The Teletubbies after twenty years- Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po

Two decades ago, the giant forms of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po and their television screen midriffs pretty much ruled the kids TV world.
The show originally ran for four years from 1997 to 2001, with the four oversized pals frolicking around their grassy bunker with Noo Noo the hoover and the inadvertently menacing sun baby to the delight of million of children across the world.
It's been 20 years since their multicolour gibberish became universally lauded, so we take a look back at what the characters have been up to since...

Dipsy

Cool, green and frequently in a top hat, Dipsy was an icon of greatness in his own lifetime.
John Simmit, who wore the lime green costume, is now a successful stand up comedian - and seems understandably proud of his furry past, despite rumours he once kept his eh oh days hidden.

He recently followed the official Teletubbies Twitter account and often retweets Dipsy fans’ kind words. Legend.

Woke, switched on TV on last morning in a foreign clime: this guy's on screen; wonder if this qualifies as a selfie pic.twitter.com/p8n0V584L2

— John Simmit (@JohnSimmit) August 30, 2015

Laa Laa

Yellow Teletubby and ball-fan Laa Laa was played by dancer Nikky Smedley, who has worked with children for three decades.

After CBBC show ended in 2001, Nikky went on to choreograph kids shows Boohbah and huge hit - and Teletubbies stablemate - In The Night Garden, which remarkably managed to feature even more baffling babbling than the Teletubbies did.

Tinky Winky

The purple gender-bending trailblazer was played by two actors over the show's run. The first, Dave Thompson, allegedly left over controversy surrounding Tinky Winky's penchant for handbags and went on to do stand up comedy and a party piece known as the Naked Balloon Dance.
The second was dancer Simon Shelton, a ballet dancer.

“I started my career as a ballet dancer and had just started working as a choreographer," explains Simon. "I thought it was a bit of a risky move but it certainly paid off.
“We used to receive a lot of fan mail from kids and parents. I suppose we were a bit like the Beatles or the Take That of children’s television."
And Simon's spoken out about Tinky Winky's sexual orientation. “People always ask me if Tinky Winky is gay" he adds. "But the character is supposed to be a three-year-old so the question is really quite silly.”

Po

Little red Po was the cutest of the bunch, much like an endearing baby sister, if your baby sister was somewhat larger than life and incredibly plush.

Scooter-traveller Po was played by actress Pui Fan Lee, who gained notoriety going from NSFW to a U rating when it emerged she’d once done a lesbian sex scene on a Channel 4 show.
“I didn’t take the lesbian role to be deliberately controversial,” she later said.
“Yes I was Po. But I am an actress too and the role looked interesting, exciting and challenging.”
Pui is now a CBBC presenter, and hosts kids programme Show Me Show Me.

Sun Baby

That giant giggling infant’s glowing face was the stuff of nightmares for some, but for Jess Smith, it was her first job.
Little Jess was scouted at her local hospital, and was paid £250 and a box of toys for her trouble.
“I was being weighed at the hospital,” Jess recently explained to BBC South East.
“My mum took me and it just happened to be the same time that the producer of the old series had come in and wanted the hospital to get in contact with them if they’d seen any smiley babies.
“It was just a case of sitting in front of a mirror and a camera and my dad playing with toys and race cars and that sort of thing to try and get me to laugh at the camera.”

The Sun Baby Grew up to become a dance education student at Canterbury Christ Church University - but only revealed the solar-starring secret three years ago after going under the radar for 17 years.