Top 10 Shocking Childrens Show Scandals
For this list, we're looking at controversies to hit British kids' shows and channels, but are focusing on more light-hearted ones.
Let us know in the comments what your favourite CBBC or CITV show was!
Top 10 Shocking Children’s Show Scandals
Welcome to WatchMojoUK and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Shocking Children’s Show Scandals.
For this list, we’re looking at controversies to hit British kids’ shows and channels, but are focusing on more light-hearted ones.
Let us know in the comments what your favourite CBBC or CITV show was!
#10: Rainbow Goes X-Rated
“Rainbow” (1972-92)
Classic children’s show “Rainbow” was on the air for twenty years, with large numbers of the British public growing up with it. However, in the late 1970s, things got a bit out of hand, and a filthy episode full of double entendre and adult-only jokes was broadcast to children across the nation – at least, if you believe the stories. In reality, this isn’t true. It was actually made for Thames TV’s staff Christmas tape, never intended to be seen by external eyes. But it ended up getting broadcast late at night on Channel 4 years later, and the myths that it was shown to thousands of innocent children began to circulate. It’s still very funny, though.
#9: Bob’s Bad Language
“Bob the Builder” (1999-2011)
In this old episode of “Bob the Builder”, Bob decides to step out of his comfort zone and offers to decorate a new flat he’s built. Though he’s told by Wendy that he doesn’t know the first thing about decorating, he tries anyway, and spectacularly fails at putting up the wallpaper. However, parents had some complaints about this episode, because it sounded like Bob – frustrated with the wallpaper – started dropping F-bombs. An investigation got underway, and Neil Morrissey’s master recordings were scrutinised to get to the bottom of it; it turned out he wasn’t swearing, it just sounded a bit like it. But in fairness, putting up wallpaper isn’t easy.
#8: Tinky Winky
“Teletubbies” (1997-2018)
We all heard the jokes in the playground about Tinky Winky’s handbag, but did you know that this situation got so fraught that the original actor behind Tinky Winky left the role? After months doing the job, Dave Thompson was removed by the BBC, who said that Thompson’s, quote, “interpretation of the role was not acceptable”. Thompson himself said that the BBC didn’t explain too much about WHY he was being sacked, but suspected it was because Tinky Winky was “too effeminate”. Yes, apparently, somebody at the BBC took all those comments about Tinky Winky’s favourite toy to heart; perhaps they thought it would be wrong to promote dangerous things like bags and purses to young children.
#7: Fireman Sam & the Quran
“Fireman Sam” (1987-)
In 2016, the BBC got hit with over a thousand complaints about an episode of “Fireman Sam”. Ignoring the fact that “Fireman Sam” at this point aired on Channel 5 and all those people complained to the wrong place, the issue was actually quite serious. In one episode, a firefighter slipped on a piece of paper that turned out to be a page from the Quran. The show was accused of Islamophobia and the episode was immediately withdrawn, and Mattel was forced to publicly apologise. Apparently, it was just supposed to show illegible text, but somebody at the animation studio put the Quran in there. It was later re-edited to be a blank page.
#6: Jungle Run After Dark
“Naked Jungle” (2000)
It certainly WOULD be fun to take part in your favourite childhood game shows as an adult, but maybe not like this. In 2000, ostensibly to celebrate naturism in the UK, Channel 5 decided to take over the set of CITV’s “Jungle Run” for a bit and send a group of nudists around. They played on the same sets as the kids and did similar games, but they were in the buff the whole time. Though most people took “Naked Jungle” in their stride and thought it was quite fun, the Daily Mail was absolutely livid and tried to cause a moral panic. Even members of parliament ended up commenting on the row, and host Keith Chegwin said he regretted it.
#5: Newsround Gets Cancelled
“Newsround” (1972-)
In 2020, the BBC decided it was going to cancel “Newsround”. Not completely, as it still did morning bulletins that the broadcaster said were regularly shown in classrooms, but the 4 o’clock TV edition of “Newsround” on CBBC was no more. “Newsround” is a way to explain important, current events to children in a way they can understand but without being patronising, and was crucial in helping generations of British kids start learning about the world. It was sad to see the show, which did plenty of credible journalism despite its child-friendly mandate, fall by the wayside and get treated so poorly.
#4: Lavatory-Gate
“Dick & Dom in da Bungalow” (2002-06)
We could fill a whole list with Dick & Dom’s anarchic antics, as their chaotic weekend show was as infamous with adults as it was popular with kids. There was the “Morning Wood” incident where Dom was shown wearing a t-shirt that some thought was explicit, though he said referred to his name. And then there was “Bogies”, the beloved game that put terror into the hearts of museums and libraries everywhere. Eventually, it got the attention of politicians, one of whom called its humour “lavatorial”. This was dubbed “lavatory-gate” by some press outlets, but was it a coincidence when, only a year later, the series ended?
#3: Socks vs Cookie
“Blue Peter” (1958-)
Who knew a cat could cause so much bother? In 2007, “Blue Peter” viewers were asked by the presenters to vote in an online poll for the name of the next “Blue Peter” cat. The top two options were Socks and Cookie; Socks was the frontrunner until there was a last-minute surge in votes for Cookie. Bosses suspected somebody may have rigged the poll, and went with Socks. However, this caused a massive scandal, with “Blue Peter” accused of violating the trust of its young viewers, not helped by another voting and competition scandal earlier that same year. Someone got sacked, presenters publicly apologised, and a new kitten was brought on and given the correct name.
#2: Richard Bacon
“Blue Peter” (1958-)
Yes, MORE from “Blue Peter”, this has since become one of the most notorious sacking incidents in television history. Less than two years on from his debut in 1997, Bacon was sacked after the tabloids reported that he’d been taking Class As. The story then got so out of control that some claimed Bacon had been caught doing lines off the back of the “Blue Peter” tortoises. The bit about the tortoises wasn’t true, but the substance abuse was, and Bacon was let go. He’s dealt with his addiction since then and has returned to the world of British entertainment, hosting many radio and television shows since the tortoise incident.
#1: No More Kids’ TV
The era of iconic kids’ TV shows might be at an end in the 2020s, however, because it’s been bad news all around for our favourite, classic channels. In 2022, the BBC said that by 2025, both CBBC and BBC Four would be taken off air, and a year later, ITV announced the end of CITV as a terrestrial channel. Kids’ offerings will move online in the case of both, but it’s a sad day to see the end of British children’s television as we know it. As of 2021, an estimated 1.5 million UK households didn’t have internet access, and with prices increasing all the time, huge numbers of children might suffer as these services go online.
