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ANDREW EATON, SCOTSMAN, TUES 27 SEPT 2005

PLAYHOUSE, EDINBURGH

BALAMORY Live is the closest children's entertainment gets to the heady hysteria of a pop music tour - big, loud and colourful, with an audience whose screams threaten to drown out the show.

That said, it's a quality product, successfully combining the simple pleasures of the TV show with oodles of added spectacle.

There's a real Balamory bus that trundles across the stage, and even a life-size rocket that blasts into outer space for a moon-walking sequence that inspires awed "oohs" from parents as well as children.

It is, effectively, a pantomime with the slick production values of a West End musical - and is clever enough to pay knowing tribute to both, as we go from a goofy "she's behind you" sequence with Josie Jump to a PC Plum musical number straight out of an Andrew Lloyd-Webber show.

For all the razzle-dazzle though, it's simple story-telling that holds everything together. PC Plum is staging a "for no reason at all parade", but is thwarted by Archie the inventor's runaway robot. Later, PC Plum and Edie McCredie blast off into space, while Penny Pocket sorts out the parade, and fearless toddlers at the front add to the show by making their Miss Hoolie dolls dance on stage.

Be ready to pay an extra £5 afterwards for one of the yellow bus-shaped balloons.

EVENING NEWS FRI 23 SEPT 2005
The popular children's TV show is coming to an end, so catch it on the stage

LIAM RUDDEN

What's the story in Balamory? - five words guaranteed to attract the undivided attention of three to six-year-olds the world over and allow parents everywhere to breathe a collective sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that for the next 20 minutes their little ones are going to be held rapt by the biggest phenomenon to hit children's telly since the Teletubbies.

Indeed, Balamory is now so popular among pre-schoolers that it has turned the town of Tobermory on the isle of in Mull, where it is filmed, into a tourist hotspot - reports show a huge increase in visitors, all in search of the colourful homes of Miss Hoolie and friends.

For the record, Miss Hoolie lives in a green house, PC Plum a white one, Edie McCredie's house is blue, Susie Sweet and Penny Pocket's is red, Josie Jump lives in a yellow house, Spencer an orange one and Archie, a pink castle - as any three-year-old can tell you.

Balamory was first screened in the autumn of 2002 and was initially only broadcast on the digital cbeebies channel. It quickly moved to BBC2 where it proved an instant hit with three to six-year-olds and now regularly attracts two million viewers.

Now currently in its fourth and last series, Balamory won Best Children's Programme at last year's Broadcast Awards, followed a short time later by a Children's BAFTA for Best Pre-school Live Action Show.

Balamory Live! Strike Up The Band - which arrives at the Playhouse tomorrow - is the second spin-off tour from the series and follows the success of last year's Balamory Live! What's The Story.

Written by Brian Jameson, who produced the TV show, Strike Up The Band is billed as an interactive experience packed with music, songs, dancing and, of course, lots of stories.
"In this new stage show from Balamory we aim to keep it as fresh and magical as ever with songs that will appeal to all ages and an adventure that will keep us on the edge of our seats," says Jameson.

"PC Plum has a mystery to solve and Archie attempts the impossible, so can they pull it off? Whatever happens there will be plenty of reasons to join in and strike up the band."
A couple of other mysteries that will probably fly over the head of PC Plum are the changing appearances of Miss Hoolie, the nursery teacher, and the athletic Josie Jump, as Michele Gallagher takes over storytelling duties from Julie Wilson Nimmo, and Rosemary Amoani keeps everyone fit in place of Buki Akib.

All the other familiar faces will be there, however, led by veteran star of Scottish stage and screen, Mary Riggans as Susie Sweet.

The actress, still best know to grown-ups as Effie from High Road, has been appearing in childrens' radio and TV programmes since she was just ten years old, and reflects: "Balamory has been the most magical time of my life and has given me a new lease of life.

"I love the setting in Tobermory, it's a magical place and the sets are wonderful. It's such an educational show but the kids don't know they're being educated. Being part of the show keeps me young, too. I think as a child when I'm in the show - it keeps me as young as they are."

