For four children aged five and under, the cast of In the Night Garden is about as big as it gets in the infant A-lister world. But it’s not just our family who are keen. Upsy Daisy and co have a seriously A-list following of their own, as we discovered when we went backstage at their new show, In the Night Garden Live at the Meridian Gardens at the O2 (you can also catch the show in Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool, and read about it in our REVIEW section). Billie Piper, Lawrence Fox, Samantha Morton and John Simpson were just some of the celebs who got to ‘agga pang’ with Upsy Daisy, Iggle Piggle and all the gang. It was quite an eye opener of a morning, let me tell you.

A Billie Piper sandwich

All that kissing between Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle. It’s not just for the stage, if you know what I’m saying… Those two are SERIOUSLY good friends. Upsy Daisy is also as high maintenance as you’d expect from someone whose only vocabulary is her own name. At one point the crew were looking worried that the show wouldn’t go on because La Diva Daisy had a wobble about a hair extension that wasn’t quite the right shade of crushed raspberry. Iggle did all he could to assure her that she still looked beautiful, but it took reinforcements in the shape of the same hairdresser who’d sorted out The Spice Girls and Beyonce, during their O2 tenures, before Daisy would consent to treading the boards.

As a family, we’ve been worried for some time about the whereabouts of the Wottingers. Have you noticed that the little blue fellas rarely make a TV appearance, while their red friends the Pontipines seem to be permanently hogging the limelight? True to trend, the Pontipines were dashing around the Green Room, helping each other with their lines (I’m talking words here, this is a family show) but still no Wottingers. Hopes were raised when we saw the semi the Wottingers share with the Pontipines on stage. Half way through the show, the house door was opened and all ten of the Pontipines were inside. But shock, horror, they’d taken over both sides of the semi. Someone should check their credit card statements for quicklime and cement.

Makka Pakka is a sweetheart. Truly. Bit compulsive obsessive with all that washing malarkey. And don’t tell the health & safety brigade, but he uses the same sponge to wash his bicycle as his friend’s faces. And I didn’t once see him rinse out his sponge. First night nerves?  Give the sponge the once over when you watch the show and see what you think.

As for the Haahoos. They really are just a bunch of airheads, I couldn’t get a sensible word out of any of them.

Look bottom left. The tiny dot is a small boy trying to befriend a Haahoo

But on to the show. Which is completely brilliant. Read the review HERE and go and see it. Your children will love you even more for taking them. Isn’t that a pip?