 60 kids.
01:25Play school is like Australia's family heirloom. It gets passed down from generation to generation.
01:36I like Jemima. It's Humpty Dumpty. Big teddy bear. Well, maybe Littleton? One, two, three, smile.
01:48We all feel like it belongs to us. It's our show. And it's no accident that it's still here
01:56after 60 years. Hello. Oh, hello. Everyone from play school says hello. We've got a spinning top.
02:05Looks like fun, doesn't it? When you're doing the show, there's a certain kind of playful innocence.
02:12And take off your shirt. With some naughtiness that is just lovely.
02:17Come over here and I'll give you up. A straw into the hole.
02:23Alright, let's go. You can have a seat on the couches once the child's on the carpet, everybody.
02:29For some children, that half hour of play school is the only time they have the undivided attention of two
02:37adults in their day.
02:38So, we always feel really responsible for the part we play in that child's life.
02:45Okay, here we go. Here we go. Nice and quiet.
02:51We have such respect for our audience. The child is capable. They're not just little people waiting to grow up.
03:01Three, two, one, and action.
03:04That relationship with the kids has remained.
03:07Hello there. We're getting ready to hide. Can you help us?
03:11You're always thinking of one particular kid at home and like you're playing with them.
03:15Who else wants to feel super silly?
03:19That connection down the barrel of the lens, that's the essence of play school.
03:43We've all seen play school, but I think what most of us wouldn't know is how many incredibly dedicated people
03:50are behind making those episodes.
03:57I'm Benjamin Law and I'm a writer and I have been invited to guest write an episode of play school.
04:05I am about to meet who I call the brains trust of play school.
04:09Knock, knock. Hello team play school. How are you?
04:13These are the minds, the creators, the designers, the series producer, the early childhood specialists who really know what kids
04:22need at what age.
04:24All right. Well, yeah. Welcome everyone. Great to have you back then.
04:27Yeah. Thanks for having me back.
04:29Yeah. I'm thrilled.
04:30Play school is a preschool show. So that means it's really for about two to five.
04:35And everything that play school does is grounded in education.
04:40Cool. I will crack into this one then.
04:42The episode that I've been asked to write is Sensational Senses.
04:47So your one is Taste. Love it.
04:50Not to typecast you into food. No, I appreciate it. Son of Restauranteurs. It makes sense. It makes sense.
04:56All of it starts when the creative team decides on the overarching theme for the series.
05:01They break it down into episodes and then they've got a very clear idea of what happens in each segment.
05:08And here we've got lots of opportunity to talk about salty, sour pickled carrot, crunchy edamame.
05:14So we're not teaching. We're talking. We're sharing.
05:18We're told what the topic is, what the name of the series is.
05:21So we'll go to bookshops and seek out books that would work.
05:26And songs and craft ideas.
05:28It's the building blocks of the episode.
05:30From there to our large action, which is friends all together. What do you like to do?
05:35The series comes together in eight to nine months. So roughly the gestation of a human child.
05:42So it just goes jump, jump, jump all together. Jumping is a thing to do. Jumping high, jumping low.
05:50I'm learning a lot from the early childhood specialists, from the experts in terms of how young people learn.
05:56Jumping is a thing to do.
05:57One person cabaret over here, which I love.
06:01It feels like play actually.
06:03That's right. You know, it is. It's exactly that.
06:05When you look at its journey from when it started in 1966, the real core of Play School, the heart
06:10of Play School, it hasn't changed in any dramatic way.
06:14Open wide, come inside. It's play school.
06:23My nose is for smelling.
06:29And so is Snowballs.
06:30Hello. Here I am.
06:33He uses his nose all the time. Have a sniff at this Snowball.
06:37Well, that episode was 1968.
06:41And it was about the senses and smell and of course the rabbit.
06:45Back you go Snowball. There you go.
06:47And everything old is new again.
06:50Hello. I have a story for you today about an animal that smells very badly.
06:57Play School actually originated in England with the BBC.
07:01I think we might sing her a song.
07:06T'was on a Monday morning.
07:08The early programs that we did, we were so nervous about making television programs and so uptight about the script
07:14and this, that and the other.
07:15It didn't have the humor and the relaxation that it, you know, came to have later on.
07:20Do you sing in the bath? Oh, I do.
07:26In my day on Play School, we shot it in one take right from the beginning to the end.
07:30I was taking a bath long about Saturday night.
07:33We had to carry on regardless of what happened, didn't we?
