Kids are spoilt for choice when it comes to TV viewing

TODAY'S kids have it so good. No, this won't be a "I used to live in a shoe box" lament.

Deadly 60 host Steve Backshall.

TODAY'S kids have it so good. No, this won't be a "I used to live in a shoe box" lament. I'm merely prompted by the list of new-release DVDs this week. The best of the bunch is a kids' show, Deadly 60.

Which is not unusual. Children's television is of such high quality and so readily available, a child has no excuse for watching rubbish. Although they will.

Our seven-year-old auteur has recently mastered the Foxtel iQ DVR. That came just after he learned how to bluff babysitters. We turned on the TV last weekend and two days of select children's programming had clogged up most of our iQ's memory.

That didn't bother me so much because the kids tend to curate their own material with a modicum of good sense. We're just as likely to see a nature documentary or maths program queued in the DVR planner as an inane cartoon based on a toy.

And I'm heartened the kids have found the Boomerang channel on Foxtel, which airs Looney Tunes cartoons and other classics I grew up with. High-impact cartoon violence will never date. But the quicker they get bored with Sonic Underground the better. It's all decades away from knowing you had to be up at 6am on Saturday to watch Thunderbirds or had no fixed time to see Gigantor.

This is not the forum for a comprehensive survey of children's television, though. And kids' tastes develop so quickly. Just as I was hooking into Little Einsteins, Charlie & Lola and Wonder Pets, the kids moved on.

It must be said Australian series are among the best in the world, with green animated series dirtgirlworld and H20: Just Add Water positive and successful shows that work globally. It's not all the Wiggles.

Anyway, Deadly 60: On a Mission (PG, BBC, 174min, $19.95) is one of a number of excellent educational shows on TV. The BBC series rips through the "deadliest" 60 animals on the planet in a pepped-up version of a David Attenborough nature series.

Steve Backshall is a likable host in the BBC series, explaining fun facts with verve; he isn't a jerk about it, like Bear Grylls. It's captivating and works on a number of levels, particularly for young boys: adventure, knowledge and danger. Let it be said I'm hooked too.

THIS WEEK

The Man with Iron Fists (MA15+)
Universal/Sony (110min, $39.95)

Call the Midwife, Season 2 (M)
BBC (584min, $39.95)

Liberal Arts (PG)
Icon (97min, $29.99)

Twitter: @michaelbodey