CBBC And CBeebies Presenter Evie Pickerill In Conversation

CBBC and CBeebies presenter Evie Pickerill loves her job – and that can be a bit of a problem when people ask about her ambitions. Being a children’s television presenter was her bucket list job so where does she go from there?

She would like to ‘have a go’ at radio and she loves music but she’s very happy where she is.

“I’d love to keep within the Cbeebies bubble for as long as I can because it’s just the best audience. I’m happy if they’ll have me on Cbeebies until I’m 70”, she says.

She will be breaking out of the children’s TV bubble - but only temporarily - to star as the Spirit of the Ring in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. She follows in the footsteps of other children’s TV personalities, including Andy Day and Maddie Moate, who’ve starred in previous pantomimes at the venue.

In Aladdin she hopes to bring comedy to the role of the Spirit of the Ring, seeing the character as “bright, funny and magical”. In past pantomimes she’s played Cinderella (twice) and Snow White which are good to play but, as Evie points out “when you play a princess there’s not much room for comedy.”

For many children pantomime will be their first experience of theatre so it helps make them comfortable seeing a familiar face from the TV on stage.

Children’s TV presenter was Evie’s bucket list job but she didn’t know how to break into that area, so she went down the acting route and after training found herself working as a casting assistant at the BBC. Her task was telling actors they’d got the job.

Through what she calls ‘a bit of pot luck’ she discovered that CBBC presenters were being recruited and, after auditioning, found herself as the one being told she’d got the job. She wasn’t disappointed. Being a children’s TV presenter is everything she thought it would be – and more.

“It’s very cliched but I would look back on my time so far and say it’s a dream from which I’ve not woken up yet,” says Evie. “Not many people get their bucket list job and it just gets better and better with the audience and the people I work with in front of and behind the camera.”

She resists describing herself as famous or being a household name. “I am someone who is in your living room in the morning, singing a song or playing a game. Parents sometimes call us the third parent. I’m just so lucky to be doing what I do,” she says.

The young audience was one of the big attractions of the job. “I think you can be the person that you needed when you were younger. So I try to be the person I needed when younger in the programme,” she says.

“Cbeebies is such a beautiful channel and I am so proud to be on it. The shows are incredible and we have a real love for the audience. I think I have that naturally as a person.

“It feels like a dream come true that I get to do it. I am very, very lucky to be in a very small category of people who are children’s TV presenters.”

There’s hard work involved too. “We get the scripts on the day so you are learning about things as you go along. There are anywhere up to 25 links, including songs, to learn each day so your short term memory starts to get very good,” she says.

Evie has already worked with Aladdin director Juliet Forster, who is creative director at York Theatre Royal, on the CBBC production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. “Juliet Forster was incredible and really helped me shape the role of Juliet,” says Evie.

“I was really nervous because I had not done Shakespeare for a very long time and it was for a young audience who don’t really know Shakespeare that well. Playing Juliet was quite a challenge but one of the best roles I’ve played.”

Away from presenting children’s TV, Evie supports Place 2B, a children’s mental health charity of which she’s a champion, and also works closely with children with cancer. “It’s great that we live in a world where mental health isn’t a taboo subject any more,” she says. “Both charities do incredible things and if I’m able to play a small part in supporting them I will do so.”

Aladdin: York Theatre Royal from 3 December to 5 January.
Box office 01904 623568 | yorktheatreroyal.co.uk