PLAY SCHOOL legend Floella Benjamin will return to TV in the Doctor Who kids’ spin-off.
The bubbly star plays a professor in two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies has based the new series — which started on CBBC yesterday — on the timelord’s former sidekick Sarah Jane Smith.
And he wanted Floella, 58, because she was a “British icon” hosting Play School in the 1980s.
A BBC insider said: “There are few bigger kids TV icons than Floella.”
Her big earrings and wacky dress sense inspired a generation of youngsters. Her last kids’ TV show was Jamboree in 1998. Now she runs a TV production company.
Another Play School veteran will also appear in the new series — Phyllida Law.
The 75-year-old plays Bea Nelson Stanley who guards an alien talisman in episodes three and four. Phyllida was one of Play School’s original presenters when it launched in 1964.
The news comes as BBC chiefs are reportedly considering axing children’s programmes from BBC1 and moving them to BBC2 — which already hosts Saturday morning kids’ shows.
The bubbly star plays a professor in two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies has based the new series — which started on CBBC yesterday — on the timelord’s former sidekick Sarah Jane Smith.
And he wanted Floella, 58, because she was a “British icon” hosting Play School in the 1980s.
A BBC insider said: “There are few bigger kids TV icons than Floella.”
Her big earrings and wacky dress sense inspired a generation of youngsters. Her last kids’ TV show was Jamboree in 1998. Now she runs a TV production company.
Another Play School veteran will also appear in the new series — Phyllida Law.
The 75-year-old plays Bea Nelson Stanley who guards an alien talisman in episodes three and four. Phyllida was one of Play School’s original presenters when it launched in 1964.
The news comes as BBC chiefs are reportedly considering axing children’s programmes from BBC1 and moving them to BBC2 — which already hosts Saturday morning kids’ shows.
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