Bob the Builder 3 Vehicle Playset. A bumper playset featuring new friction vehicle Splasher as well as favourites Dizzy and Scrambler. Splasher can whizz across land and water – wind up his propeller and watch him go! Also includes Bob figure, 2 cones and 2 signs.For ages 3 years and over.

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Great news for all fans of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The Doctor Who spin-off has been commissioned for a further two 12-part series after fantastic viewing figures for Series Three as well as critical acclaim.

Series Four will air this autumn and will feature the return of Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane, along with Luke, Clyde and Rani. Enemies old and new will star, including the Nightmare Man and the Shansheeth, plus a visit to an alien world.

Series Five will start production next year and will air a few months later.

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Turner’s preschool-targeted TV channel, Cartoonito, will soon be available to Virgin Media users. Cartoonito, which features series including Fireman Sam, Care Bears and Hi-5, will be included in the line-up of channels available to customers on Virgin Media ‘L’ or ‘XL’ TV pack from this April.

But that’s not all the good news! Some of Cartoonito’s shows will be available on Virgin Media’s on-demand service, and some Turner Broadcasting content will be available both online and on mobile phones. Cartoonito shows such as Go And … and Cartoonito Karaoke, in addition to from content from Cartoon Network and Boomerang, including Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and Boomerang’s Scooby Doo, and new content from Cartoonito will be on offer.

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In celebration of E1 Entertainment’s latest film release Astro Boy (starring Samuel L Jackson, Nicolas Cage and Matt Lucas), Selfridges have teamed up with print house Art You Grew Up With to host an exclusive event for children in their Bookshop, just in time for half term.

For Astro Boy superfans, there will be limited edition artwork from the animated film for sale, including an exclusive print that will only be available on the day.

As well as the opportunity to be photographed with Astro Boy himself, kids can also attend a drawing master-class with animator and graphic designer Huw-J, from Art You Grew Up With.

The event is being held this Saturday 20th February, between 14:00 and 15:00, at the Bookshop, Lower Ground Floor at Selfridges

A thrilling tale of a true hero, Astro Boy is an all new, feature film full of action, adventure, humour and heart, brought to life on the big screen in breathtaking CGI animation. Check out the trailer below.

Astro Boy is release on DVD on May 31 in the UK and you can preorder Astro Boy here.

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That sentence probably doesn’t convey the strength of his feeling enough.

For my son, telly is like heroin.

Actually, that’s probably overstating it just a bit.  I should really have thought about this before I started writing.  OK, let’s just say that his affection for the goggle box is less than a drug addict’s need for smack but certainly more than the tenderness he feels for either of his parents.

So far it’s been a very happy relationship.  He doesn’t watch it all the time.  He doesn’t even watch it all the time he wants to.  However, occasionally as a way of encouraging some good behaviour in other areas of his life, or if I fancy a bit of peace and quiet, he’ll be allowed to have a gawp.  For heaven sake both his parents have made a living out of TV so the roof over his head, the clothes on his back, the expensive toys that he refuses to play with have all been paid for by TV.

Up until now my son has favoured one of two viewing pleasures.

1. Movies (generally an animated classic such as Jungle Book, Toy Story, Monsters Inc etc)

Or

1. CBeebies.

Over the last three years our viewing landscape has been a world inhabited by yoga performing sprites, creatures with names like Macca Pacca and YoJo Jo, and silly grown-ups who dress up and fall down a lot.  It has been fun and colourful and unthreatening.  I can leave my kids in front of CBeebies safe in the knowledge that as soon as my back is turned it’s not going to start swearing or drinking or bringing up “issues”.

Now though my eldest is in the process of migrating from CBeebies to CBBC and I simply don’t know how to cope.  It’s like watching the first broadcast after an apocalyptic nuclear strike has all but wiped out humanity.  It’s dreadful, his mother and I are jabbering wrecks forever having to monitor what he watches and handing out ridiculous censorship rules like some kind of nightmare-ish Orwellian Government.  We’ve already panicked and banned him from watching Tracy Beaker, although Joe obviously watches it when we’re not with him because he recently called me a super loser and I’m pretty sure his grandmother didn’t teach him that.

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I expect that come Christmas Eve your kids will be rather excited. To them, the 24th December has many more hours than the standard twenty four, and that time runs slower than at any other day of the year. The TV is showing non-stop Christmas: Christmas movies, Christmas specials, Christmas music on every single channel. Well this fantastic website might give your little ones something else to focus on for the day…

The NORAD Santa Tracker is a website developed by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which tracks and plots the position of Santa Clause on Christmas Eve as he travels across the globe delivering presents to millions of children. A map of the world with Santa’s position is updated every five minutes so children can see how close he is (it also provides a little leverage to parents to persuade excited offspring to go to bed before he arrives!) You can even track him in 3D using Google Earth.

The NORAD Santa Tracker will be operational from midnight Wednesday night and throughout Christmas Eve. In the meantime, there is a countdown page with lots of games to play, and a nice little movie below which explains the site a little further.

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John Greswell is a composer responsible for much of the music for the fantastic Charlie & Lola. My Kids TV were fortunate enough to ask him a few questions about his music, the program and kids TV.

Not many people will know your name, but your work will be familiar to thousands of households up and down the country. How did you get involved with Charlie & Lola?
I used to be in a London band called Menlo Park. It was renowned for its chaotic and energetic live performances. A friend of mine (Soren Munk) was enlisted to compose the theme music for Charlie and Lola and he asked if I would be interested in writing the incidental music. Some of the Tiger Aspect people were aware of Menlo Park and were interested in the idea of having that kind of energy in the score. I pitched and got the job.

