How did you get inside the TV? Aisha, 3 Good question, Aisha, and one I’m asked many times. Quite a lot of people I meet are quite surprised at how tall I am and wonder how I manage to fit into the television. Well, we film using cameras which capture our performances and then beam the signal through the air into your television. I met a family at a festival a few years ago and their daughter said to me: “Justin, I never thought you were part of our world,” which I thought was fantastic. Your comic timing with Robert the Robot [on CBeebies show Justin’s House] always reminds me of Laurel and Hardy – who inspires your characters? lime7 When I was young I was inspired by Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. I used to watch their slapstick routines over and over again. I was also a big fan of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. The chemistry between them in Open All Hours was amazing. And who can forget the wonderful moment when David Jason falls through the open bar on Only Fools and Horses? Comic timing is very important in visual and verbal comedy and the more effortless it appears to your audience, the better. Slapstick comedy has such a wide appeal. It’s a timeless format and you cannot beat the sound of belly laughter coming from the audience – children and adults alike. Can you fly? Teddy, 2 Unfortunately I cannot fly, Teddy, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could? I was on a coastal path recently, watching sea birds hovering in the wind. It was a great sight. Since having a kid last year, I’ve been super impressed with the level of what I call “face work” in your performance. The degree of control you have over your face muscles to sell an idea/emotion/joke to kids is amazing. To what extent this is instinctual? Or are you thinking when you’re performing about what best to do with your face in each particular moment? Antzudan Performing facial expressions in comedy sketches is very important. Some performers use minimal facial expressions, like Buster Keaton. I think Rik Mayall had an amazing range of facial expressions and I picked up a lot of tips from him as I developed my own comedy characters. When filming a show like Gigglequiz, as well as thinking about my own physical characterisations, it’s also one of the most technically ambitious shows that I have been involved in. I play five characters on screen at the same time so I have to film each character individually and also remembering how they interact with each other in each take. We have a great technical team who are able to edit all the footage together to give the illusion that we are all performing at the same time in the same set. Did you go to the Oscars for Farmageddon? Would you have liked to? Would you like to do more adult acting? bumble1 I would love to have gone to the Oscars but due to the travel restrictions in place at the time, it wasn’t possible. However, I was thrilled to hear that the film had been nominated. I took a three-year acting course in Guildford and shortly after I graduated, I managed to secure a part in a play about the life story of Sid Field called What a Performance, with David Suchet in the title role. Sid was a music hall comedian and I played various characters in the piece. During rehearsals I received some training from Jack Trip, who was a master of physical comedy. More recently I appeared as Mr Perks in the London production of The Railway Children, which was staged in a popup theatre at Kings Cross. That was a big role for me and something very different from the roles I had played on television. I have always seen myself as a character actor. I had no experience as a presenter when I started to become involved in television, so had to learn that skill as I went along. Would you rather drive a train or be a ticket collector? Laurie, 4 I think I would like to be a ticket collector. You would then get to meet all of your passengers and maybe have a sing-song in the carriages every now and then! What’s your daily schedule like? I have the impression that you are a total workaholic! How do balance that level of hard work with the playfulness of your characters? TimDelaney I have a very large old-fashioned A4 diary! This contains all of my schedules for my TV and theatre commitments. I like to work hard and keep myself busy. When not performing, I like to come up with new formats and characters for both TV and theatre. When I write new material I always start by listening to film music. It has always been a big part of the creative process. One of my favourite composers is Erich Korngold, who was an Austrian composer, and I particularly like his scores to Errol Flynn films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk. John Williams is another favourite of mine; in some of his scores I think you can hear influences from the work of Korngold. I learned a lot about the history of film while working at the Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank and attended many silent movie seasons there, as well as the Guardian interviews with various film directors across many genres of production. I think that is why I have a keen interest in all aspects of production, in television and on stage. I like to know how each department works, which I think is a good thing for an actor to have an understanding of. What’s the best animal in the world? Zoe, 3 I love wildlife. I remember filming with giraffes once and thought they were the most graceful animals with beautiful markings and incredible eyes. How much fieldwork do you do voicing Timmy and Shaun? How realistic do they have to be? bumble1 Providing the voices for Shaun and Timmy is a real joy. I remember auditioning for the part very well. I had voiced other animal characters in the past: Doodles the dog in The Tweenies and Timmy the dog from The Famous Five animated series, but had never provided the voice of a sheep! Richard Starzak and Mark Burton auditioned me, and I remember the piece of footage I was sent to voice: Shaun being pulled across a garden by a lawnmower with his cheeks wobbling, which was very funny. I provided a wobbly sounding bleat to accompany the footage. We then worked on different scenes for another two hours. A few days later the phone rang and it was my voiceover agent. She said: “Could I speak to Shaun, please”? I was beaming as it had been an ambition of mine to work for Aardman. Both Timmy and Shaun have a range of emotions and I enjoy the challenge of creating the sounds as each scene is played back to me on a monitor in the studio. It is amazing how immersed in the characters you become. I have been lucky enough to visit the Aardman studios a few times and