Meet... The Octonauts! This is actually a very new find for me – I accidentally stumbled on it while browsing BBC Shop's Doctor Who merchandise. The moment I saw the penguin on the cover I knew this was going to end up in my collection. The series is produced by Silvergate Media for the BBC's CBeebies channel and is based on series of children's books by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy.

The show stars a crew of animal heroes, headed by Captain Barnacles the Polar Bear, Kwazii the Cat and, of course, the medic Peso the Penguin – voiced by Paul Panting. By the help of their underwater vehicles the crew is often saving the day, rescuing sea creatures and exploring new underwater worlds. The series seems to be often described as an aquatic version of Thunderbirds, only in CGI and with a cute penguin.

This is the first of the DVD releases, Here Come the Octonauts, which features the first eighth episodes of the show. The show is actually pretty fun; I was expecting something aimed at children so small no-one of my age could get anything out of it. But luckily it's the opposite; even if you're a cynic it's actually quite interesting as a kid-friendly deconstruction of classic sci-fi mainstays like Star Trek and Thunderbirds. You know, if Captain Kirk was a polar bear and McCoy was a super-cute penguin.