When former teacher Anne Wood created the Teletubbies, she little realised that by 1999, her company, Ragdoll Productions, would boast a turnover of £20 million a year. The Teletubbies TV series, which acquired a cult following among students as well its intended audience of preschoolers, has been sold to 80 countries and translated into 21 languages. Not that the puppets have been safe from controversy. In the United States the Reverend Jerry Falwell outed Tinky Winky, deducing that because he is purple, carries a handbag and has a triangle on his head he must be gay, and as such, morally damaging to children. Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses the Teletubbies in the U.S., responded robustly, denying any sexual innuendo. “It’s a children’s show, folks. To out a Teletubby in a preschool show is kind of sad on his part.”