Posted by Julien Foster on July 25, 1998 at 15:33:45:
I think so. This is symptomatic, though, of the tide of political correctness that seems to be sweeping through children's television.
The same has been done to "Fanny" in Enid Blyton's "Faraway Tree" series...and I'm sure there are others too.
I suppose the only argument that COULD be used in favour of the change is this: when Ransome was writing, perhaps the word did not have its current connotations. Using the word might therefore distort Ransome's image to contemporary children...and his world is, of course, an entirely asexual world. Or is it? Now there's a potential minefield.