The most shocking part of this year’s BBC Children in Need 2024 live broadcast occurred when Jackson Lamb, the quietly deadly spymaster Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses, invaded the charity event and reduced the nation to tears. That’s right, Lamb sat down on a cozy chair and cuddled a Pudsey Bear doll before proceeding to read a true story specially written for the CBBC by Claire Taylor and with illustrations from Tim Budgen. By the end, the Slow Horses head honcho had succeeded in his mission to make everyone watching bawl their eyes out. Dastardly indeed! We present the video below, recorded from the broadcast, as evidence of this level of Bondian villainy!
But was that really Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses? Or was that Lamb deep undercover as actor Gary Oldman? Why, the two look surprisingly alike. I’m not sure what this has been brought to the public’s attention before. But for such a worthy cause, how could we snitch on someone who can tell a tale like that – one of warmth, encouragement, and hope?
“Stories have a unique way of inspiring imagination and hope in young minds,” said Oldman, who achieved a new level of stardom in the hit series Slow Horses. “Hope for young people seems particularly in short supply these days. So I am very honoured to be reading this very special CBeebies Bedtime Story for BBC Children in Need. I hope our story brings warmth and encouragement and hope to children and families watching on the night.”
Heartwarming Story or Secret Message… or Both?
But wait! What if this was an elaborate operation of the type conducted by the spymasters in Slow Horses? What if Jackson Lamb stopped eating carbs for a few weeks to slim down to look like Gary Oldman to sneak into Children in Need to read the story that’s really a coded message? Who could that message to intended for? Why, Pudsey, of course! Pudsey is an operative activated once a year on Children in Need, and Lamb has given him the green light to do… what? We don’t know. Be there for children? Oh, the sneakiness of it all!
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