''Corners'' is a BBC

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

of the 1980s. Produced by Alison Stewart, the format of the programme was that viewers would submit questions and queries (usually

general knowledge General knowledge is information that has been accumulated over time through various mediums and sources. It excludes specialized learning that can only be obtained with extensive training and information confined to a single medium. General kn ...

, but sometimes

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

), and the two hosts,

Tracy Brabin Tracy Lynn Brabin (born 9 May 1961) is a British politician who has served as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire since the office was established on 10 May 2021. She previously was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen from 2016 to 2 ...

BFI
/ref> (later

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''Do ...

and then

Diane-Louise Jordan Diane Johnson (born 28 June 1960), better known by her stage name Diane Louise Jordan, is a British television presenter. She was the first black presenter of the children's television programme ''Blue Peter'', being involved in the programme fro ...

) and Simon Davies, would try to answer the questions, aided by an anthopomorphised animal

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

, Jo Corner, who was performed and puppeteered by Robin Stevens (who later performed as Tom on Ragdoll's ''

Tots TV ''Tots TV'' is a British children's television programme, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central. The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network (part of CITV) from 1993 to 1998. Development ''Tots TV'' was written by two of ...

''). Being children's programming, the explanations used humour to convey information and frequently involved demonstrations which degenerated into

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

humour. Songs were also used. A show with a similar format, "Dear Mr. Barker", aired on CBBC in the mid-1990s, but did not last long. One of the presenters of the show was

, who later became famous for playing the role of

Ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

in the television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' (in one segment prior to her involvement in ''Who'', Aldred met

Keff McCulloch Keff McCulloch is an English composer best known for his electronic music for ''Doctor Who'' in the late 1980s. In 1987, he was employed by producer John Nathan-Turner to arrange the ''Doctor Who'' theme music for the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester ...

to discover how the new ''Doctor Who'' theme tune was composed). The other was Simon Davies, whose career continues as a writer and performer.

References

External links

*
Corners at BFI
1987 British television series debuts 1991 British television series endings BBC children's television shows British television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows {{child-tv-prog-stub