Balamory

Charting the exploits of a highly diverse offshore community west of Scotland (Tobermory, with nursery scenes filmed in Glasgow), Balamory was a flagship programme for the early years of CBeebies and enjoys regular repeats long after its 2005 cancellation. Each episode sees Miss Hoolie arrive either at her nursery or the village shop and cafe, where she interacts with several other inhabitants – an eccentric junk modeller, a well-travelled mechanic and a closeted police officer among them. Each story features a problem that can only be solved with a particular skill set – although the adults, despite having defined roles, are to all intents and purposes children who have never really grown up. The weather features prominently, as do songs about yoghurt pot tops and painting. Slightly less PC than it initially appears (the two black characters are, respectively, sporty and musical), the show nonetheless celebrates diversity, creativity and equality – particularly through Penny Pocket, whose wheelchair is always seen but never highlighted. Popular with all ages: Keith Floyd cameos, and when Terry Wogan complained that the scheduling was disrupting listening figures for his Radio 2 show, the Balamory producers responded by giving him a starring role in the show's very last episode. — James

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