meet the animators. They work tirelessly, filming one frame at a time to create the wonderful model animation that you see on the screen. How does the Tumble Tap work? Romy, 4 In the first few series of Something Special, we didn’t use the Tumble Tap. Instead we used framed pictures of the three items that we needed to look for in each episode. But as technology changed and small computers with touchscreens had come along, we decided to use a screen instead. It’s quite easy to use. There are three circles, each a different colour and the three items to look for are hiding behind them. The children tap on the circles to make the items appear. Where and when did you learn sign language? Squelly When the programme Something Special was being developed about 20 years ago, I was asked to present the first four episodes. The programme uses Makaton, a signing system that was created over 40 years ago. I learned about 300 signs initially. Now, in preparation for each series, I learn a new set of words. It’s wonderful to be able to sign with so many families during the filming of each show. Makaton is an incredibly important communication tool that helps so many people. As well as filming in the studio we travel all over the UK and get to meet so many new friends. The Tumble Family seems to grow each year as well, with new characters providing an opportunity to develop new storylines for the Tumble segments in the show. Do you prefer building sandcastles or snowmen? TheShiftyShadow Snowmen are great fun to build. We built a Lord Tumble Snowman once. He had a top hat, scarf and a spotty cravat. Do you find it impossible to go anywhere in public without having to “Tumble up” as it were for any kids who spot you or do grateful parents follow you around with heartfelt thanks for entertaining their little ones? Thanks for all your thoughtful, funny output. mattpointblank It has always been quite easy to travel around and about. I enjoy meeting our friends when I perform in theatres and at festivals. I have been working in children’s television for over 25 years and we’re now starting to welcome parents who grew up with me when they were young. I remember filling the car up at a petrol station once and asking for a small box of tissues at the counter. The man who served me, with a very matter-of-fact approach said to his colleague: “Dave, can you pass me some tissues for Mr Tumbles.” That is all he said! That tickled me and I left with a smile on my face. People often come up to me and tell me about their favourite characters and sometimes put forward ideas of what they would like to see on the programmes. I love that kind of feedback. What is your favourite dinosaur? Jaxon, 5 It has to be the brontosaurus. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to see one of those again in the wild? They really are gentle giants! Do you miss having the live audience for Justin’s House? Flashbleu Yes, very much so. Having a live audience is the heartbeat of the show. The reaction we receive from the children and their teachers when we start each show is wonderful. Due to the Covid situation, we were unable to film the current series with a live audience. So we adapted it and we filmed it more like a sitcom. We have expanded the size of the house and – in addition to the regular characters Justin, Robert the Robot, Cat our nextdoor neighbour and Little Monster – we have introduced some new characters, such as Cherry the baker, and Tom the dogwalker, plus a host of special guests who appear throughout the series. We also created some new locations, such as the garden area, Robert’s workshop and Little Monster’s den. The new format is being received well and I think, when we are able to have a live audience back, they will love the new additions to Justin’s House. What are your favourite kids’ shows? LeaderOfTheFree As a child I used to watch Play School with Johnny Ball, Derek Griffiths and Floella Benjamin, and loved acting out the stories. At drama school, I was inspired by Phillip Schofield and Chris Jarvis in the CBBC Broom Cupboard and thought I’d like to perform in some family theatre and children’s television. I put a showreel together and managed to secure an audition for the theatre tour of Playdays, the show that took over from Play School. I landed the part of Mr Jolly. That was the very first part I played, which started my career in family entertainment. Can you do magic tricks? Imran, 6 I really like to watch magic being performed and I am working on a new live theatre tour at the moment. We are putting two big magic tricks in the show and I am really looking forward to learning how to perform them. I’m quite sad that my children have grownup and away from CBeebies. I used to enjoy watching your shows as much, if sometimes not more than they did. My favourite character was Keith Fitt from Gigglebiz (the trampoline sketch is comedy gold). Who’s your favourite and least favourite character to play? Gin007 I love playing all of my characters. But one of the hardest characters to play is Wizard Tripwick, as the costume is incredibly heavy and I quite often trip over the beard, as it is over a metre long! I have worn a smaller beard recently playing the part of Father Christmas in this year’s CBeebies Christmas show, The Night Before Christmas. We were lucky enough to be able to film this in front of a small audience. I flew in on a spectacular sleigh, which got a great reaction from the children. Mr Tumble is definitely my favourite because of the impact that the character and the programme has had on so many people over the past 20 years. We have received so many wonderful letters and emails letting us know how the programme has helped them. What is it like to be back on stage performing? I started performing again last summer, which was quite an emotional experience. One of my first performances was at Camp Bestival, at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. It was my 14th year there and the atmosphere was incredible. To be performing on the main stage after such a long time was awesome. I am currently performing in pantomime at the Hexagon theatre in Reading after a one-year absence and I’m thoroughly enjoying working on a theatre stage again. Where did Grandad Tumble learn to be a mega DJ? We love his dancing! Bettyspagbols Grandad Tumble is such a fun and endearing character to play. He tries to pass down his wisdom and knowledge to Mr Tumble, but it never seems to go to plan. The DJ scene was great fun and filming it is his shed was a clever idea. He is a very engaging and warm character that you can place in almost any situation. Do you like rainbow unicorns? Evelyn, 5 Of course. Who doesn’t?