This interview was conducted in January 2007, before the phone in scandals broke. Mr Godwin’s appearance here does not constitute any connection between himself and the content of the previous pages.

Nick Brown: So, Mr Godwin, what’s your actual job title?

Joe Godwin: My job title is ‘Head of Entertainment and On Screen Talent for BBC Children’s’.

NB: So you’re responsible for people like the Blue Peter presenters and Dick and Dom…

JG: I’m not their boss or manager but I’m probably the one who takes them out to lunch and makes sure they’re happy.

NB: What did you do before working at the BBC?

JG: I studied History at Manchester. Then I got a job on South Today as a Regional Station Assistant for about three years, then I applied for a trainee Assistant Producer job at BBC Children’s.

I worked on Record Breakers, Going Live!, The Movie Game and Take Two, before becoming Studio Director on Going Live! which then became Live and Kicking! Directing a live three hour programme was possibly the most exciting job I’ve ever done in my life. I got a job as a producer on Blue Peter in 1995 producing their new Friday shows and I did that for about two years. My brief was to try and make it modern and funky which I think I failed miserably at.

I got asked by Nickelodeon if I’d go and work for them which I did for about five years, before my dream job came up which was Head of Entertainment at BBC Children’s. And that was last year.

Like all media careers it’s gone a very roundabout route.

NB: Would you say Live and Kicking! is your biggest achievement?

JG: No, I think this job is the best job I’ve ever had. But, live television is just thrilling. People have compared directing live television to landing a jumbo jet in fog. As for achievements, I’m very proud of some of the stuff we’re doing at the moment programme-wise.

We’ve got a show on at the moment which has done incredibly well called The Slammer; a variety show set in prison, and we discovered the most amazing talent in Ted Robins (Den Perry of Phoenix Nights fame).

I’m also extremely proud of my involvement in TVYP (an organisation that takes young people interested in working in the media to the Edinburgh International Television Festival to meet, talk with and learn from leading industry practitioners.)

NB: What do you think of the programmes being put out by the other children’s channels such as CITV, Nickelodeon and Disney?

JG: I think there are some very good ones on all those channels.There is a real sense on children’s TV that the BBC is the only place that has invested in children’s programming. In some ways you might say that’s good but it’s not really healthy not to have competition. But then paradoxically, there are more children’s TV channels than there have ever been. I think the key channels – us, CITV, Nickelodeon and Disney, all provide a good range of stuff. I hope the bottom doesn’t fall out of the commercial children’s TV market because the only people who would suffer would be kids.

You know and I know that what you watch when you’re a child is influential in the way you develop. I think it would be a terrible thing if children didn’t have chance to learn things, be excited by things and to see the world in the way we did through children’s television.

NB: Are you going to repeat Maid Marian and her Merry Men?

JG: I think its just come out on DVD. You see that’s a classic problem we have as adults talking about children’s programmes. I think if we showed it on the TV now, kids might find it a little bit old fashioned. I think that’s always hard to work in TV be objective. Just because you or I enjoyed it, doesn’t mean it would work now.

NB: What are your favourite children’s TV programmes?

JG: I think one of the reasons I’m sat here is because of Swap Shop. I loved it when they used to show off the edge of the studio and all the cameras and behind the scenes stuff. I was a big fan of Blue Peter as well, I think what Blue Peter did then and still does is excite children’s curiosity.

I’m a big fan of Chucklevision I have to say. But I would say that as Executive Producer of the show, I love the Chuckle Brothers and they’ve been doing it for twenty years now which is a rare feat. I love Spongebob as well, but I don’t think I’m allowed to say that any more.

NB: Segue-ing smoothly on, how long did you live in Portswood for?

JG: I lived in and around Portswood for about three years. I lived in possibly the most miserable, disgusting flat in Portswood, I bought it off the estate of an old lady who’d gone mad so the place was dark and foul and dank; but it was great.

NB: Do you have any other specific memories of Portswood?

JG: When I first hit Southampton I lived in Peterborough Road. I can remember the height of eating out was Pizza Hut, not even Pizza Express and the terrible Quick Save which I believe is now a Waitrose. I remember at the bottom of Peterborough Road was a car workshop which had the end of a mini sticking out of it with the indicators flashing. Is that still there?

NB: Surprisingly, yes.

JG: I remember that very clearly. And The Hobbit pub, I remember that being there.

NB: One final question, what can we look forward to in the future on CBBC?

JG: I think what entertains children is always the same. Things are either funny and exciting, or they’re not. We’re still going to carry on trying to make exciting, innovative, inspiring, entertaining content and just get it to people in different ways.

So that’s the future – delivery. What you want, when you want, how you want. And Blue Peter will always be around. And Newsround.

NB: Thank you for your time, Joe.

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