Teletubbyland in disarray
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AFTER ... The Teletubbies' home is just
an abandoned green mound
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EH-OH! It looks as though the Teletubbies
have said their final “bye-byes”
and disappeared down those rabbit holes for
good. For the once lush Teletubbyland
inhabited by Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and
Po is now ramshackled, overgrown and waiting
for the demolition men. The six-acre
site is loved by more than a BILLION
children around the world who have watched the cult foursome’s TV antics.
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But programme maker Ragdoll Productions has
no plans for any more episodes of the top
kiddies’ show. And that means
Teletubbyland will soon revert to being
rolling farmland. The windows and
entrances to the Teletubbies’ home are
covered and the famous 21ft high windmill
lies on its side to be dismantled.
The outsize flowers are piled in bins and
crates over the plot. Only the rabbits are
still there — but they live wild off
the overgrown grass and weeds.
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BEFORE ... How a billion kids know
Teletubbyland
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Ramshackled ... wood litters site
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Ragdoll leased the land from farmer Rex
Harding near Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire, and made 365 episodes of the
Teletubbies for the BBC. The show
was translated into 147 languages and is to
be seen on America’s PBS channel every
day from now until 2008. Tinky Winky
and the others are even enchanting
pre-school children all over China.
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But Ragdoll spokesman Chris Bates said last
night Teletubbyland would soon be a thing
of the past. He said: “It’s
still fenced off from the public at the
moment but it’s lying fallow for the
time being. “It will only be
used again if anyone needs to shoot scenes
for videos or anything like that.”
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Blooming pity ... flowers set to go
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Overgrown ... the famous Teletubbyland
windmill is now lying on its side
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Filming in Teletubbyland began in 1995 and
finished last summer. Mr Harding,
from Wimpstone will continue leasing the
site to Ragdoll for another year.
He
said: “We’ll probably be putting
the land back to farming soon.”
Meanwhile, strict security will remain to
keep out souvenir hunters.
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Pictures: STEVE COPLEY
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