It may not appear to be one of the most hazardous preschool programmes on television, but the creator of children's favourite Charlie and Lola has revealed how the show caused anxiety among BBC executives – over a forward roll.
The BBC's famously rigorous health and safety managers swung into action over an episode showing Lola, the energetic younger sister of Charlie, attempting the move while creating a circus for their grandparents.
BBC executives also banned Lola from eating crisps or climbing on furniture, according to Lauren Child, the author and artist behind the popular animation.
"We almost had a problem with Lola doing forward rolls. The BBC got terribly worried she could have a dreadful accident and break her neck," she told the Radio Times.
"It doesn't matter that she and Charlie are fictional and they're made of paper. The designers had to draw a very squishy mattress for her to do her forward roll on."
Child also said that an episode she proposed in which Lola caught head lice was rejected by Disney, which had partially financed the show.
Her comments came as the magazine launched a nationwide poll to find Britain's best-loved BBC children's character.
As well as Charlie and Lola, which first aired in 2005, the 50-strong shortlist includes the earliest stars of the small screen – such as Muffin the Mule and Bill and Ben – to Octonauts and In the Night Garden, via 80s classics Postman Pat, Pingu and Fireman Sam.
The trip down memory lane has been inspired by an exhibition on the history of BBC children's broadcasting, aptly titled Here's One We Made Earlier, opening at the Lowry in Salford in July, when the overall winner will be announced.
Radio Times editor, Ben Preston, said: "It's the easiest way to guess a person's age without risk of embarrassment. Ask their favourite children's TV character. For me, it was Mr Benn, for obvious reasons. Nothing dates us more reliably that naming those children's characters who first seized our imagination."
The nationwide survey is sure to generate nostalgia. But some, including the Shaun the Sheep creator, Richard Starzak, believe that children's TV has become too safe. "Slapstick is a universal language," he said. "There's a lot of comedy in other people's pain, of course. But there are things you can't do on children's shows. We can't really have characters being hit on the head. I understand why. We don't want to be responsible for kids hitting each other with frying pans. But I sometimes think children's TV can be overly safe. I don't think cartoon-style violence affects kids. I think it's a bit of escapism."
He compared today's viewing with watching ITV's Tiswas during his childhood: "They used to lift children out of tea chests by their ears. Then, one Saturday, one of the kids cut himself on the edge of the chest, and was bleeding on live TV.
"Chris Tarrant lifted him out, put him to one side and said: 'Could you pass me another one that's not bleeding?' And they carried on with the show. Can you imagine the front pages of the newspapers if that happened today?"
