Camilla Arnold: How CBeebies’ Magic Hands’ new series focuses on Black History Songs

Magic Hands: Black History Songs will be shown 11.20am from Monday to Friday next week on CBeebies, and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

When we first approached CBeebies about making a series that incorporated two of the most underrepresented audiences- the black community and deaf community- we were nervous about how it would be taken. 

So when we were told that we had been commissioned to make ten episodes, under the established ‘Magic Hands’ format, we were beyond delighted.

We knew we were about to witness history. We were about to make a series that featured, for the very first time in television history, four black presenters who were also deaf and use sign language.

At long last black, deaf children at home will see themselves being represented on screen.

It will also be Aimee Campbell-Nottage’s directing debut. Aimee, who had previously presented ‘Magic Hands’ since series one, was about to become the first black deaf female director in the UK who uses British Sign Language.

Magic Hands has been on CBeebies’ screens since 2013. With the use of animations (created by the very talented team at Karrot Animations), music, voiceover and sign language, ’Magic Hands’ is a series aimed at both deaf and hearing children. It has, in particular, revolutionised the way deaf children can access and enjoy music. 

The mammoth task of making music visual for our deaf audience, who otherwise do not have access to the music and songs that their hearing peers know and love, has been achieved through the transformation of the six animated characters to represent different musical elements.  

The musical grammar of the series is simple yet effective: Leapy the Lion represents the bass, Sheba the Snake represents the strings, Pink Bird represents soaring and swooping notes, Bobbles the Bear represents the beat, Pixie the Dog represents the rhythm and Click Clack the Crab represents the tempo.  

The new series,  ‘Magic Hands: Black History’, felt like a natural next step as music and black culture historically go hand in hand.

The new series covers the iconic songs that represent the incredibly varied range of music created by black artists, from Nina Simone’s ‘Young, Gifted and Black’ to Bob Marley’s ‘Three Birds’.

In each episode, two of the presenters open the programme in a location that bears some link to black history such as the Nelson Mandela statue in London.

They then deliver some context linked to the location – ranging from slavery, the fight for civil rights, history of activism and important figures, delivered openly but sensitively and age appropriate – before presenting and performing a song with the regular ‘Magic Hands’ animated characters.

The series is fronted by presenters using different communication methods (spoken English, signed supported English and British Sign Language) to represent the diverse demographic of deaf children in the UK. 

All the presenters are profoundly deaf and, at first, struggled with the concept of translating and following music. We tried lots of different things to keep the presenter in time with the music. But we then decided to fix what we call a ‘mirror box’ on the camera which works in the similar way to that of a periscope.

Our pool of sign language interpreters would take turns to stand next to the camera and they would give the presenters visual cues to keep them in time with the music (they wouldn’t sign the whole song for fear of influencing the presenters’ signing). 

We can’t ignore the fact that the series was made in a post Black Lives Matter world. Racism in the Deaf community mirrors that of wider society in all its problematic layers.

However, in the Deaf community, discrimination is often indirect and hidden within British sign language. Replacing older and hurtful signs for Africa, China and India as well as differentiating between signs for skin colour versus colours, are major debates happening within the Deaf community.

Being ‘blunt’ is a common trait among Deaf people. But  bluntness is why some believe that racism amongst Deaf people isn’t masked at all. 

There is the valid argument that continuing to use such signs, despite knowing they’re insulting, is the very definition of white privilege and demonstrates a disappointing lack of empathy towards victims of racism. 

So, within this context, ‘Magic Hands: Black History’ is crucially important as it was an opportunity to address inappropriate signs used in BSL and use appropriate signs to set an example for the younger generation with the hope of stamping out racism. 

What the presenters of Magic Hands say:

Asnath Losala, Birmingham: 

I really appreciated the spotlight on black history, delivered in BSL, which is been missing from the UK’s education for too long. 

Semhar Beyene, London: 

Magic Hands: Black History is very much needed in today’s mainstream children’s TV, especially for deaf children of colour and it is particularly pertinent now.  Flashing Lights Media have been great in guiding us through the whole journey during the pandemic where we could also learn and develop our creativity and confidence in a safe and COVID-secure environment – it’s almost like we didn’t want our bubble to burst when the filming ended! 

Tianah Hodding, London 

It’s great to be able to represent someone that looks like me on telly because not only I didn’t see deaf people on broadcast tv, it was already rare to see black talent to be the central of a show. I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to be part of a new and exciting time for black people and really hope it passes the conversation of black history features and storytelling where it’s normal to see black talent taking leads.

Chris Fonseca, London 

It was such a nice feeling to be working with other presenters who were also new and we had the shared experience of being black and deaf. We enjoyed translating our understanding of black deaf culture through song translation and dance. 

I face daily barriers as a ‘black’ and ‘deaf’ person. I have to work twice as hard to get to where I am in today’s society. There’s simply not enough black deaf people in the creative field due to the lack of opportunities. The industry has the responsibility and owes it to future deaf, black generations to encourage and influence them to dream big and achieve big things. 

#BlackDeafRepresentationMatters.

Magic Hands Black History will be shown 11.20am from Monday to Friday next week on CBeebies, and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

Camilla Arnold is the creative director at Flashing Lights Media, a deaf-led production company. She’s also the series producer for BBC’s See Hear.