THE creator of the Teletubbies is in line for a second multi-million-pound fortune with new figures showing that her latest preschool series is on the brink of becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Sales data show that In the Night Garden, jointly created by Anne Wood, 70, a former English teacher, is outstripping the early performance of the Teletubbies. The BBC and Ragdoll, Wood’s company, have now begun an international sales drive and sold rights to 19 countries with others expected to follow.
The show, first screened last year on the BBC channel CBeebies, is aimed at the underfives. It follows brightly coloured characters with names such as Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy in innocent adventures around their sun-dappled, woodland home.
Wood, whose fortune is estimated at more than £60m, is expected to make tens of millions of pounds more from In the Night Garden.
In addition to attracting 500,000 viewers, the series has sold £11m-worth of spin-off toys, as well as more than £1m-worth of books and DVDs, in Britain alone.
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Teletubbies has generated estimated sales of £500m in 120 countries since its first showing 11 years ago.
Industry insiders believe In the Night Garden has similar potential. “Hasbro [maker of the toys] expects at least £50m sales in Britain by the end of this year, better than they managed after the launch of Teletubbies,” one source said.
Wood created In the Night Garden with the scriptwriter Andrew Davenport.
Parents have praised the series for calming children. But some psychologists have criticised it for encouraging underfives to watch television at too young an age.
Wood said: “We try to make programmes that make children smile because we know that when they’re smiling they are reassured. They are reassured because they’ve understood something for themselves and when they understand something for themselves they become more confident and resilient.”
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She added: “Educationally, it provides a tremendous amount. It follows a story structure that is designed to encourage children’s developing thinking skills.”
However, Aric Sigman, a psychologist and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, said the series risked damaging children’s development.
“Wood may claim she understands children but her opinion does not matter as much as the scientists’,” he said. “They are finding that the earlier the age at which children watch television, the more likely they are to have problems later on with reading ability, maths and comprehension.”