New series of My Story
Mollie
CBeebies Grown-ups
My Story is back with a new series. We had a chat with Series Producer Rachel Bazeley to find out what we have to look forward to...
Can you give us a synopsis of what My Story is about for those who’ve never seen the series?
The pioneering seriesMy Story, which introduces the concept of history to pre-schoolers, returns to CBeebies with 25 brand new episodes. My Story is a unique, family-centred series which takes children on a journey of discovery, finding out about their family’s history through fun, adventure and play. Each story begins with a child and a parent or relative sharing a moment together. On the voyage of discovery that follows, the children get to learn things that they never knew about the people they know the best. As with Series 1, every episode is beautifully narrated by Nicky Campbell.
My Story is about bringing a
piece of history to life, connecting the generations, and encouraging children
to ask questions about their own family stories.
What’s your role on the production?
My title on the show is Series Producer, which means that I
oversee every aspect of the series from its creative direction to ensuring that
the series comes in on budget. I have been working on the series for the last eleven
months. Back in January 2013, we started off by looking far and wide for
amazing contributors who would be willing to share their family history with
us. Following further research, we developed a skeleton ‘storyline’ script
around each contributor’s personal history and started to source relevant
archive photographs and film that could be used to help illustrate each story. Filming
took place over the summer months and now all programmes are finished, voiced
by Nicky Campbell and ready to go out on the channel.
Can you tell us anything about the new episodes in series 2?
2014 is a very special year with lots of
exciting things happening including the Commonwealth Games which will be held
in Glasgow. We have been inspired by the Games to explore families and their
stories from across the Commonwealth, many of whom live in the UK. We were also
very lucky to travel further afield to both Kenya and Australia to make four shows
with an international perspective.
What are some of the highlights?
Every episode is fantastic and full of highlights however one that took me back to my childhood as a Blue Peter viewer was when we took Janet Ellis and her grandson Kit to Salford to visit the new Blue Peter studios for the very first time. We filmed the two of them drawing a pirate’s map on the studio set and we even got her to say the famous line: “Here’s one I made earlier”!
Do you have a favourite episode?
All are great, really different and interesting for many reasons. It would be difficult to choose however I really enjoyed directing on a special episode called ‘Childhood 100 Years Ago’, which will be broadcast as part of the BBC’s centenary commemorations of World War 1. It was a really interesting programme to make as this was a tricky subject to broach for our pre-school audience. It involved many conversations with historians and educational experts to ensure that we portrayed this subject accurately, in a way that would be appropriate for our audience. Also I really felt I learnt something in that particular episode.
How and why did you choose the contributors for this series?
Choosing our contributors takes a lot of time and consideration. Firstly, we do have a rough idea of the sort of subjects we want to feature: for example the history of lighthouses and lighthouse keepers - subjects we feel might make a good story to tell to our young audience.
We then start looking, via different routes,
contacting relevant organisations, websites etc who can approach their members
or suggest contributors who might like to get involved in our programmes. Once
our researchers have spoken to any possible contributors and feel they have a
good story to share, we then visit them to find out more.
These meetings are filmed by the researchers
so that we can then review back in the office. We have quite strict criteria
which has to be met. We need an adult and a child contributor (aged between 4 –
6) and they should be related. It is essential that the adults are able to
provide photographs from throughout their lives and careers which will help to
tell the story. Both contributors should be seen to be comfortable in front of
the camera at this stage and most of all happy to share their story.
What do you hope children and families will get from the series?
At the end of every programme, we ask the
viewers if they know someone who has a story to share. I really hope that our
young audience is inspired to turn to the older members of their families and
ask about their history because every family does have a story to share and
pass on down the generations.
Are there any ways that children can extend their learning from the
series?
By sharing stories within their own family,
children can be encouraged to compare ‘then’ and ‘now’ and to better understand
the concept of time passing. On the CBeebies website, children and their
families can capture their own stories and memories using our brilliant, easy-to-use,
interactive My Story book. You should also listen out for five lovely new My
Story shows on CBeebies Radio.
What’s been the best thing about working on the series?
The best thing about working on this series is that we meet so many amazing people, both old and new, who are happy to allow us into their lives to make these beautiful shows. It’s a very, very special series and after every shoot we feel privileged to have been part of a very special journey, and a little bit sad to bid the families farewell.
The new series of My Story starts on Monday 9th December at 4.30 pm
Make your own My Story book on the CBeebies website.
