CBBC Channel

It wouldn't happen to have been something to do with this?

#BluePeter teams up with @McLarenauto to launch ‘Supercar of the Future’ Competition: https://t.co/63j9dsMGkS

The winner will get driven around in a McLaren Supercar by @BBC_TopGear's The Stig! Entry and full T&Cs (closes 10 June): https://t.co/rLt8Lz2FhG pic.twitter.com/gLnslch6q1

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) May 21, 2020

Yesterday on Jamie Johnson someone got hit by a car. It seems that slowly over the last few years, CBBC has slowly pivoted to older children and teenagers.

Contrary to popular belief children (and adults) of all ages get hit by cars, its not a skill you develop when you turn 13. Cars don't just jump out of bushes you know or spontaneously wake up day and decide they want to run somebody over...

Anyway these days the majority of car accidents involving pedestrians are indirectly caused by mobile phones.

I think they meant that the subject matter might not be suitable for younger children due to showing injuries or talking about the possibility of dying? Not that it can't happen to them.

For a time the channel was aimed at 6-12 year olds which is why the likes of Byker Grove and Grange Hill were axed. Commissioning now extends to 16 year olds.

Then maybe GH should be revived.

I’d argue that there isn’t much appetite for a school based drama now, given not only do CBBC have countless other programmes set in schools, but there’s also Ackley Bridge on Channel 4, which, despite being aimed at an older audience, will be watched by people within CBBC’s demographic.

School based dramas don’t do well, they only have a few now, So Awkward which spends less and less time at the school every series and 4 O’Clock Club which they hardly ever advertise nor is it very popular anymore.

Then there’s Jamie Johnson, which cut out the school a few series ago, and The Worst Witch and Demon Headmaster, which aren’t the most realistic shows either.

CBBC has been targeted to 7-12 for a while now. There isn't much content on the FTA children's channels catered to 13-18, leaving a void for linear TV viewing. Might just be me that thinks this way, though.

Realistically programming for that demographic target went out the window years ago. Trouble was probably the closest equivalent as a channel, possibly T4 as a strand as well, but of course neither of these are around.

There used to be the occasional piece of programming aimed at teenagers dotted around various channels but not in any particular strand - Channel 5 used to air The Tribe for example, which was quite successful for them and racked up five series, before it was spun off into The New Tomorrow, and aimed at a younger audience.

I suppose more modern day equivalent is the likes of Sparticle Mystery, I happened to catch the first series of that and I thought it was quite good. The revived Demon Headmaster wasn't too bad either, but that's not supposed to be realistic in any way, shape or form, should have been obvious from the off really in any of the TV adaptations or the books.

If I recall correctly, the new adaptation of The Demon Headmaster series is based on the Total Control book from 2017. I haven't read the book, but I presume it's faithful.

The most recent teenager services I can remember are BBC Switch and Shake! on Channel 5 (partnered with Disney and Nickelodeon in the later stages of their output), but they were in the later stages of the 00's/early 10's so it has been a while.

I did read one of the new Demon Headmaster books prior to seeing the new adaptation (not the one that was adapted, one of the later ones) and to be honest, I didn't think he was anything like the character in the original books, he seemed a bit "tamer" this time round, although of course its far more plausible that he'll seem more terrifying if you're younger.

Of course I'm looking in hindsight because I grew up with the original adaptation and the original books, which are still around but they've been republished in the new current branding (with the hypnotic effect) which is actually quite good compared to what went before. The only anachronism (which is minor really) is that the new (book) Demon Headmaster logo appears on the DVD of the original TV show, which itself uses the round logo (previously the entire saga didn't have any logo at all and the one on the original TV series was effectively the first consistent logo, but it never appeared AFAIK on any of the books).