this is a fluff piece if there ever was one, but one must consider the deeper, passivity inducing ramifications if the Teletubbies "blow up" amongst the huge child population.

quote:

By IAN KING Business Editor IRAN has gone absolutely Laa-Laa over the Teletubbies — and bought the kiddies’ TV show from the BBC. The Mullahs in Tehran are lapping up Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po’s adventures. BBC Worldwide said yesterday the main TV station — the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting — has bought 65 episodes and experts are dubbing them into Farsi, the national language. A spokesman said: “It’s taking a long time to translate, as you can imagine.” The deal comes as Iran faces pressure over its nuclear expansion programme — amid fears it plans to develop a bomb. The first shows are expected to go out before Ramadan this year. The Teletubbies celebrate their tenth anniversary this year. As well as Iran, the Beeb has licensed a Teletubbies “Edutainment centre” and a Teletubbies Play and Development centre at Dongguan and Shenzhen in China. BBC Worldwide, the Beeb’s main commercial arm, yesterday reported record profits of £89.4million — up 62 per cent. Boss John Smith said BBC Worldwide is the world’s No 1 exporter of TV shows, with Hustle, Spooks, Doctor Who, EastEnders and Waking The Dead its best sellers. >source<