Anne Wood
Anne Wood is a British children’s television producer who founded Ragdoll ProductionsRagdoll ProductionsRagdoll Productions is an independent British children’s television production company that Anne Wood conceived in 1984; it made pre-school programmes including Pob, Rosie and Jim and Brum, and, with Andrew Davenport, Teletubbies and In the Night Garden. In 2013 its programme rights were sold to DHX Media (now WildBrain), while the company itself remained with the Wood family and went on to make Twirlywoos and B.O.T. and the Beasties.Open the full entry in 1984 and co-created the pre-school series TeletubbiesTeletubbiesTeletubbies is a pre-school children’s television series co-created by the British company Ragdoll Productions and Andrew Davenport, first broadcast on the BBC from 1997; the brand later passed to the Canadian company DHX Media (now WildBrain), which added a 2015 series, a Netflix series and YouTube animation.Open the full entry with Andrew DavenportAndrew DavenportAndrew Davenport is a British children’s television creator, writer and composer who co-created the pre-school series Teletubbies with Anne Wood and wrote all 365 episodes, later creating In the Night Garden and Moon and Me.Open the full entry; earlier she founded the children’s book magazine Books for Your Children and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.
Contents20 sections
Key facts
December 1937Birth
Anne Wood was born in December 1937 and is a British national.[1]
She was born in Spennymoor, County Durham, grew up in a nearby coal-mining village in a working-class family, and qualified as a secondary school teacher.[2]
1965Book Groups and a Magazine
In 1965 she set up the first Children’s Book Group to promote enthusiasm for children’s books; by 1968, helped by her magazine Books For Your Children, more and more people across the UK had joined such groups.[3]
1969Founds the Federation of Children’s Book Groups
In 1969 she founded the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and received the Eleanor Farjeon Award for promoting children’s books.[4]
1981TV-am’s Children’s Department
She had earlier produced award-winning series for Yorkshire TV.[5]
In 1981 she was invited to create a children’s department at TV-AM.[4]
1984Founds Ragdoll Productions
In 1984, after leaving TV-am, she decided to start her own independent production company, Ragdoll Productions, named after Jemima, a much-loved, well-worn ragdoll belonging to her daughter Katherine Wood.[2]
1985–1988Pob and Playbox
The company’s first creation, Pob, was broadcast from 1985 to 1988; it also made the pre-school educational series Playbox for Central TV, 34 programmes of 15 minutes first shown on ITV from October 1988.[6]
October 1991Director of Ragdoll Productions Limited
From October 15, 1991 she was a director of Ragdoll Productions Limited, later also becoming a director of Ragdoll Theatre (1993), Ragdoll 1996 (1996), Ragdoll 2000 (2000) and Ragdoll Too (2012).[1]
1990sBreaking into the US
For years she cold-called US broadcasters and distributors to sell Ragdoll programmes, with few sales; sales came only after Tots TV and Teletubbies aired on PBS.[7]
1998–2000Fellowship, Businesswoman Award, Special BAFTA and CBE
In 1998 she became a Fellow of the Royal Television Society.[8]
She received the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award in 1998; in 2000 she received a Special BAFTA for her outstanding contribution to children’s television and was appointed CBE for services to children’s broadcasting.[4]
1999Establishes the Ragdoll Foundation
In 1999 she and Barrie Wood established the Ragdoll Foundation with support from Ragdoll Productions, which gave the foundation a 15% stake in the company.[9]
2003–2010Olswang, Harvey Lee and Lifetime Achievement Awards
She received the Olswang Business Award from Women in Film and Television in 2003, the Broadcasting Press Guild’s Harvey Lee Award in March 2007 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mother and Baby magazine in 2010.[10]
2013Sale of the Programme Rights
In 2013 the Canadian company DHX MediaWildBrainWildBrain Ltd. is a Toronto-based Canadian children’s and family entertainment company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange; formerly DHX Media, it built a portfolio including Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake and Yo Gabba Gabba! through a series of acquisitions and runs the licensing agency WildBrain CPLG and a network of children’s YouTube channels. It long held a minority stake in Peanuts, which it sold to Sony in 2026, repaying all of its corporate debt.Open the full entry acquired Ragdoll Worldwide, Ragdoll’s joint venture with BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry Worldwide, and with it the rights to the early Ragdoll catalogue.[5]
The sale of the back catalogue released approximately £2.5m for Ragdoll Foundation initiatives.[9]
On September 13, 2013 she resigned as a director of the companies now named DHX Worldwide Limited, DHX Worldwide Holdings Limited and related entities.[1]
2013–2016Honorary Doctorates
She received honorary Doctorates of Letters from the University of Birmingham (2013), the University of Sheffield (2015) and the University of Warwick (2016).[10]
February 2015Twirlywoos
In February 2015 Ragdoll announced that CBeebies had commissioned Twirlywoos, a 50 x 11-minute series devised by her and co-produced with DHX Media.[11]
July 2017Save Kids’ Content UK Reception
From 2015 to 2018 the Ragdoll Foundation supported the Save Kids’ Content UK campaign; she was among the speakers at its concluding reception at the Palace of Westminster in July 2017.[12]
September 2020B.O.T. and the Beasties
In September 2020 CBeebies ordered B.O.T. and the Beasties, a 50 x five-minute pre-school comedy she created about a robot exploring new worlds, designed to build counting and sorting skills and produced during lockdown.[13]
The series launched on CBeebies on January 11, 2021.[11]
2023The Foundation’s Final Initiatives
In 2023 the Ragdoll Foundation committed its remaining resources to two final initiatives, including a scholarship programme at the University of Sheffield; its grants programmes have since closed.[9]
November 2025J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award
On November 6, 2025 Action for Children’s Arts jointly gave its 21st J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award to her and Andrew Davenport, whose work together includes Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Tots TV and Brum; Davenport accepted the award on her behalf.[14]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Ragdoll Productions: Official website: https://www.ragdoll.co.uk/ (opens in a new window)[5]
Ragdoll Foundation: Official website: https://www.ragdollfoundation.org.uk/ (opens in a new window)[10]
Sources
- Anne WOOD personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- In the Beginning - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)
- Our History (opens in a new window)
- Our Founder (opens in a new window)
- About - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)
- 1980s – The Early Years - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)
- Company Expansion - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)
- RTS Fellows | Royal Television Society (opens in a new window)
- Our story – The Ragdoll Foundation (opens in a new window)
- Our people – The Ragdoll Foundation (opens in a new window)
- News - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)
- Save Kids’ Content UK – The Ragdoll Foundation (opens in a new window)
- CBeebies orders Ragdoll robot series (opens in a new window)
- Action for Children's Arts 21st annual J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement awarded to Andrew Davenport and Anne Wood CBE. The Outstanding Achievement Award is awarded to The Story Museum (opens in a new window)