07:36We did.
07:37We started the program and it didn't matter what happened, you had to carry on because it was such a
07:43big deal to stop and start.
07:46Is Abu the biggest circus in the elephant?
07:48The biggest elephant.
07:49The biggest elephant in the circus?
07:51Yes, yes.
07:52Oh, I'm a little bit nervous with Abu around because she's so big.
07:55Come on, Henrietta.
07:56There she goes.
07:57They run up me quite well, don't they?
07:59Animals in the studio are always a bit of a worry because they never learnt their lines.
08:06John looks terrified.
08:16It was John Hamblin when he came in that was funny and we suddenly realised watching the program with children
08:23how much they enjoyed the jokes, how much they enjoyed that humorous side of it.
08:30Is that big enough, Jan?
08:31I think it could be a bit bigger.
08:33Hello.
08:34Hold on, I'm being attacked.
08:36Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
08:37Stop, stop.
08:38I've got a present to give here.
08:41And I think I know who I'm going to have to give it to.
08:48When colour television started in Australia, it really started to be the play first, school,
08:57second.
08:57It was just a totally different style.
08:59Oh, we all walk the wibbly-wobbly walk.
09:07There, we'll go down.
09:08Down you go.
09:09There we go.
09:10Nearly there.
09:10In the very early days, we used to use concert pianists and there was no flexibility at all.
09:17What about this one, George?
09:19That's it.
09:21Twisting.
09:21Twisting, everyone.
09:22And then we moved to more jazz pianists who had a much freer ability to follow and work with the
09:28actors as an accompanist.
09:30Like we did last year.
09:33Come on, let me twist again.
09:36BBC finished up their version of Play School in 1988.
09:41But Australia just was continuing to do what it did best, which had really fantastic presenters
09:47and it really just maintained its connection with Australian audiences.
09:51The end of that la-la, in order to help David's exit, a really big double clap with him, two
09:57hands.
09:58To a certain extent, Play School was a bit of a cash cow for the ABC.
10:02You know, A, it was very successful on air.
10:04I can run as fast as you.
10:06And B, you know, with the live concerts and with shops and things like that, Play School was growing great
10:11guns.
10:12So there was no reason to stop it.
10:17I mean, Play School was iconic, especially among actors too.
10:21You know, it was considered really like a big deal.
10:24So I was like, me?
10:25You know, kind of thing.
10:32I'm racing now.
10:34I'm in a jumping kind of mood.
10:37What the hell am I doing?
10:41You're doing everything that you're taught not to do as an actor.
10:44You've got to look at the camera.
10:45You've got to be yourself.
10:47Being a Play School presenter is tapping your head, rubbing your tummy, hopping on one leg, singing a song and
10:52doing a craft at the same time.
10:55And you've got to have no shame and no pride.
10:58You can't be worried about what people think of you.
11:01I found your audition in the art world.
11:03What?
11:05Oh my God, I'm going to cry.
11:07I'm going to cry now.
11:19I think I was channelling Noni.
11:22Definitely.
11:27It is notoriously the most exacting and stressful audition.
11:36Anthony Warlow went in before me.
11:39And at that stage you had to tell a story about a crocodile.
11:42And so he went in and he came out white faced.
11:45They said my crocodile might have been a bit too scary.
11:48Because I went, ah, ah, ah, ah.
11:51So I thought, okay.
11:53So I walked in and I gave the cutest little crocodile that you've ever seen.
11:58And I said to Anthony, I got a call today.
12:03Yeah, I'm going to be doing play school.
12:06And he went, oh, congratulations.
12:07I've just been cast as Phantom in Phantom of the Opera.
12:11So, yeah, we both won.
12:14Shoo fly, don't bother me.
12:18Shoo fly, don't bother me.
12:21I think as an actor, releasing control is one of the most difficult things we can do.
12:26Oh, Scrap and Diddle.
12:28Um, excuse me, Scrap.
12:30Excuse me, Diddle.
12:31But having toys and chatting with their voices or listening to them and allowing them to create the narrative.
12:39I learned really quickly that I'm just the glorified plus one.
12:43Little Ted was feeling much better now.
12:45The one really important thing about being a play school presenter is the ability to look down the barrel of
12:52the lens and be speaking to one child, one child only.
12:56Do you want to be a happy dog too?
12:59Sniffing around and wagging your tail.
13:02Come on.
13:03It's about saying, I see you.
13:05Join me.
