Next Friday, 25th January 2013 will, it seems, be one of those exceptional occasions when a CBBC drama portrays anyone who is romantically attracted to another person of the same sex. Episode 5 of The Dumping Ground: "What Would Gus Want?" is to be broadcast at 5pm, and then repeated at the weekend. (see blogs on 2nd and 3rd January 2013)

The Director of BBC Children's spoke about the 'mission' of CBBC at a conference last September. Here is part of what he had to say -

Joe Godwin: Our vision - actually more specifically our mission - is to create unforgettable content to inspire all children across the UK ... It's on everything we do, it's on all the noticeboards around the building. And I'll explain what that means. I know 'Mission Statement' has got a bit of a bad reputation as being something somebody came up with when they hadn't got enough work to do. But this has some purpose: It's to remind us why CBBC and CBeebies need to be different from all those other children's channels.

Joe Godwin: 'Unforgettable' is about ... the power of high quality children's television to stay with children for their entire lives. That's why we will be talking about things from our childhood later. Because at its very best, it can inspire you to think differently, to do things differently, and create memories and stories and associations that stay with you forever. So 'unforgettable' is about quality.

Joe Godwin: 'Inspire' is because I want most of our content, as much as possible, to have a purpose to it. Again this is about why the BBC's children's channels are different to all the others. It has a purpose - and that purpose could be to inspire you to think about something. It could be to inspire you to do something, it could inspire you to admire somebody, it could inspire you to change the way you behave to people. ...

In February 2012 Mr Godwin suggested that The 4 O'Clock Club was one of the unforgettable programmes that kids would be talking about to their own kids in thirty years' time.

Teacher Mr Thorne greets his colleague, Miss Poppy
from The 4 O'Clock Club (18/1/2013)