Play School (New Zealand TV series)
Encyclopedia
Play School was a New Zealand
educational television show for children. It was based on the British
Play School show.
It was first broadcast in New Zealand during the 1970s originally screened twice a day at around 10am and then 2:30pm. Playschool was filmed from the TVNZ studio that was in Dunedin
. The last series screened on television in 1990 .
The show starred five toys, which are famously nostalgic for New Zealanders who watched the program as children. They are:
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. The whereabouts of the original Little Ted is unknown. One of the rehearsal Little Ted toys 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.
The original clock from the series was discovered at a library in Invercargill
in August 2009.
In 2006, TV2 started to screen the Australia
n 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 to the New Zealand version, which was similar to the British format of the seventies and eighties.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
educational television show for children. It was based on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Play School show.
It was first broadcast in New Zealand during the 1970s originally screened twice a day at around 10am and then 2:30pm. Playschool was filmed from the TVNZ studio that was in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
. The last series screened on television in 1990 .
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 bearTeddy bearThe teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
- 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 dollRag dollA rag doll is a children's toy. It is a cloth figure, a doll traditionally home-made from spare scraps of material. They are one of the most ancient children's toys in existence; the British Museum has a Roman rag doll, found in a child's grave dating from 300 BC.Rag dolls have featured in a...
with orange woollen hair - Humpty: A round green fabric toy resembling Humpty DumptyHumpty DumptyHumpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
.
Today, Big Ted, Manu, Jemima and Humpty are part of a collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand. The museum also has a large collection of clothing and props from the show. The whereabouts of the original Little Ted is unknown. One of the rehearsal Little Ted toys was blown up by the film crew after the completion of the final series and can be seen at the Otago Settlers Museum
Otago Settlers Museum
The Otago Settlers Museum is a regional history museum in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its brief covers the territory of the old Otago Province, that is, New Zealand from the Waitaki River south. It is New Zealand's oldest and most extensive history museum...
in Dunedin.
The original clock from the series was discovered at a library in Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...
in August 2009.
In 2006, TV2 started to screen the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n version of Play School. It features New Zealand presenter Jay Laga'aia
Jay Laga'aia
Jay Laga'aia is an actor and singer. He is best known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.-Career:...
who has been on the show since 2000, though the Australian version is significantly different to the New Zealand version, which was similar to the British format of the seventies and eighties.
External links
- Play School on IMDB
- Play School at TV2