MUMBAI: The UK pubcaster the BBC‘s children‘s channel CBeebies is bringing old friends and a new feel to its early evening schedule for the Autumn, with the return of ‘The Adventures Of Abney & Teal‘, ‘64 Zoo Lane‘ and ‘Waybuloo‘. And for the first time, the new-look Bedtime Hour will see different schedules on weekday evenings (Sunday-Thursday) and weekend evenings (Fridays and Saturdays).
From 28 October, new episodes of ‘The Adventures of Abney and Teal‘ will be seen at 6 pm, taking young viewers off to the island in the middle of the lake where Abney & Teal live, for some animated adventures with their friends. Then at 6.10pm, it‘s time to join Lucy in ‘64 Zoo Lane‘ as she goes on some magical night-time exploits with the animals living at the zoo near her house. The regular bedtime programming of ‘In The Night Garden‘ and ‘The Bedtime Story‘ will remain in their slots to draw the early evening schedule to a close.
Then, as the weekend approaches, the popular Piplings return to the Bedtime Hour on 2 November. This series of shorter episodes of ‘Waybuloo‘ will be seen every Friday and Saturday after ‘The Adventures of Abney and Teal‘ at 6.10 pm, taking children on a journey into the world of Nara where the Piplings practice their unique Yogo moves, helping little ones wind down.
CBeebies controller Kay Benbow said, "The Bedtime Hour is a particularly important part of CBeebies programming and we are always looking at ways to refresh the schedule and keep it interesting and engaging.
"We recognise that families‘ routines often vary on weekdays and weekends so we wanted to try something a little different with our schedules to reflect this. It also allows us to include more programmes in The Bedtime Hour so that all of our young viewers have the chance to watch their favourite shows as they settle down for bedtime."
Fans of current bedtime shows ‘Charlie and Lola‘ will still be able to catch up with the popular show every day from 29 October.
And, as ever, parents and children can catch up with their favourite programmes at any time through the CBeebies iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies