I Did Shakespeare, You Know….
It has been pointed out to me since I wrote the piece the other day on veteran actors doing children’s TV (by an older viewer tuning in with a toddler) that I missed out the contribution made to In The Night Garden by one Derek Jacobi. Yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, one of our most revered and highly regarded actors is currently gracing CBeebies three times a day to relate the gentle adventures of Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy and the Tombliboos to the preschool audience. And very good he is too.
I can kind of understand why somebody as well-spoken and eloquent as Jacobi was chosen to narrate the show, given the media fuss that production company Ragdoll had to weather over the Teletubbies’ inability to speak properly. Although whenever I watch In The Night Garden – which isn’t nearly as much as it used to be since the child has declared it is “for babies” and only grudgingly tunes in – I can’t help feeling this overriding sense of what could have been going through Jacobi’s noble head at the time.
Kind of like this: “I’m a Shakespearian actor you know. I’ve won awards for it. I’ve played Hamlet. I received a Bafta for I, Claudius. So let’s see….what can I possibly do now? Hmmmmmm…..I know, I’ll go on TV and sing the Makka Pakka song on a daily basis. Oh, won’t it be such fun, luvvies??” And so on.
Probably just as well he does such a good job of it really, otherwise he would run the risk of sounding really stupid. Er, hang on a second…..
