In a forthcoming BBC4 documentary entitled Lights! Camera! Action! Tales of Television Centre, veteran TV presenter Johnny Ball – who is of course Zoë Ball’s dad – has revealed that the presenters of childrens’ TV show Play School were often high as a kite when they recorded the show.

And he recalls one particular incident when two of his fellow presenters were baked as they filmed a nativity edition of the cult show.

Johnny said, “There was Rick Jones, Lionel Morton and myself. They got stoned on the biggest joint you’ve ever seen – in the studio.

“We were in silhouette as the three shepherds with our crooks. Lionel purposely held his crook so the crook didn’t show…

“They were absolutely stoned out of their minds. So when we recorded, who cocked his lines up? Me.”

Johnny also revealed to What’s On TV magazine that Sir David Attenborough complained about the smell of weed in the corridors of Television Centre in west London, saying there was a “herbal smell” around the studios.

The documentary also reveals on what went on behind the closed doors of the stars’ dressing rooms, with a claim from former Doctor Who actress Katy Manning, who played the role of sidekick Jo Grant, who says, “People were bonking all over the BBC. Everybody was doing it on the premises.”

Love it.

Here’s a reminder of the iconic Play School…