How Tom Hardy made CBeebies Bedtime Stories a star magnet

At 6.50pm on Sunday night, via the medium of television, a major Royal will address the nation. She will not, however, talk about her annus horribilis or solemnly discuss the country’s “national spirit” at a time of crisis. She will instead introduce us to an owl called Plop who is afraid of the dark. “Dark is nasty,” says Plop. He soon learns, however, there is nothing to be scared of. “Dark is super,” says Plop.

When the Duchess of Cambridge reads The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark for CBeebies Bedtime Stories, it will be the 812th episode of the long-running series, which traditionally ends the day of programming on the channel aimed at preschoolers. The Duchess chose Jill Tomlinson’s 1968 story – a childhood favourite, which she now reads to Prince George, Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis – to tie in with Children’s Mental Health Week, because the book encourages us to talk about our fears. Those in California will surely be nodding along appreciatively (though they may be a bit miffed that the Duchess decided against reading The Bench).

CBeebies Bedtime Stories, which began in 2003, is not short of A-list story readers – Reese Witherspoon, Dolly Parton, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Hiddleston, to name a few recent narrators – but the future Queen of the United Kingdom surely takes some beating. It’s a plan more than three years in the making. “It’s been a long time in the trying and in the asking,” explains producer Claire Taylor, one of the miniscule team who work on the show. “We spoke to her team throughout lockdown and eventually they approached us to tie in with Children’s Mental Health Week. It’s worked out beautifully for both sides.”

Unlike most celebrity narrators, who come into the CBeebies studio to record their stories, the Duchess read her book from the gardens of Kensington Palace, sat on a blanket on the lawn. Most Bedtime Stories readers are seasoned thespians, more than used to performing on camera – how did the Duchess get on? “She’s a mum,” says Taylor, “ she’s read a lot of bedtime stories. She suggested the book, so it was lovely how invested she was. It was an honour to direct.”

How, however, did a 10-minute story segment for toddlers, on a channel many of us never watch, become the perfect vehicle for the Duchess of Cambridge to promote the work of Place2Be, the children’s mental health charity of which she is a patron? How did CBeebies Bedtime Stories – to put it bluntly – become such a coveted gig for the great and the good?. According to the series’ executive producer John Harkin, it’s down to one man: “I think Tom Hardy led the charge there.”

Ah yes, who could forget the great kerfuffle of 2017, when it transpired that Hollywood bad boy and all-round hunk Tom Hardy would be reading Fleabag (not that one – a Helen Stephens book about a grubby dog) in the Bedtime Stories slot. “Now it’s time for you to go on an adventure… in your dreams,” purred Tom, snuggled under a blanket, cuddling a fluffy dog toy in one arm and stroking his faithful pooch Woody with the other. Red-blooded mums across the land suddenly found themselves more interested in their children’s literacy than ever.

“It blew up a bit with Tom,” says Harkin, “and since then we’ve got bigger and bigger. If you look at the list of people we’ve had since then, it’s become something of a cultural phenomenon.” The suspicion, among gutter-minded journalists, is that the phenomenon has been fuelled by tapping into certain parents’ desires to be tucked up in bed by their favoured celebrity pin-up.

Following Hardy have been Hollywood hunks Chris Evans, Ryan Reynolds, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor and James McAvoy. You don’t have to scratch the surface of Twitter too hard to discover many parents very happily tuning in despite their children already being in bed.

When Hardy returned to Bedtime Stories, it was on Valentine’s Day. Last year, the smouldering Rege-Jean Page of Bridgerton (a show and an actor known mainly for bodice-ripping sex scenes) appeared, reading Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Halls, on Mother’s Day.

Gogglebox had a field day. “They know what they’re doing putting this out on Mother’s Day,” said one Goggleboxer. Page appeared with a toy fox (“What I’d give to be that fox right now”), growling softly down the camera in a tight black sweater. “I just want to lick the telly,” said another flustered couch potato. Hardy’s episodes have been streamed more than 1.6 million times.

Is all of this a deliberate tactic by CBeebies? Harkin is diplomatic. “Bedtime Stories is all about co-viewing,” he says. “Our audience are watching with their parents and if you’ve got an amazing actor, with a brilliant voice - that surprise element is greater than anything else. Yes, our younger audiences won’t be aware of the gravity of certain people, but the surprise element of the readers is really important.”

Surely, though, they must have been conscious of the “tuck me in, Tom” messages that flooded Twitter when Hardy was the reader… “It’s important to reiterate that we’re making stories for children primarily,” says Taylor. Sure, but it’s important to appeal to, ahem, parents’ bedtime too, isn’t it? “It’s important to find excellent storytellers,” she says, with the true patience of a CBeebies employee. We move on.

Taylor explains that since Hardy, CBeebies Bedtime Stories have been inundated with requests from celebrities wanting to take part (“People you wouldn’t expect,” says Harkin), with the team spoilt for choice. “It’s such family friendly PR, isn’t it?” says Taylor, with many of the readers using the soft publicity of the show to subtly promote their latest film or book (though let’s hope Witherspoon wasn’t using her recent appearance to hook preschoolers on cryptocurrency).

The readers are all paid a flat “favoured nations” fee, with many donating it to charity. Neither Harkin or Taylor would reveal who’s on their wishlist for future episodes. I suggest Prince Harry. Everyone is welcome, they tell me.

However, if the appearance of a Hollywood beefcake or a jaw-dropping Royal helps boost interest in Bedtime Stories, that can only be a good thing. With recent figures showing that many children in the UK are starting secondary school with the reading age of a six-year-old, getting kids - and their parents - interested in books is a vital public service. “It would be terrific to think we’re encouraging people to read to their children”, says Harkin. “That would be amazing.”

“We work hard to get the book choice right,” says Taylor. “And you hope that encourages children, and parents and grandparents, to pick up a book. That’s invaluable to a child’s life.”

Today marks 20 years of CBBC and CBeebies. The Duchess of Cambridge’s CBeebies Bedtime Stories episode airs on Sunday February 13 at 6.45pm.