Storytime with the Treets

Storytime with the Treets is a Jetanie children's television series created by Taylor Ridley. The show centres around a mythical creature, the Golden Treet, who reads bedtime stories to a young girl called Liane. Narrated by John Le Mesurier, the show aired on JT1 as part of its Windmill programming strand. Two series were aired from 1974 to 1975.

The show proved to be popular amongst both children and adults, who praised its quiet and lighthearted pace. The show eventually spawned a franchise consisting of several more television series and some forms of media.

Premise
The Treets are a group of bright spherical creatures who are said to be "of pure heart". The Treets seen on the show are owned by a girl called Liane - she owns a total of five "baby" Treets, as well as the eldest of the group, the Golden Treet. Every episode begins with Liane and the Treets getting ready for bed, and getting read a bedtime story from the Golden Treet. After each episode, it is revealed that everybody (except the Golden Treet) had fallen asleep just before the story ended.

Narration at the beginning and end of each episode is done by John Le Mesurier. The Golden Treet is voiced by Carl Forest, with Liane and the baby Treets being voiced by Taylor Ridley. Henry Buckings voices The Bear King, a villainous character who appears in some of the stories.

Production
The show was produced by Colourbox, and was one of the several children's TV shows created by Taylor Ridley for the Windmill programming strand. Due to the show's limited budget, Ridley wanted to create a show focusing on characters who would be easy to draw and animate. She came up with the design lf the Treets on complete accident - having intended to create a human character but was satisfied enough after simply having drawn the face and eyes.

Ridley decided to call them the Treets because she thought they looked similar to chocolate buttons, a treat that was became popular in Jetania in the 1970s. When asked why she called them "Treets" instead of "Treats", Ridley explained it was for marketing purposes.

Although Ridley had the idea for the Treets secured, she felt that "seeing a bunch of circles flying about" would be boring and difficult to write about, so she decided that the show would mostly be about storytelling. Like most of her works, Ridley illustrated and animated the show herself.

Jetania

 * JT1 (1974-?)

Kuboia

 * Kiddie Time! (1991-1997)
 * Nick Jr, Kuboia (1996-2002)
 * Nick Jr. Classics (2006-2010)

United Kingdom

 * BBC1 (1974-1994)
 * Nickelodeon (1993-1999)
 * Nick Jr. (1999-2002)
 * CBBC on Choice (1999-2002)
 * CBeebies (2002-2004)