The big question television viewers are asking this week is: what on Earth does ATV think it is doing, scheduling Teletubbies in the new Fantastic Friday triple-bill, that starts at 9.30 tonight? Has nobody told them that Teletubbies, probably the most talked-about show currently on British television, is aimed at the under-fours, not grown-ups? The answer is, of course, that ATV knows Teletubbies is for kids. The whole thing is nothing more than a publicity stunt intended to create controversy, and it has certainly done that.
'We wanted to create some noise, to generate a phenomenon,' explains Jeffrey Chan, ATV deputy controller, and the man who bought the Hong Kong rights to the series. 'We had to for it to stand any chance at all.' From June 29, Teletubbies will revert to 4.30pm slot every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ATV World, and 9.15am on ATV Home from July 14.
Mr Chan reasoned that if ATV had simply slipped Teletubbies straight into the standard late afternoon slots, the show would have died the low-ratings death of all children's television programmes in Hong Kong. This way, even if the adults that tune in on Friday nights for the next three weeks don't necessarily watch at the new time, at least the show will have become a talking point.
By now those readers who are not British, or parents of small children, will probably be wondering why Mr Chan has gone to such lengths for a children's show. But Teletubbies is not just a kids show.
Ever since it appeared on the BBC in April 1997, the mix of fantasy, real-life inserts, baby talk and four adult-size, baby-faced pastel coloured characters performed by real actors in huge round costumes has split the country in two. It has been equally successful in overseas markets: kids in Australia, Estonia, Holland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and the United States love it too.
Most parents loathe it for the lack of educational value, but none can dispute the miraculous, effect it has on even the youngest baby. From the first few bars of the signature tune, to the rising of a smiling sun with the face of a baby, they are all enchanted.