In the past few weeks, there has been a truly shocking image circulating on social media. Something that has divided friendship groups and ignited online arguments far greater than anything seen before. We are of course talking about yet another ‘tier list’ – something often designed in good faith yet ultimately is often just plain wrong. The good folks over at CBBC released their own version not too long ago, including several of the key staples of our childhoods including Raven, Trapped and Deadly 60. It did exactly what we just described – caused huge arguments on social media with many feeling their childhood favourites had been cruelly misplaced. Ultimately everybody is not going to agree on everything when it comes to such a divided and contested ranking, which is why here at Forge Press we’re adding some extra thoughts into the already-brutal arena of children’s light entertainment. Here are the arguments of just a few of our contributors, suggesting why the show they’ve picked deserves that coveted ‘legendary tier’:
Ella Craig:
Horrible Histories – the comedy sketch show that stormed the nation with dark and gruesome facts about the Terrible Tudors, Rotten Romans, Vile Victorians and other historical eras. Not only was Horrible Histories educational, but the sketches were so hilarious that the show won multiple awards including a BAFTA for Best Children’s Comedy. With multiple spin-off series’ and even a film released just this year, Horrible Histories truly made learning about history a fun experience. And let’s face it, to this day we all remember those catchy, iconic songs… ‘My name is, my name is, my name is Charles the 2nd’.
Matthew Timms:
When you consider the absolute gem of a show that was CBBC’s Best of Friends, it is no wonder that our generation has grown up with an insatiable appetite for Reality TV. Best of Friends, with its infamous sweets that could turn your tongue blue, was deliberately engineered to create drama by pushing a group of five children’s friendship to the brink through challenges and treats, and deciding who would take part in each. The beauty of the show is that without the learned and fake etiquette of adults, these kids created moments of genuine kindness, and more entertainingly moments of toxic stab-in-the-back treachery that would never be forgotten. Yes, it was cruel to use children to play out moral dilemmas, but it beats Love Island for entertainment every time!
Jade Le Marquand:
50/50 is by far the best CBBC show that has ever been – it’s basically ninja warrior for kids, what’s not to love? Admit it: as a kid, you wished every day that your school would be chosen to take part and screamed at your telly when the actual contestants screwed up on the obstacle courses. Those inflatable courses were objects of beauty and for people like me for whom the closest they had come was a bouncy castle, having the chance to go on one of those bad boys was an unimaginable dream. To anyone out there who actually did go on that show, and better yet actually got to be one of the chosen few to race on the course, I admire you as much as I hate you.
We’re sure that you are going to disagree with these – but think back all those years and remember what your favourite CBBC show was…
Image Credit: MovieDB
The Great CBBC Battle Royale
