Elle picks up BAFTA award for children’s TV show

Published: 14 May 2025
Reporter: Steve Orme

Elle While from Pentabus, BBC production executive Natalie Bolton, executive producer Vanessa Amberleigh and series producer Anna Perowne at the 2025 BAFTA television awards

Elle While, artistic director of Shropshire-based rural theatre company Pentabus, picked up a BAFTA TV award in a new category that celebrates the best of children’s television.

She won in the Children’s: Scripted class for directing Cbeebies’ As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe. She said, “I’m absolutely buzzing. To get the chance to celebrate work that’s created for the youngest of audiences and to champion bringing the magic of live theatre to every household in the UK is truly a privilege.”

While directed As You Like It alongside Geoff Coward. It featured Sid Sagar as Orlando, Rebecca Keatley as Rosalind and Justin Fletcher as Duke Senior. It was broadcast on Cbeebies and is currently available on the BBC’s iPlayer.

Verity Overs-Morrell, Pentabus executive director, added, “we’re absolutely delighted for Elle on this well-deserved BAFTA win. She’s a remarkable director whose commitment and passion for new and bold theatre shines through in everything she does. Whether bringing stories to life on stage or making them accessible to audiences across the UK through digital work, her work is truly inspiring. We couldn’t be prouder.”

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