Play School (New Zealand TV series)

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Play School
Country of origin New Zealand
Production
Camera setup Multi-Camera
Release
Original network TVNZ
Picture format PAL
Original release 1975 –
1990[1]

Play School was a New Zealand educational television show for children. It was based on the British Play School show.

Program Synopsis

It was first broadcast in New Zealand during the 1975 originally screened twice a day at around 10am and then 2:30pm. Playschool was filmed from what was then TVNZ's Dunedin Studio. The last series screened on television in 1990.

The show was provided by the BBC in "kitset" form. They supplied scripts and also short filmed items for showing "through the windows".

The show starred five toys, which are famously nostalgic for New Zealanders who watched the program as children. They are:

  • Big Ted: A traditional-style golden coloured teddy bear
  • Little Ted: Identical to Big Ted, but much smaller
  • Manu: A very human-looking plastic doll with Māori features, such as dark skin and hair
  • Jemima: A rag doll with orange woollen hair
  • Humpty: A round green fabric toy resembling Humpty Dumpty.

Today, Big Ted, Manu, Jemima, and Humpty are part of a collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand. The museum also has a large collection of clothing and props from the show.[2] Little Ted's head was blown up by the film crew after the completion of the final series and can be seen at the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin.[3] The original clock from the series was discovered at a library in Invercargill in August 2009.[4]

In 2006, TV2 started to screen the Australian version of Play School. It features New Zealand presenter Jay Laga'aia who has been on the show since 2000, though the Australian version is significantly different from the New Zealand version, which was similar to the British format of the seventies and eighties.

Cast

Presenters included :

Mike Rehu

Musicians

  • Russell Sheppard
  • Eli Grey-Smith
  • Neville Copeland
  • Graeme Perkins

See also

References

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  2. Play School items in the collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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External links