Buy a Teletubby now to avoid short-term regret

ACADEMICS have tuned in to the children's hit series Teletubbies to assess the impact of its phenomenal success on adults and children. Gregory Woods, reader in lesbian and gay studies at Nottingham Trent University, has found himself a media celebrity as a result of his interest in the topic.

"The amazing thing about Teletubbies is not its popularity with children but with adults. It has had a spectacular success with students," he said. His colleague, psychologist Mark Griffiths, has been predicting the psychological outcome on parents and children this Christmas should Santa fail to deliver at least one of the Teletubby toys. Fortunately, neither parents nor children will be mentally scarred in the long run, he concludes.