BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, CBeebies and BBC Teach commission 'Musical Storyland'

CBeebies and BBC Education have commissioned Musical Storyland, a major new ten-part series featuring the BBC Philharmonic that brings famous stories from around the world to life using the power of music.

The series follows the success of the BBC Philharmonic’s film The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man and is the first time an orchestra has ever been commissioned to make a series of films for network television.

The stories are narrated by a host of stars and the series features a number of internationally renowned guest musicians, all accompanied by brand new teaching resources on the BBC Teach website available for schools to utilise.

Using live action and animation alongside original compositions, stories featured in the series include The Baobab Tree, Jack and the Beanstalk, Ananse and the Monkeys and The Hare and the Tortoise.

The line-up of presenters includes the popular BBC 5 Live presenter, Nihal Arthanayake, who was also narrator for the hugely successful The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man, a musical re-telling of the classic tale with musicians from the BBC Philharmonic; international storyteller Jan Blake, whose stories are used on three of the Musical Storyland episodes; CBBC, Eastenders actor and Strictly Come Dancing finalist, Molly Rainford, and Sean Chandler, a DeaF trumpeter who will present one episode and play on another.

Alongside the BBC Philharmonic, Musical Storyland also features an array of talented guest musicians, including:

• Kuljit Bhamra MBE – tabla player, composer, record producer and pioneer of the British Bhangra sound whose film career includes: Bend It Like Beckham; Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• Sidiki Dembélé – Manchester-based West African multi-instrumentalist who has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and is in demand as soloist and collaborator at festivals, theatres and concert halls all over the world.
• Zi Lan Liao – Liverpool based guzheng player who has appeared with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and on the soundtrack for The Last Emperor. Zi Lan Liao is artistic director of Pagoda Arts, Europe’s largest and oldest Chinese Youth Orchestra.
• Sean Chandler – DeaF trumpeter who plays in one of the episodes. Sean is on the teaching staff of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, is a Teacher of the Deaf, and workshop leader. He plays lead trumpet in various Big Bands.

Musical Storyland is filmed on location entirely in the North West, with the crew and production team all recruited from the enormous pool of talent to be found in the area.

Musical Storyland will be launched on CBeebies and BBC Teach on 27 November with episodes broadcast on CBeebies every day that week at 4.45pm. The box set of the first five episodes will be available on iPlayer from 27 November. 

The remaining episodes will be saved for Easter 2024.