London – Award-winning kids TV indie production company, Darrall Macqueen, has been commissioned by CBeebies to produce its first pre-school drama, Topsy and Tim (60×11”) with co-production partner Penguin. Topsy and Tim is to be based on the best-selling books by British authors Jean and Gareth Adamson, which became popular in the 1960s and are still published today by Ladybird, an imprint of Penguin Children’s.

The pre-school drama series will be filmed from the point of view of 5-year-old twins who are taking their first steps towards independence.  As well as exploring the fun of family life – from washing the car with Dad to finding a lost rabbit – the series will see the twins tackle authentic life experiences that can bring change and new challenges for young children, such as moving house and getting ready to start school.

Topsy and Tim is a Darrall Macqueen production. The series was commissioned for CBeebies by Kay Benbow.  It is produced by Fiona Robinson and executive produced by Maddy Darrall and Billy Macqueen for Darrall Macqueen and Michael Towner for CBeebies.

Current productions from Darrall Macqueen include Baby Jake, a series using a mixture of live-action and 2D photographic animation to open the door to an imaginary world where Baby Jake sings, dances and baby-talks with his animal friends – translated by his six year old brother Isaac. The show is in its second series, with brand new episodes premiering daily on CBeebies.