ACTF News

Preschool series Knee High Spies is set to engage audiences in the United Kingdom, with the BBC acquiring the 20-episode series from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).

Already a standout success across ABC platforms in Australia, with the top performing episode reaching a total audience of 1.1 million across ABC TV channels and iview, Knee High Spies will launch on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer later this year.

Knee High Spies is a unique addition to the preschool market, chronicling the secret lives of teddy bear Jeremy Buttons and his ragtag team of toy spies, Jeremy, Deena, Squash and Moss, as they embark on missions to protect their humans from the wicked schemes of the family’s pet guinea pig, Silver Paw.

Created by Tim Bain (Kangaroo Beach), produced by the award-winning Werner Film Productions (Dance Academy) and directed by current Emmy nominee Jack Jameson (Mallory Towers), Knee High Spies blends state-of-the-art puppets, animatronics, VFX and live-action performances. It is a fun, exciting and warm-hearted series featuring fast-paced action, epic missions, loveable toys and puzzles that the audience helps to solve.

Kate Morton, Senior Head of Commissioning for CBeebies at BBC Children’s and Education said: “This wonderfully imaginative series is full of adventure, humour and heart, everything we know our youngest viewers love. We can’t wait for the UK to meet Jeremy Buttons and the team, and to welcome this charming world into the CBeebies family.”

ACTF Head of Content Bernadette O’Mahony said: “We are delighted to have the BBC onboard for Knee High Spies. It was a hugely ambitious series which has delivered on all fronts.   We are excited by how quickly the audience has taken our tiny spies into their hearts and homes and I know the BBC’s young viewers will do the same.”

Executive Producer Joanna Werner said: “Knee High Spies is incredibly distinctive, with its mix of live action puppetry, its cinematic spy-genre energy, and its play from a child’s-eye point of view. It celebrates curiosity, teamwork and the idea that being small doesn’t mean you can’t be mighty – which is exactly the kind of empowering message we want kids to carry away with them. I can’t wait for families in the UK to meet these characters and share in the fun.”

Knee High Spies is a Werner Films production for the ABC. Production investment from the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF), ABC, Vicscreen and Screen Australia. Produced by Nicole Minchin. Created, written and co-produced by Tim Bain. Directed by Jack Jameson. Writers: Tim Bain, Charlotte Rose Hamlyn and Alix Beane. Script producer: Ray Boseley. Executive Producers: Joanna Werner, Stuart Menzies, Bernadette O'Mahony.