People and Business: Tubby rewards

ANOTHER CHARMING chap I bumped into at Cheltenham was Jonathan Hills, the original designer and creator of BBC television's Teletubbies. Mr Hills is a distinguished illustrator and film maker who, as well as designing the lovable characters, has also directed a film, Una Estraveganza de Medici, which won the Prix d'Italia. He has also designed the TV Anglia flag on telly.

Mr Hills is, however, a retiring and modest chap, saying that it was the vision of his co-creator Ann Wood that drove the Teletubbies phenomenon.

When I asked him about stories in the press that the BBC had undersold the series in the vital American market, he said that in fact Auntie Beeb had made at least pounds 40m from the series, and that Ms Wood had made at least double that.