News

'Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose ...' sets fun and exciting missions for kids aged three to six and invites them to join the adult world – whether its running a café, a radio station, a railway, an ice-cream company, or a hairdressers, they’re the ones in control.

Combining hidden camera location shoots with live studio, Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose shows parents just how capable their children really are.

Actress Karol Steele and her dog Ted were among the 10 actors from all over Kent invited to help young Matthew Cutler from Essex fulfil his dream of running a steam railway for a day.

Karol and Ted spent a day in May on the Kent and East Sussex railway steam train between Tenterden and Bodiam acting as a passenger, while 5-year old Matthew took tickets, answered travel queries and sold meals from the buffet cart.

During the whole day Matthew was unaware of being filmed, as it’s only when the children sit in the live studio audience with their families that they realise that their surreal, fantastical day was actually part of the show.

Actors are used in all the situations with the children for child protection reasons, and they were also asked to come along to the studio to see the footage filmed and share the fun with the kids.

Karol said, "It was a lovely day, and Matthew had loads of fun. For such a young lad he was confident and unflappable - he was completely unsurprised by the sight of my dog sitting on a train seat and asked me to see his ticket as well my own. A lot of my and Ted's interaction with Matthew was used in the final edit, and I am looking forward to seeing the show on TV next month."

The first episode of 'Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose ...' will be transmitted on Sunday 4 October at 6pm and will run for 8 weeks. 'Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose ... on a Steam Train' (featuring Dover actress Karol Steele) is scheduled to be transmitted half-way through the run.