Sorry Swifties, but Iggle Piggle and co are officially bigger than Taylor Swift
14:41, 18 Sep 2025Updated 14:42, 18 Sep 2025
Beth edits The Mancunian Way newsletter – a daily digest of news, views and opinions about our great city-region. She has worked for many years as a senior reporter covering live news, court, features and investigations and started as a patch reporter for south Manchester, where she grew up.
“Oh no it’s the Pinky Ponk!”(Image: Andrew Collier)
“Two minutes to go!” says the voice of Derek Jacobi, with genuine urgency as we scrabble to our seats.
But we’re not at Shakespeare’s Globe or The Old Vic, we’re at Middleton Arena at 10am on a Saturday morning surrounded by hyped-up toddlers.
Jacobi – as any parent with toddlers knows – is the voice of god on the phenomenally popular CBBC show In the Night Garden.
It’s he who introduces us to this magical Alice In Wonderland-like world each episode and delivers lines such as: “Oh no, it’s the Ninky Nonk!” with all the conviction he mustered for I, Claudius.
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The veteran actor’s narration is one of many charming elements of this cult show that are transferred to the theatre for In the Night Garden Live.
Bigger than Taylor Swift – Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle
It’s a production dripping with charm – from the lovely opening image of Iggle Piggle drifting off to sea in his little sailboat to the glorious music and delightful puppetry.
But it’s also a sneakily clever show.
To be honest, it would be quite easy to pull the wool over a toddler’s eyes. You could easily slip into an Iggle Piggle suit, prance around a bit and charge twenty quid and they’d be none the wiser.
But the producers of Night Garden Live have gone to extreme lengths to make this a show for everyone. So as the Tombliboos, Makka Pakka and chums all dance around the stage, getting into scrapes and tumbling around, it’s hard to see the seams.
Over the course of this delightful show a team of puppeteers work incredibly hard to bring the characters to life using a combination of puppetry, suited up actors and panoramic projections.
The kindly Makka Pakka, who is prone to washing faces(Image: Publicity Picture)
When I spoke to producer Andrew Collier recently, he told me the way the TV show plays with scale is one of the hardest things to replicate on stage. But you wouldn’t know it as Iggle Piggle and co amble over hills, clamber into tree stumps and get tucked up bed.
Of course the story is paper thin. Something about Iggle Piggle’s blanket perhaps? To be honest I’m struggling to recall the narrative arc even two hours later – but it really doesn’t matter.
Judging from the squeals and squeaks of delight echoing around the theatre, it doesn’t matter to the kids either.
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With the Tombliboos, Makka Pakka and Upsy Daisy all in attendance, our one-year-old’s little arms flap and flop about in glee.
I had been worried about holding his attention for the full 50 minutes, but he sits in awe as the Night Garden gang caper through this wonderful dreamland. In fact his jaw drops so low at one point I’m concerned it might snap off.
“Take the little sail down, light the little light…”(Image: Andrew Collier)
When Upsy Daisy appears he exclaims: “ah woo! Gah hoo!” which I think translates as some expression of joy. By the time we reach the end of the show and the Pinky Ponk flies over the audience, we’ve reached fever pitch.
It’s all part of a captivating show which, quite frankly, fills us with joy.
This magic is eroded slightly by the price of the merchandise which sits directly opposite the exit. I get mugged off for a £6 balloon that almost immediately blows away – but I still leave with a smile on my face.
Producers have calculated that more people have seen this show during its 10-year run than saw the Eras tour. As such, they say the Night Garden crew are bigger than Taylor Swift. Isn’t that a pip!
The next stop on the tour is Huddersfield, where it’s running from September 19 to 21.
