Magical children’s world “very different backstage”
Rushda:
January 15th, 2008
An actor who worked in a teddy bear suit on the highly popular children’s programme “In The Night Garden”, made by BBC’s Ragdoll Productions, is taking the company to court after claiming that he was mistreated. Not only was the equipment faulty so he could not see whilst in the costume and thereby left to require hospital treatment after falling over, but he was also insulted by other cast members and managers, being forced to continue to work even whilst he insisted it was unsafe.
For viewers, all they could see was the smiley face of the character Tombliboo. According to 28 year old Isaac Blake from Cardiff, however, the reality was much different. He claims that he was completely dependent on cameras to know what he was doing, but even they failed for several weeks and he was left fumbling in the dark in the costume, which was part robot and part puppet. When he complained he was rudely forced to continue and became injured as a result. He also says that another cast member called called him a “bitch” and a “faggot” but that the staff ignored this when he complained. The staff ultimately dismissed him for making a fuss.
Ragdoll productions, which also produced the Teletubbies, has denied all allegations saying that none of the other cast members had experienced any problems and that Mr Blake was actually dismissed because he was rude to staff. Actress Elisa Laghi, 31, admitted she used the words “bitch” and “faggot” to refer to him, but said that she meant it jovially and not because Mr Blake was gay. Indeed she says:
“I’m bisexual myself so I don’t have a problem with people being gay”
The tribunal now continues. If the allegations made by Mr Blake are true, then this is terrible news, particularly for those who have loved watching the programmes. To think that the actors are themselves suffering whilst producing such dramatic displays of optimism for children is saddening and I hope that any injustice on the part of the production team will not go unnoticed.