Until Balamory, Bafta-nominated actress Juliet Cadzow was better known for her dramatic straight roles. Playing bus driver Edie McCredie has not only provided her with an "insight into the world of children's TV" but also been educational.

"It's a huge industry which gives not only children but also adults pleasure. And being in Balamory helped me finish my BA at university as I did my thesis on working on Balamory - and passed with distinction."

Kim Tserkezie, who plays Penny Pocket, has a special reason for considering her time on the show to be "the most incredible experience".

She explains: "For me, as a disabled actor, Balamory has provided me with an opportunity to show that disabled actors can be accepted as a character and not merely a disability issue."

Indeed, the actress was delighted when an internet poll of young disabled people voted her their favourite disabled actor on television.

With a big smile she adds: "I'm really looking forward to the tour because with a live audience you can't fail to enjoy being on the stage when the audience are as excited as ours are."

And the new faces in the cast are equally enthusiastic. Rosemary Amoani says: "Before I joined Balamory I was being mistakenly recognised as Josie Jump by children all the time, so I've felt a part of Balamory for a while.

"I'm really looking forward to being part of such a hugely successful show. Although I've not performed to this age group before it sounds very exciting and lots of fun.

"All my friends and family are very excited about the fact that I am in the show and are coming to see it - even though they are all over the age of six."

And although Julie Wilson Nimmo will be a hard act to follow, Michele Gallagher can't wait to get into the nursery teacher's stripy green cardigan.

"Being given the opportunity to play Miss Hoolie in the stage show is fantastic. Not everybody gets the chance to perform in national arenas in front of such large audiences. I can't wait to hear the children singing along to the Balamory theme.

One of the most popular characters in the show is absent-minded inventor Archie, played by one-time student of divinity and stand-up comic Miles Jupp.

He reveals that the Playhouse leg of the tour will be a homecoming. "The Edinburgh show will be great for a number of reasons; one, I'll be able to walk to the theatre from my own flat and two, it'll be nice to be to be doing a show 400 yards away from where my career started at The Stand, to whom I owe everything. I'll also be able to see able to see more of my brother and girlfriend.

"Balamory has made an enormous impact on all of our lives. For an actor to wake up and have work to go to is a useful feeling. In fact, the Evening News recently referred to me as Archie The Inventor, also known as Miles Jupp. It clearly has an impact on one's profile."

That impact has been life-changing both in financial and recognition terms for the majority of the cast, who were all but unknown before being cast in Balamory, as Andrew Agnew, who plays PC Plum, recognises.

"The Balamory phenomenon has changed my life a great deal. Now when I walk down the street kids recognise me, parents ask for autographs and I'm invited to open gala days."
And he has no doubt why the show has captured the imaginations of pre-schoolers everywhere: "Balamory has been so successful because it's like a soap opera for children. The kids like to see actual actors rather than puppets or cartoons - they can relate to real people."

American Rodd Christensen, better known to tweenies as Spencer the painter, agrees: "The success of Balamory comes down to a lot of factors but most importantly the show is about a real location and acted by real people, which the kids obviously enjoy."

His big break, the role of Spencer came at just the right time he reveals. "After living and working in Scotland for 11 years, my family and I were getting ready to move back to Las Vegas when I auditioned for Balamory. I honestly didn't think I would get the part but I was determined to do a good audition and see what happened . . . the rest, as they say, is history."

Sadly, Balamory will be too, shortly. Although there are still a number of episodes to be broadcast, Simon Parsons, CBBC Scotland's creative director, revealed in April: "Balamory is one of the most popular programmes to come from CBBC Scotland and we are very proud of it.

"Over the last four years we have made 254 episodes, which equates to showing one a day on every weekday for a year, so we now have enough to keep the schedule fresh for a long time to come.

"Series four appears to have been as well received as previous series, but it will be the last as we have decided to quit while we're ahead."

That then, it appears, was the story in Balamory. So, now you know.