It was the programme that encouraged thousands of north-east children to stay safe, keep active and Bee-lieve in themselves.
And, from the moment Romper Room was beamed into households in October 1963, it attracted an audience who flocked to the Grampian TV studios to meet presenters such as “Miss Lesley” and “Miss Anne”.
They taught the youngsters about road safety, provided close encounters with spiders and tadpoles and offered them tips and advice on growing up in the Swinging ’60s.
The series, which had originated in Baltimore a decade earlier, was turned into an international franchise with local production teams creating their own programmes in many different countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and (on 75 stations in) the United States.
It was transformational for many of the participants and Aberdeen was one of the liveliest venues anywhere in the world because the producers brought the kids on to the set, where they interacted with their adult hosts.
Grampian’s ‘girl in a million’
That provided a stern test for Lesley Blair, who was just 19 when she broke two of TV’s so-called golden rules: never work with children or animals.
But the youngster, who combined presenting with teaching drama and elocution at the city’s Albyn School, following a successful stint at the Ellen Rutherford School of Drama in Dundee, was a natural on camera, who had previously interviewed The Beatles at the height of their fame, as well as turning down the offer of a date with James Bond himself, Sean Connery.
She visited New York to take part in training for the series and, in the first week of Romper Room’s transmission, more than 300 fan letters flooded into the Aberdeen office, as children watched the 15-minute programme at 4.45pm before being entertained by Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
This was an innocent show but it was one that captured young people’s imaginations because the likes of Lesley and Anne Milne talked TO their audience, not DOWN to them, whether they were organising snowball fights outside in the wintry Granite City or being shown the drill by the Tufty Club.
Indeed, Rosemary Sisson, the executive producer of the programme, was delighted at how it was developing when she visited the region in 1968.
She said: “I love the Aberdeen Romper Room, I think these local children are delightful and Aberdeen is one of only two centres (the other was Belfast) which features children actually in the programme.”
But who were those little mites in front of the camera? And what are their memories of being involved in a series that lasted for 14 years?
Gillian Brand, nee Brown, hadn’t even started her primary school education when she was welcomed into the world of live entertainment.
She recalled: “I was only four years old in 1964 but I remember my mother driving us from Kemnay to Aberdeen to the studios on numerous days and I clearly recollect the outside of Grampian TV with the logo on the wall.
“I remember the presenter, Lesley Blair, and being led through the doors into the studio where the filming took place. Two incidents from that time have stayed with me throughout the years.
Fun and frights in the Romper Room
“The first was being asked by Lesley about a dog we used to look after at the family home.
“It was a very small dog and I do recall telling her that we took it for a walk and ‘it got awfy dubby feet’.
“The other incident was a frightening one for me.
“I’m guessing the programme was teaching road safety that particular day because I can see the zebra crossing marked out on the studio floor with two black and white stripey poles either side, each with some sort of sack over the top.
“Well, the sack was pulled off, revealing an orange ball with a frightening face and a moving mouth.
“That was too much for me and I remember bolting for the doors to find my mother!”
Blair, who died in 2007, aged 62, subsequently wrote, produced and presented the eponymous Lesley, a daily 10-minute children’s programme, as well as appearing on the famous STV show Cartoon Cavalcade and fronting coverage of three successive Edinburgh festivals.
Oh, and while she was still in Aberdeen, she played Mary Magdalene in a special Easter commemoration that was partly filmed on Balmedie Beach.
‘The children were a joy to work with’
She spoke about the excitement she derived from seeing the gleam in children’s eyes as they were introduced to the wonders of science and nature.
“Romper Room was a step in the dark for all of us but the enthusiasm of the kids was inspiring.
“It was all new to them but they always had loads of questions for us and it was a big part of our job to give them answers.”
Anne Milne, who died earlier this month, was another of the popular presenters who formed a close bond with her audience – even though it meant her having to control her nerves when confronting any creepy-crawlies!
Her daughter, Caroline MacFarlane, recalled how there was little room for error during the live shows, as the hosts responded to unexpected situations.
There was nowhere to hide in the Romper Room
She said: “My mother had a terror of spiders and when one of them made an appearance and crawled off the table, you could see her jump while she was on air, but she continued.
“The two characters on the show were bees drawn on a board. One was called Do Bee Good and the other was Don’t Bee Lazy.”
They certainly sparked a buzz among the youngsters in the Romper Room and, between them, Lesley and Anne made more than 1,000 appearances, which was a testament to how the programme resonated with its fans.
Eventually, the original presenters moved on elsewhere, but the drama didn’t end for Lesley, who was caught up in a fire at her digs in Glasgow in 1968.
The Press & Journal reported on how she and two STV colleagues had to flee for their lives when the blaze swept through their flat in the West End.
It said: “The girls – 25-year-old Miss Judith Parris, of Aberdeen, Miss Lesley Blair, 25, of Grampian TV ‘Romper Room’ fame, and Miss Deirdre Macdonald, daughter of BBC producer Finlay Macdonald – all escaped.
“The fire was first spotted by Miss Blair, as she was making breakfast for the other girls. Two rooms of the flat were completely destroyed, but they managed to remove most of their possessions before the firemen arrived.”
As the 1970s progressed, Romper Room’s viewing figures gradually fell and it was axed – but the programme is still remembered fondly by everybody who worked on it and by the youngsters who learned so much from the presenters.
A letter to the P&J from a Montrose woman in 1988 was typical.
It asked: “When my children were wee, back in the 1960s, the programme they liked the most was Romper Room with Miss Lesley. What was her real name and whatever happened to her?”
The paper replied that she had “married a programme director and moved south, working first for STV, then the BBC, where she was involved in such programmes as ‘Top Score’. She also attended Grampian’s 25th birthday celebrations (in 1986).”
A privilege to be involved in Romper Room
It might have been of its time and made on a shoestring budget but Romper Room helped many kids Bee-come better people in the ’60s and ’70s.
As Gillian Brand said: “I feel privileged, looking back, at being part of the programme.
“Indeed, when I talk to friends of my age, they often ask: how did I get to be on the show?”
Were you on screen as well? We’d love to hear your memories of Romper Room.