The style of music on Charlie & Lola is quite varied and is, in some ways, more grown-up than other children’s television music. Was this intentional? Where did you find inspiration for the music?
For series 2 & 3 the schedule was much tighter so I shared the writing with David Schweitzer. We both brought our own influences to the score, but one thing we always tried to do was to make the fantasy scenes as epic as possible – be it an Egyptian mouse funeral or a ride on a pterodactyl. This gave rise to a great variety of music styles, often referential and possibly therefore more grown up. I remember being briefed for a scene where Charlie and Lola are seen wandering in front of the pyramids with the sun setting behind them. The director wanted the essence of Lawrence of Arabia – a reference almost certainly missed by the pre school audience – but none the less a perfect little Charlie and Lola moment, with their fantasy world larger than life. That was the blueprint really – quirky, warm and downbeat for the domestic reality scenes and larger than life for the fantasy scenes.

Do you think children’s television has improved in the last 20 years, or do you think it suffers from too many imports and repeats?
I was born overseas and exposed to very little TV as a child so I am not in a great position to answer this question. One observation I have made however is that there can be a negative flipside to the ease and flexibility of modern technology used to create TV and music. The process is lightening quick these days compared with 20 years ago, and this ease of motion from initial design to finished product can, in the wrong hands, leave an anonymous sheen that you’ve seen a million times. I think it’s important to get a sense of the human – both brilliant and fallible – behind any creative work. As for repeats and imports, well maybe it’s something to do with merchandise deals!

What other shows have you worked on, and do you prefer working on adult or children’s television?
I haven’t worked on any other TV apart from adverts. I have worked on a few small films. Be it adult or children’s TV I am drawn towards non conventional score writing where the music is not quite what you’d expect. Badalamenti (Twin Peaks), Morricone (the spaghetti westerns) and Anton Karas (Third Man) are examples of how a totally unique atmosphere can be created by the score, and I really admire that approach.

What music do you like to listen to when not working?
When I’m not working I tend to avoid music. But looking at my Top 25 Most Played list in iTunes it tells me I like Rományi Rotá (a gypsy band from Hungary), A Swingin’ Safari (60’s safari easy listening), Anouar Brahem (Arab classical and folk), Pluto Shervington (70’s reggae) and Nazareth (early 70’s Scottish hard rock).

Finally, what Kids TV show theme do you like the most?
Again I’m not really up on TV themes but I like The Simpsons, Muppet Show, Grange Hill, The A Team and Magic Roudabout.

Thank you John for taking the time to talk to us. Charlie & Lola Series 3 is available on DVD now.

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I first wrote about Kido’z at the beginning of this year. Basically Kido’z is an application for available for Windows, Mac and Linux which provides a safe environment in which young children can explore the internet. Content, in the form of websites, games and videos, is pre-approved by the Kido’z team, but parents can add content to their child’s account independently. Kido’z is a very feature-packed and kid-friendly program which My Kids TV thoroughly recommends.

Earlier this year Kido’z was upgraded. New features were added, including a system whereby children can send messages to parent-approved contacts using a fantastic picture-driven messaging system and they also have their own room which can be customised. Kido’z also introduced Kido’z Plus, a subscription based upgrade to the basic Kido’z package. Once subscribed, even more features are unlocked:

• More Content – Kido’z Plus members get access to exclusive content including high quality educational games. Content is updated on a regular basis.
• More Personalisation – Kido’z Plus members have access to room editing and avatar styling taking personalisation to the next level.
• More Creativity – Kido’z Plus members get access to tons of cool animation, backgrounds and Ecards for creating exciting and unique Kido’z Mails.
• More Control – Parents get full usage statistics reports including daily time usage, activity reports, most popular content and more…
• More Security – With Kido’z Plus parents get advanced security settings including setting a daily time limit, password protected exit and more…

You can visit the Kido’z website now to download Kido’z, but we’ve got a fantastic Kido’z giveaway. We have five annual subscriptions to Kido’z Plus to give away! Simply visit the My Kids TV Facebook page, become a fan and recommend it to your friends, then leave a comment below. The first five people to do this will win a Kido’z Plus subscription! Good luck!

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My Kids TV is not just about bringing you the latest information about our favourite kids TV show and the best shopping deals. It’s also about connecting with our readers and letting the connect together and share information. This can be done on the site by commenting on stories, or you could always become a fan of My Kids TV on Facebook.

Not only will you each new article show up on your Facebook wall, but you will also be told of exclusive Facebook-only deals. We’re working hard with suppliers to bring you some very special discounts next year and we’ll also be running some Facebook-only competitions. But you need to become a fan on our Facebook page to be part of it so why not try it now!

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This is a bit of a treat for parents really. In the dark ages before digital TV, when the BBC only had two TV channels, childrens shows ruled the airwaves between 3:30 and 5:30 every weekday afternoon. Children’s BBC, or CBBC, for many years came from the broom cupboard with legends Philip Schofield and Andi Peters, amongst others. I’m sure many of you remember it well.

There used to be short animations that led into the programs. These animations, called idents, were often themed and the Christmas idents were particularly good. The fantastic TVARK website has a collection of these, along with a few other clips, which should bring back a few memories. To get you started, here is the ident from CBeebies last Christmas.

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