13:07Get up with me.
13:08Dance with me.
13:08Now I'm sniffing, sniffing around.
13:11If there's a scarf somewhere, play with it.
13:15Use it now.
13:16Let's do it now.
13:16Let's do it now.
13:17Let's do it now.
13:18Let's do it now.
13:20Let's do it now.
13:27So this is me, draft two, writing an episode called Sensational Senses, Taste and Try.
13:36As much as there's a creative mission to write the script, there's also, you know, early childhood experts saying, actually,
13:44if you repeat it this time,
13:46this, if we look to the camera, we're inviting the kids at this stage of development to do X, Y
13:51and Z, here's a call to action.
13:53So all of that fun, seamless stuff that we see on screen, so much thought has been put into it.
14:01When Play School was commissioned at the ABC in 1966, it was through the education department.
14:07And by starting there, I think it gave Play School its strength and what has helped it continue, in that
14:14it was natural and accepted for producers to accept advice from educators.
14:22We're very careful, too, about the language, looking at it through the lens of a child's eyes to make sure
14:28that it makes sense and that it can be meaningful for them.
14:31Pickled carrots, sour and crunchy. Smoked salmon, fishy, delishy.
14:37You know, so I'm really inhabiting my uncle brain for this.
14:43People don't realise that presenters aren't getting up naturally and just doing all this stuff, that they have to learn
14:50words.
14:51I remember when I did my first Play School, I was taken into a room and given the kind of
14:57like, OK, Rhys, we use language that is run by a specialist.
15:03And it was all very serious. And I said, are you telling me I can't say mother****?
15:08Just to see if they'd smile. And they did that kind of...
15:17I think I've gotten the sense of, like, which gags are passable or not. Like, I've got a few burps
15:21in there, but not farts. You know, there's a line. There's a line with Play School.
15:27So apart from the language, there are all these other techniques that the show uses to keep kids engaged.
15:33A lot of other children's programs are...
15:36Very choppy.
15:37Yeah. And giving children time to take things in is really important.
15:45Where does a toilet go?
15:49Often the presenters will ask a question and then pause as if the child is in the room with them.
15:56So it gives the child a, yes, we do that, so that they have time to respond back.
16:02Can you remember some of those things? Hmm?
16:05We're going to hunt for a bear. You coming too?
16:08It sounds like there's another line over there.
16:11On a Play School set, we do the old Play School pass-off, which is the head.
16:15Come on.
16:17And that's how you jump. Let's see what Justine's up to.
16:20I would say, I'm over here, Jay. Now let's have a dance.
16:25Shoo, shoo, fly.
16:27But what it does is it enables the children to stay in the moment with us.
16:33We're going to go for a walk through the savannah now.
16:35It stays on topic in some way between segments.
16:38Come on.
16:38It's a drama, essentially.
16:49Play School has naturally evolved over its time, but the design of the show and the sets has always had
16:56such a great textural, handmade feel.
16:59Everything that's on the set is handmade.
17:02Oh, hello. I'm Venetia. I'm the art director for Play School and this is our colourful workshop that we work
17:08in.
17:11This is Clodagh. She's working at the, what would you call this place here?
17:15Well, we like to refer to this as our pom-pommery.
17:18We keep all our very precious pom-poms and pipe cleaners, all these essential ingredients.
17:25The art and craft is always the simpler the better and to me it's always important.
17:31It's the process of art, not just having this grand looking object at the end of the day.
17:37I'm making a pet now, a bottle pet.
17:41And leaving in sometimes the mistakes that might happen is really important too.
17:46When I was, whoops!
17:49Off with his head.
17:51Oh no!
17:53Oh, I fell over for a bit.
17:56Then she got back up again.
17:57If the presenters muck it up a little bit, it doesn't really matter because that's life.
18:02And then over here, we're all working on the potluck picnic, which is Ben's script, which has been quite fun.
18:13Hey Clodagh, how are you going with those green flies?
18:16Okay, I think it just could be a good opportunity for a presenter to have a little play, a little
18:20puppeteering with it.
18:22It's looking really gorgeous.
18:23It's looking very real actually.
18:24Is it?
18:26There should be a way that the audience can look at what we make and break it down with their
18:31eyes.
18:32So they can go, oh, that's just a cereal box inside out and they've put some lids on it and
18:37therefore that's a laptop.
18:39Okay.
18:40There's that invitation to families to sort of fossick around in their recycling before it goes out and create things.
