Puppet, string puppet

This is the Andy Pandy string puppet used in the television programme of the same name, part of the BBC's 'Watch With Mother' series. The brainchild of the BBC Head of Children's Programmes Freda Lingstrom and her colleague Maria Bird, 'Watch with Mother' was designed for the pre-school audience. The title echoed the BBC radio programme 'Listen With Mother' and was intended to allay fears that children were being corrupted by watching television alone.

Lingstrom had worked on 'Listen With Mother' and in collaboration with her friend Bird, conceived Andy Pandy as a television puppet show with musical accompaniment. Together they formed a production company Westerham Arts Films, named after the Kent village where they lived.

Andy Pandy first aired on Tuesday 11th July 1950. It was the first of the series of children's programmes that would go on to make up the 'Watch With Mother' weekly schedule in 1953. The programme was narrated by Vera McKechnie who invited viewers to join in with the songs. Later Andy was joined by friends Teddy and Looby Loo. Andy Pandy was made in a tin shed at the BBC's Lime Grove site known as the 'puppet studio'.