At 6.50pm on Sunday night, via the medium of television, a major Royal will address the nation. She will not, however, talk about her annus horribilis or solemnly discuss the country’s “national spirit” at a time of crisis. She will instead introduce us to an owl called Plop who is afraid of the dark. “Dark is nasty,” says Plop. He soon learns, however, there is nothing to be scared of. “Dark is super,” says Plop.
When the Duchess of Cambridge reads The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark for CBeebies Bedtime Stories, it will be the 812th episode of the long-running series, which traditionally ends the day of programming on the channel aimed at preschoolers. The Duchess chose Jill Tomlinson’s 1968 story – a childhood favourite, which she now reads to Prince George, Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis – to tie in with Children’s Mental Health Week, because the book encourages us to talk about our fears. Those in California will surely be nodding along appreciatively (though they may be a bit miffed that the Duchess decided against reading The Bench).
CBeebies Bedtime Stories, which began in 2003, is not short of A-list story readers – Reese Witherspoon, Dolly Parton, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Hiddleston, to name a few recent narrators – but the future Queen of the United Kingdom surely takes some beating. It’s a plan more than three years in the making. “It’s been a long time in the trying and in the asking,” explains producer Claire Taylor, one of the miniscule team who work on the show. “We spoke to her team throughout lockdown and eventually they approached us to tie in with Children’s Mental Health Week. It’s worked out beautifully for both sides.”
Unlike most celebrity narrators, who come into the CBeebies studio to record their stories, the Duchess read her book from the gardens of Kensington Palace, sat on a blanket on the lawn. Most Bedtime Stories readers are seasoned thespians, more than used to performing on camera – how did the Duchess get on? “She’s a mum,” says Taylor, “ she’s read a lot of bedtime stories. She suggested the book, so it was lovely how invested she was. It was an honour to direct.”
How, however, did a 10-minute story segment for toddlers, on a channel many of us never watch, become the perfect vehicle for the Duchess of Cambridge to promote the work of Place2Be, the children’s mental health charity of which she is a patron? How did CBeebies Bedtime Stories – to put it bluntly – become such a coveted gig for the great and the good?. According to the series’ executive producer John Harkin, it’s down to one man: “I think Tom Hardy led the charge there.”
