Freda Violet Lingstrom OBE (23 July 1893 – 15 April 1989) was a BBC Television producer and executive, responsible for pioneering children's programmes in the early 1950s.
[2] Lingstrom also wrote two novels, The Seventh Sister (1938) and A Flower in his Hand (1939), and a book, This is Norway (1933), about the country's culture and history.
[3] Her skills as a graphic designer, illustrator and author led to her joining the editorial staff of a children's magazine, Junior, where she worked from 1945 until 1949.
A chance meeting on a train introduced Lingstrom to Audrey Atterbury, who was persuaded to study under the puppeteer John Wright of the Little Angel Theatre in London.
Westerham Arts eventually created four different programmes for weekdays with Flower Pot Men, The Woodentops, and Rag, Tag and Bobtail.
Although the programmes were widely approved of by adults, the launch of ITV in 1955 soon made it clear that many children wanted something different.
[4] Her last writing credit was a twelve-part adaptation of Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, broadcast on BBC One in late 1958.