The classic children's TV show started shooting its 'Norn Iron' version in Belfast yesterday with all the characters and crew busy rehearsing.

On set in the fantastic hollowed out tree-trunk-turned-library were muppets Potto, Hilda and Claribelle - who were made by the Jim Henson Company in New York.

There was a crew of up to 40 people, including masseur, to help knead out the knots in puppeteer weary shoulders.

"It was fabulous to meet the Muppets in the flesh, or should I say fur, for the first time," the executive producer told the Belfast Telegraph.

Potto is a loveable purple furry monster who is gentle, bookish and a brilliant inventor.

He was joined in the tree by Hilda the Irish Hare - his younger, more energetic and fast-moving best buddy.

Aunt Claribelle, an eccentric, wise old bird who occasionally visits the tree, was also hovering around.

The Sesame Tree show is being produced by Belfast-based production company, Sixteen South, in association with Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organisation behind the American hit. It is due to be aired on BBC1 next spring.

Other support characters are the Bookworms, two helpful and friendly worm-muppets who live among Potto's books; and the Weatherberries, muppet fruit that hang together in a bunch on a branch inside the Sesame Tree and help Hilda with her forecasts.

Each 15-minute programme is designed to show the diversity of Ulster from a child's perspective. Potto and Hilda have been developed by local writers and brought to life by local performers to answer children's questions through muppet scenes, and live action sequences in and around Northern Ireland.

Colin said: "Sesame Tree is the Northern Ireland version of Sesame Street. It's a new concept and a new take on Sesame Street. It's a local production written and produced by local people for local kids."

Also dotted around the trunk are framed photo's of the character's more famous Stateside cousins - Cookie Monster, the Count, Oscar Grouch and Bert, Ernie and co - with whom the puppets interact.

"I suppose the link is the fact it's the kind of show it is, big on family values and Sesame values. The connection is the learning, the education and also the awareness of local culture and understanding - all of the things that really bind Sesame Street," added Colin. "They are all one big muppet family."

The show has already met with the approval of Colin's young children, so he is confident of success.

"I have two kids of my own, so that was a driving force behind getting involved in this. They were the judges all along.

"We would be devastated if it didn't go further.

"When we sat down originally to think how to make it work, how it should work and what our expectations were, we looked at things like Bear in a Big Blue House and Fraggle Rock and thought if we could get to that stage, that would be the ultimate. But the reality is a lot higher than we would have expected," he said.