For many new parents, tuning into magic child containment forcefield CBeebies for the first time, Mr Bloom's Nursery is the show that tells you kids' television isn't like it was in their day. You may have seen the likes of In the Night Garden's preschool psychedelia many times before, but friendly gardener Mr Bloom's literally organic tales of his allotment adventures, alongside a supporting cast of talking puppet fennel, aubergine and butternut squash is socially conscious kids telly in full effect, teaching under-sevens the benefits of composting and eating their greens.

'He was always going to be a happy Northern gardener,' says actor and creator of Mr Bloom, Ben Faulks, who gets away with the regional specificity thanks to his time in teacher training at Yorkshire's former Bretton Hall College and subsequently living in Manchester, even though he grew up in Cornwall. A father of three and sometime straight actor in shows including Casualty, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, Faulks created an early version of Mr Bloom in the guise of a street theatre show for kids called Vegetable Nannies, which he took around the world in a vintage pram.

If you believe everything you read on Mumsnet, the nation's mothers are apparently glad the BBC accepted Faulks' pitch for a show back in 2009, although the BBC 6 Music fan is coy about the whole thing. 'My wife Mimi and I have a giggle about it,' he says. 'We had no idea a tank top and wellies could be so attractive.' A veteran of the CBeebies live tour, this will be Mr Bloom's first solo show, and will feature his Veggie friends, Colin the Compostarium, and lots of interactive fun for the 'tiddlers' in the audience.

Mr Bloom's Nursery LIVE tours the UK throughout Apr