18:50Perfect.
18:51And there's quite a feast.
18:55It's lunchtime.
18:57Let's have something to eat.
19:00From very early days, it was a very, very basic set.
19:04Oh, that was sideways.
19:06And that was appropriate then.
19:09When I was asked to look at the program, I was looking at how it could be enriched further and
19:16how it could approach the preschooler of the 2000s.
19:22Play school by that time was 34 years old and it was an icon, but you can't rest on your
19:30laurels.
19:31Up until 1999, the program was recorded in one as live.
19:37So we decided that we would gain a lot of flexibility and richness and efficiency by doing it in scenes.
19:50By shooting in segments, we can definitely deliver a much richer and beautiful set, but I feel it needs to
19:56do that to keep up with the times.
19:58You know, everybody's singing. There's so much other stuff that you can watch.
20:00My concern at the time, being the old bastard, was that the sort of stuff that you would do when
20:08you were as live and, you know, the odd double entendre that you would slip in.
20:12Can you put my sausage in it?
20:13No, thank you.
20:15Ta-da!
20:16Ha-ra!
20:17And the kind of naughtiness and the cheekiness.
20:20Oh yes, I like that. Now we can be really good friends.
20:23I didn't want it to become too clean or too precious or too nice because life isn't like that and
20:30kids don't respond to that.
20:32I think at that time when Play School did change it up, shooting it in segments rather than all in
20:38one go, definitely was very, very controversial.
20:41But they also very unceremoniously lost a lot of their ongoing presenters, people like Benita and a lot of people
20:48that have been going for a really long time.
20:51I was one of the, one of a couple of presenters that kept doing it, having spent so much time
20:59with the people that, you know, were Play School.
21:07So, it was quite a difficult time.
21:10There was a funny thing about Play School, that we never actually had a long term contract.
21:15So every time you did a program, it could have been your last one.
21:18It's sort of like, like a 1950s Soviet Russian thing where your picture just gets taken off the wall and
21:25you never were on the show.
21:26Right? So it's brutal.
21:32Nobody likes change, you know, especially when it's kids and memories.
21:38Play School is like my grandmother's recipe. Why are you messing with the recipe?
21:42You know, and the thing is, you have to change sometimes because if we don't, we stay, you know, we
21:49all of a sudden, we become dinosaurs.
21:51Certainly, 2000, when we introduced some new presenters and then new opening titles featuring the toys.
22:00And we did a rearrangement of the opening theme.
22:07There was concern from some people, but it became beloved so quickly because the philosophy of the program did not
22:17change.
22:17Of course, the spirit and the essence and the fun and the integrity of the show is absolutely still there.
22:28Well, there's lots of running and jumping through the windows today.
22:31Oh, well, let's have a look.
22:32But I can never get used to the diamond window.
22:35Oh man, when they brought the diamond window and I was like, come on.
22:40So we're looking through the diamond window today.
22:44When I started watching, the diamond window was just one of the four windows.
22:48You know, I didn't know it was recently introduced, but it was my favourite because it was a diamond.
22:52You know, it wasn't a regular shape. It was a special diamond.
22:56Tickle on your teeth, butt.
22:59Or tickle on your tongue.
23:02That's a crunch, crunch between your teeth.
23:06As you get to the rehearsals as a presenter, and all the work building up of what we're creating has
23:12been done,
23:12and it just is on us to bring it alive and make it ours.
23:16Or tickle on your tongue.
23:19We've got wonderful Peter on the piano.
23:21Between your teeth.
23:23And my job is, first of all, to accompany the songs.
23:27Aw, there, washed and ready.
23:30The other thing is playing incidental music throughout the show.
23:35Chillies can be so spicy.
23:39And that's all something I just improvised on the spot.
23:43Hey Charlie, do you, do you, how do you sign yum?
23:47In this series, we are having Auslan interpreters within the show.
23:52Maybe you have a friend.
23:54Oh, yes, yes.
23:55Maybe introducing a bit of looseness movement.
23:58Give you places to go.
24:00Sophia Golan is directing Sensational Senses.
24:04Where would we be pointing?
24:05She started in 1992 and was the first deaf person to be on Play School.
24:10I'm Sophia.
24:12And this is my sign name.
24:14Sophia.
24:15When I joined over 30 years ago as a young presenter, I think that was probably the first time there
24:22was a positive representation of deaf on screen using sign language.
24:27Let's just go from the last bit.
