few more things about the children

One of the ironies of broadcasting is that children's programmes were killed off by someone who had three children (James Boyle, controller of Radio 4 in 1998), but are now being revived by someone who has none (Helen Boaden, the present controller of Radio 4). Go 4 It, which begins tonight after The Archers, is a half-hour magazine show filled with fun, jokes, nifty sound effects, more music than you might expect and a real sense of excitement.

Philip Pullman reads the first episode of his eerie new story, Clockwork, which, with its corpse driving a sleigh through a German winter, with strange metal machinery attached to its heart, chilled me to the bone, though I dare say the target audience of 8- to 11-year-olds will be made of sterner stuff. Cleverly, there is no mention of parents, but a review of the new holiday film Spy Kids does specifically involve both children and grandparents, an adroit use of the generations. There are interviews (by children) with Hear'Say and Sir Steve Redgrave, a "mystery history" slot focusing this week on an Egyptian mummy, and only four uses of the word "cool".

Matt Smith, from BBC1's Football Fever, anchors all this with friendly fluency, neither too patronising nor too lofty. It was odd to hear him use the archaic phrase "pencil and paper", and to find no mention of Easter eggs, but this first edition has a lot of buzz. Ovaltine radio it is not.

Resurrection of children's radio is not confined to Radio 4. Classic FM has been broadcasting a collection of Classic Tales on Sunday at 6pm, which began with Desmond Lynam reading Hansel and Gretel, and ended with Dawn French reading Romeo and Juliet. Partly this was a response to research showing that fewer and fewer children are having bedtime stories read to them. Henry Kelly's school-run slot at 8.15am continues during school holidays. Four new regional digital services (for northwest England, northeast England, the Midlands and south Wales), which go on air this summer and will be run by a powerful consortium called MXR, will include, as part of their line-up, a children's station called Fun, made by Capital Radio. Two of the bids for the third London digital licence also include children's radio as part of their proposed portfolio of services.

The story of children's radio has been one of a slow, painful, withering on the vine: Children's Hour killed off in 1964, Listen With Mother killed off in 1982, Cat's Whiskers (a brave attempt at resuscitation on Radio 4 in 1988) aborted, Radio 5 abolished. The commercial sector has, in general, neglected children. So what explains the new interest? Partly, it is a result of the 12-year campaign waged by Susan Stranks, who used to present the ITV children's show Magpie. Partly a belated acceptance of the importance of 11m people under 15. Partly changes in the political agenda (a new demand for a children's ombudsman, for example). Partly Boaden's genuine belief that Britain's main speech station should offer the same high-quality output for children as it offers for adults, though her commitment would be more palpable if she promised that Go 4 It will be broadcast permanently rather than for "at least a year". And the BBC's commitment to children's output would be rather more demonstrable if it promised that one of its proposed national digital radio services would be for under-15s.

Olivia Seligman, the producer of Go 4 It, forecasts that her new programme will face an uphill struggle against the lure of the television and the computer. That is my belief, too. But she and her colleagues are absolutely right to try and make inroads into their prevalence, and with a bit of luck, they might well succeed.