BRITISH TV IMPORTS KEEP THE TELLY HUMMING.

Byline: - Glenn Whipp

Maybe you thought that just because your child is starting kindergarten this fall, you are now free and clear of ``Boohbah,'' ``Teletubbies'' and all those other strangely engaging shows that emanate from the other side of the Atlantic through the auspices of an innocently named company called Ragdoll.

Think again.

Anne Wood, the 67-year-old creative force behind Tinky Winky and the ``Boohbah'' crew, says she and her creative team soon will be unveiling a ``technically very sophisticated show for the 7-year-old set.'' Wood won't offer many details, other than to say that the program will have three or four story lines going simultaneously and, like Ragdoll's toddler shows, will be vetted through the company's ``Children's Response Unit,'' which is nothing more than normal children whose families have allowed them to be videotaped while watching Ragdoll shows.

``We don't listen enough to children,'' Wood says of society-at-large. ``We do. We watch and listen and children tell us by their movements what works and doesn't.

``That's the problem with a lot of parents,'' Wood continues. ``They watch our shows as adults. Watch your children. We've been lucky that from time to time we have successfully reflected back to children their own needs and concerns through comedy. Comedy signifies understanding. If you make a child smile and make them laugh, they have recognized some truth in themselves.''

If that sounds highfalutin for a program geared toward someone wearing diapers, well, again, you're probably not watching the kids watching the show. ``Teletubbies'' is shown in 120 countries, and ``Boohbah,'' which premiered in the United States in January on PBS, is another international hit, an intensely appealing, almost hypnotic program featuring squishy creatures who make funny noises and gently exercise to the sounds of appealing electronica music.

Wood is a charming woman known to wear elfin boots and add purple streaks to her silver hair.

``In the U.K.,''she says, ``70 is the new 50,'' explaining her youthful energy.

In addition to the new show that will skew toward older kids, Ragdoll has four other programs in development, including a toddler-geared series that will premiere on PBS in 2006.

British tabloids estimate Wood's wealth at between $80 million and $260 million, but she lives fairly simply in Stratford-Upon-Avon, indulging in ice cream and nursing an unflagging love for her work.

``A child's world has always interested creative people,'' Wood says. ``Take 'Alice in Wonderland' and the world in the rabbit hole. Lewis Carroll was playing with the idea of children's perception. That's what we're doing, too, but because it is television and not literature, nobody takes us seriously.

``But that's all right,'' Wood adds gently. ``The children do.''

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``BODHBAH''