24:38It's a show where all the fundamentals are still there, but you can see the evolution as well.
24:43Like the diversity of Australia is totally captured in the cast.
24:51You've got to be inclusive of people's families and let other people be accepting.
24:57We're going to see another merry-go-round and other rides through the windows.
25:02There was a big kerfuffle about having same-sex parents, you know, being broadcast.
25:07I'm Brenna.
25:09My mums are taking me and my friend Maren to an amusement park.
25:15And they just went off to the fun park and the only difference you would have known about the film
25:21was the little girl said, my mums.
25:24The ABC children's favourite, Play School, has come under fire from the Federal Government for showing same-sex parents.
25:32I must say, I think if I'd been watching it with my kids, I would have been a bit shocked.
25:38It does shake you a little bit when you realise how heated people can become.
25:44But at the end of the day, you really have to think about the viewer and they're going to come
25:49across just the same broad spectrum of society in their kindergarten and their school.
25:54We reflected, but it certainly didn't stop us from pursuing that path of showing Australia to our preschooler.
26:06Oh, excuse me, Little Ted. How lovely to see you again. What a surprise.
26:11Why was Little Ted your favourite, Jen?
26:13Little Ted, well, I'd say look at him. He's just so cute.
26:16And he was also one of the first toys that actually left the studio and went out into the big
26:21wide world.
26:22So, yeah, I feel quite attached to him.
26:27For Play School, there's been always set sort of rules.
26:31And at that point, the toys hadn't gone out of the studio.
26:36You went through the windows to see the outside world, but the toys didn't go out there.
26:41So when I came on board in 2009, we came up with a series idea called The Big Adventure Series.
26:47Little Ted was the first one.
26:49He left the studio for the first time.
26:51Then it's ready, Teddy. Off we go.
26:55Little Ted, Big Adventure.
26:58There was a very strong view that the toys should not be going out of the studio.
27:03See you next time for another big adventure.
27:06I was very surprised at the pushback I received.
27:10It took me a while to realise that, you know, it came from an absolute passion for the show.
27:18The potluck picnic segment now.
27:21Yep. Sorry, just for timing, can we go from Kang's line leading in?
27:24OK, we are recording. Here we go. Nice and quiet.
27:28And action.
27:29Oh, wait. We're here for the potluck picnic too.
27:31Oh, hi, Slush. Hi, Fergus.
27:34We have to keep thinking about the future of Play School.
27:36And if that means doing something different, then that kind of has to happen.
27:40OK, well, let's see what everyone's brought.
27:43What have you brought, Humpty?
27:44For a long time, purely the 30-minute show was enough because everyone would only really look to their entertainment
27:51on TV.
27:51But the world is changing, so Play School does too.
27:54Hiya!
27:55Hiya, everyone! Come sit down!
27:57Are you ready for art time?
28:01Yeah!
28:01There might be small things that happen like doing different strands and formats or the toys leaving the studio.
28:07The calendar is not there anymore.
28:09But Play School has endured because its core methodology is just maintained and its fun spirit is always there.
28:22Play School, when you think about it, isn't the glitziest kind of show.
28:25It's a part of the furniture. It's a part of the texture of Australian life.
28:29And that lends itself towards being overlooked, I think.
28:32We're on the fantastic red carpet here.
28:35We are. And nobody knows anything else.
28:38A really special moment that happened as part of our 60th year was we were nominated for an Actor Award.
28:45The Actor Awards are like the Oscar and Emmys combined.
28:50They're a little bit more high class than the Logies. That's just my take.
28:53And the actor goes to...
28:56Play School, all together!
29:00This was the very first Actor Award that Play School's received.
29:04So, yeah, it was a shock.
29:07Here's to another 60 years. Thank you.
29:11And then we're getting a photo and Baz Luhrmann comes out.
29:16And he's like, I love Play School.
29:18I wouldn't be here today without Play School.
29:22Everyone's connection to Play School.
29:24You just can't underestimate it and it reaches far and wide.
29:30Love. That's what, you know, underlines the whole thing.
29:33I think for me, and I get emotional about it, purely because there are generations that have now passed on.
29:41That have come through our square windows, our arched windows.
29:44And I remember them because they're the ones that we represent.
29:49And, you know, we will hand it over gladly to the next generation who will take the narrative forward.
30:09I'll be right back.
30:10Right now is one more time.
30:16Okay, well, so we'll be right back.
30:22And now let's hear your story.
30:22You
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