'I got mobbed by toddlers': Balamory star Julie Wilson Nimmo marks 20th anniversary of popular show

The show introduced a generation of pre-schoolers to a collection of cheerful characters, including nursery teacher Miss Hoolie, PC Plum, and Archie the Inventor, each with their own chirpy theme tune and colourful house by the sea.

Over four series between 2002 and 2005, a nation fell in love with the show and its catchy theme tune (“what’s the story in Balamory, wouldn’t you like to know?”) and for one of its stars, East Kilbride actor Julie Wilson Nimmo, life was never quite the same again.

At the height of the show’s fame, Julie was used to being mobbed by delighted toddlers and their parents in her local park in Glasgow’s west end.

“It wasn’t so much that they’d spot me, it was when I shouted on my own kids that they’d recognise my voice,” she laughs. “It was fine. Not so great when I was yelling at them in IKEA, right enough, but fine.”

In fact, Miss Hoolie nearly didn’t sound like Julie at all. “At the audition, I was trying to be all posh, like how I thought a nursery teacher might speak – Miss Honey in Matilda, sort of thing,” she grins. “And Brian [Jameson, series creator] stopped me and said – what are you doing? I want her to talk like you, so just use your voice.”

Julie adds: “I like to hide behind things – I like a prop, or a pair of glasses. To suddenly be told to play someone as close to me as possible – well, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. But of course, he was right, and it worked really well.”

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Recently, Julie received a reminder of how much Balamory means to families across the country and beyond.

“I got a message from the uncle of a lovely boy in Ireland who has cerebral palsy and autism,” she explains. “He asked me to do a wee video message for him, which I did, and his reaction went viral on Tik Tok. It was amazing, just knowing that the show still means so much to people. We were really lucky to be a part of it.”

Julie can still remember her first day shooting on Mull, where Tobermory’s colourful houses became the backdrop to the characters’ adventures. She and her actor and writer husband Greg Hemphill and their newborn son Benny had decamped from Glasgow to Mull to film the first series.

“Benny was only seven months, so it made sense for them both to just come with me,” she smiles.

“I was pretty terrified at first but it was so much fun. You had to sing and dance a bit, which is always a bit of a riddy, but we had a laugh, and bonded in the pub afterwards. By the time we went back to Glasgow, we were all really good friends.”

She adds: “We never imagined how big Balamory might become, honestly – we were shooting a new show, for a new channel [CBeebies] no-one had ever heard of, so it wasn’t something any of us thought of. We just loved the script, and absolutely loved Brian, and Helen Docherty, who was producing.

“It was the ideal timing for a show like this. All the big shows at the time were things like The Tweenies, the Teletubbies and the Fimbles – parents were saying, please just give us some real people…”

At its peak, Balamory – which Jameson described as ‘soap opera for toddlers’ – attracted two million viewers a week in Britain, 15 million across Europe, and was watched in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and South Africa. Even the Pope was rumoured to be a fan, as the Vatican received it on the BBC Prime channel.

It started on CBeebies, the new digital BBC channel for pre-schoolers, but an intervention by then BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob (“whose grandkids loved it, apparently,” adds Julie) saw it moved on to terrestrial channels.

“Alan Yentob went bananas for it,” nods Julie. “And after it transferred to the BBC, it just caught a light.”

Julie admits, cagily, that she still has a few souvenirs from the Balamory set.

“I’ll get into trouble for it,” she says, with a groan, “but I have one of Miss Hoolie’s cardigans – to be fair, there were about 25 of them – and my niece has Miss Hoolie’s orange phone in her new house. And Greg got me a lovely present after we’d finished filming – he managed to get the Miss Hoolie’s Nursery sign which is now up in our house.”

She adds, with a laugh. “I’m not telling tales on the rest of the cast, but you should see Andy Agnew’s house, he got a right haul….”

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The last day filming was an emotional affair, recalls Julie.

“It was so sad – I mean, I was pregnant with Chevvy, so I was a mess anyway, but we were all just so sorry it was coming to an end,” she says.

“I’m still in touch with everyone though – Andy and Juliet [Cadzow, who played Edie McCredie the bus driver) live close by and we see Miles when he’s in town. Rodd [Christensen, who played Spencer the painter] is back in Las Vegas now but we message each other, and we caught up with Kim [Tserkezie, who played shopkeeper Penny Pocket] in Newcastle when we were down recently.”

Julie pauses. “It sounds really cheesy but we were like a family on that show,” she says.

“I honestly can’t remember a cross word between any of us.”

Since Balamory, Julie has become one of Scotland’s best known actors, with regular appearances on stage and TV, most recently in BBC Scotland comedy Scot Squad.

She will never forget Miss Hoolie, however.

“When I see an old episode of Balamory I just think – I was so young,” she smiles. “There has been talk over the years of a reunion, or a return to Balamory and we probably could pull that off. But Mary is no longer here, and Miles is so busy – and it wouldn’t be right without all the gang back together.”

She pauses. “Balamory really was something amazing,” she adds. “It was a special time in my life.”

To celebrate the 20th anniversary all episodes of Balamory will be on the BBC iPlayer from August 30.