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Jeremy Irons, children’s TV presenter?
08.03.2016
09:41 am
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Jeremy Irons is one of the great screen actors. A multi-award winning star of Brideshead Revisited, The Mission, Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers (above), Die Hard 2 and of course more recently a scheming Pope in The Borgias.

But once upon a time, long, long before this all happened, Mr. Irons was a very popular presenter on a BBC children’s series called Play Away.

Play Away was the sister show to another daytime kids series called Play School. Play Away was the weekend edition—a kind of Saturday supplement. Both shows were aimed at pre-school and junior school kids with the noble intention of encouraging interest in reading, writing and role playing. It was like Sesame Street without the Muppets or The New Zoo Revue starring just Doug and Emmy Jo.

The format centered on three presenters (usually led by the likeable Brian Cant) who sang songs, told stories and played the same kind of games kids did in the yard. Irons was one of the regular co-hosts. He appeared on the same roster as a number of other young actors and actresses. Most notably Tony Robinson—better known to millions as Baldrick in Blackadder; and Julie Covington—the original Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show stage play, star of TV series Rock Follies and hit singer of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”

With no multi-channels or 24-hour scheduling, kids TV in 1970’s UK was kept within strict time zones—early morning and then late afternoon. The dearth of suitable entertainment meant shows like Play Away attracted kids of all ages and quite a few hungover university students too. I know because I was one of the older school kids who tuned in.

Play Away was a refreshing twenty-five minutes oasis in the grey Saturday schedule of sports and war movies. I do recall Mr. Irons. He seemed very earnest, like an older brother trying to impress the grownups at a party. But still, he was fun. And proof—if ever it was needed—of the truth in the words of Dorothy Fields’ showstopper: “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. It’s not how you go, it’s how you land…”
 
See Jeremy Irons on ‘Play Away’ after the jump…

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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08.03.2016
09:41 am
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