Kids' classic Play School in te reo

Nei te whare - here is the house. Te kuaha - here is the door. Thirty years after first hitting New Zealand screens Play School is to turn the lock in te reo Maori.

A new series of the classic kids' programme will be produced for Maori Television and begin screening in September.

Maui Productions executive producer and company director Jo Santamaria was full of praise for the learning potential of the show, for which rights were bought from BBC Worldwide Asia Pacific.

"Play School will capture the minds and hearts of a new generation of early childhood learners and become a sought-after learning tool for all Maori-speaking pre-schoolers," she said.

There are 260 half-hour episodes in the pipeline, with plans to screen every weekday.

Favourite characters all return: Hamuti Tamuti (Humpty Dumpty), Pea nui (Big Ted), Pea paku (Little Ted), Timaima (Jemima) and Manu, whose name is of course unchanged.

Other memorable Play School elements such as the clock, the window and the popular theme song will be kept for the te reo Maori series.

Rotorua-based Maui Productions - which also provides programmes for TVNZ, TV3 and Sky TV - approached BBC Worldwide last year and agreed on a deal in April.

Last week was the 30th anniversary of Play School's first appearance on New Zealand television.

A new version of the old favourite already screens weekday mornings on TV2.