Welcome to Even Baddies Wear Helmets! The podcast all about kids’ telly, and the wonderful grown-ups who make it happen. This episode is the last in our Stabilisers mini-series - a little block of episodes that act as the gateway between the tricycle of Even Baddies Wear Helmets Series 1, and the big-kid bike of Series 2.  In today’s episode, we’re going ghost hunting! We’re joined by Elizabeth Ito, creator of Netflix’s City of Ghosts. It’s a funny, charming and at times moving animated...

Welcome to Even Baddies Wear Helmets! The podcast all about kids’ telly, and the wonderful grown-ups who make it happen. This episode is part of our Stabilisers’ mini series - a little slew of episodes that nestle snugly between the Series 1 tricycle and the big-kid-bike of Series 2.  Today, we’re talking to the wonderful Theresa Varga, a director who hails from Yorkshire. Alongside a brilliant array of achingly funny and visually delicious short films, her TV credits include Secret Life of...

Welcome to Even Baddies Wear Helmets! The podcast all about kids’ telly, and the wonderful grown-ups who make it happen. We’re back with a few more episodes of ‘Stabilisers’ - our little mini-series that nestles snugly between the Series 1 tricycle and the big-kid-bike of Series 2.  So guess what? It turns out everything IS awesome. How do we know? Because in this episode, we chat to the brilliant Matthew Ashton, Vice President of Design at the LEGO Group. Matthew has worked for LEGO for 21...

Welcome to Even Baddies Wear Helmets! The podcast all about kids telly, and the wonderful grown-ups who make it happen. We're back with our second episode of Stabilisers: our brand new mini-series, bridging the gap between the Series 1 tricycle and the Series 2 big-kid bike. This week, we chat with Faraz Osman, who runs Gold Wala: a Bristol-based indie production company. Faraz recently Executive Produced 'What's On Your Head?', which is a heartwarming bit of factual entertainment for...

Welcome back to Even Baddies Wear Helmets! The podcast all about kids telly, and the wonderful grown-ups who make it happen. Before we crack on with a full second series, we’re releasing a couple of bonus episodes! We’re calling this mini-series “Stabilisers.” Think of it as the gateway between the Series 1 tricycle and the Series 2 big-kid bike. So! Our first bonus ep is all about DIRECTING ANIMATION. Animation directors oversee the whole kit and caboodle of their shows. From the seedling...

The time has come... Episode 8 is here - the FINAL episode of series 1 of Even Baddies Wear Helmets, the podcast all about children’s TV and the big kids who make it happen. And we’re going out with a bang!  This episode is all about SITCOM - writing the funnies, the antics, the gaffs and the mishaps. Our guest is the marvellous Anthony Q. Farrell, whose CV boasts an impressive range of credits, from The Office to Nickelodeon’s Thundermans. Anthony is the creator and showrunner of The Secret...

It’s here - the penultimate episode of series 1! And it’s all about the awkward years - from first crushes to volcanic fall-outs, we’re talking TEEN DRAMA.  The teen audience can be one of the hardest to get right - how do you stay relevant without being cringeworthy? How do you handle issues sensitively without patronising anyone? We’re here to find out.  Our guest this week is Holly Phillips. Holly is best known for creating and showrunning the teen series Get Even for BBC iPlayer and...

This week, we’re talking about presenting for preschool TV. Our guest is the fantastic Sita Thomas, who has been a presenter on Channel 5’s Milkshake! since 2015. As a presenter, Sita introduces TV shows, shares arts and crafts skills, teaches us about different cultures and traditions, leads us in dance routines and much more. Presenting is an incredibly varied role, demanding huge amounts of energy, enthusiasm and skill - and Sita’s here to tell us how it’s done.  As well as being a...

It’s time for episode 5 - we’re over halfway through series one!  This week we speak to the incredible Stephanie Simpson, Head Writer on the Netflix smash-hit Hilda, about writing for animation. Based on the graphic novels by Luke Pearson, Hilda follows a young girl as she moves from the wilderness to the city of Trolberg - making new friends and embarking on fantastical adventures along the way. The series won Best Children’s Animation at the BAFTAs in 2019, and Stephanie’s writing on the...

We’ve chatted to writers, actors and producers - now it’s time to talk about directing! In Episode 4 we’ll be thinking about how to give acting notes to kids, directing mini-music videos and just how many people it takes to puppet a rabbit from Stockport.  Our guest this week is Alex Jacob. Alex has directed on a multitude of shows, including Casualty, Doctors, Hollyoaks and Moving On. When it comes to kids’ content, he’s directed episodes of Tracy Beaker spin-off The Dumping Ground, the...

We’re back with another episode of Even Baddies Wear Helmets! And, oh boy, is it a fun one - this week, we’re talking about voice acting for animation. So buckle in, because there will be pro tips, and there will be silliness. Whether you’re playing a vampire, squirrel or talking train, voice work demands an immense amount of skill, craft and versatility. Luckily, our guest this week has all three in buckets.  Rasmus Hardiker has voiced a plethora of animated characters - to name but a few,...

This week we’re talking about adaptation. Why is there so much of it on kids’ TV? How do you turn a great children’s book into a great children’s show? And what does it take to handle the mammoth popularity of Jacqueline Wilson’s work? Our guest this week is Helen Blakeman. As well as being chair of BAFTA Children’s, Helen has written extensively for theatre, film and TV. She adapted Jacqueline Wilson’s Dustbin Baby and Hetty Feather for CBBC, and is currently working on an animated...

In our very first episode, Billie gets the lowdown from the BFI’s Jackie Edwards on the landscape for children’s content in the UK. They talk branding, funding, development, and pay tribute to "the pink knitted overlords". Jackie is head of the BFI’s Young Audiences Content Fund, which supports the creation of distinctive, high-quality content for audiences up to the age of 18. Projects they have supported include Channel 4’s Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, E4’s Grime Therapy, and CITV’s Don’t...

Billie gives us the lowdown on all things Even Baddies Wear Helmets, including a long-awaited title explanation. Plus - a theme tune, created by our in-house muso Finlay Stafford. THE TEAM Hosted by Billie Collins Website: https://billiecollins.co.uk Twitter/Insta: @_BillieCollins Produced by Clodagh Chapman Website: https://clodaghchapman.co.uk Twitter/Insta: @CloChpmn Music by Finlay Stafford Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/finlaystafford/ Soundcloud:...