I toured the set of Balamory - I can't tell you anything about the CBeebies reboot apart from it will be great

The iconic children's TV series is returning to our screens next year in one of the most hotly anticipated reboots ever made. It has been away for 20 years, having originally run for four series between 2002 and 2005.

The thing about Balamory is it is not just a show aimed at the under-fives. The programme captures the imagination of everyone: from its original Millennial audience, who are now having their own children; the current generation of new grandparents who remember watching it with their offspring in the early 2000s, and even the teenagers of today, like my own daughter, who recall it fondly from re-runs on CBeebies in their early childhood a decade ago.

While the interior scenes are filmed in Glasgow on a beautifully designed new set, the show is very much still set in Tobermory, on Mull, where outside filming finished this summer - and where Miss Hoolie's green house is up for sale.

I'm not allowed to tell you much about it until next year, or Julie from the BBC Scotland press office will literally kill me. But I can reveal that I met Miss Hoolie and PC Plum and they were delightful. Bucket list entry ticked off.

Forbes Masson's babysitter for a trip to the barber

At Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, rehearsals are underway for an exciting new production of Anton Chekov's The Seagull, starring Men Behaving Badly star Caroline Quentin, alongside a whole host of Scottish actors including Forbes Masson, Lorn Macdonald and Harmony Rose Bremner.

As well as a chat with Ms Quentin, which appeared in this week's Scotland on Sunday, I also got to sit in on a transition rehearsal, where Macdonald and Masson spent most of the time moving chairs around. But I'm a bit of a theatre geek, so this stuff fascinates me.

Masson was due to skip afternoon rehearsals to get a haircut, accompanied by a member of the production team, whom he admits "don't trust him" to get it done right.

With the play set in the 19th century, Masson's hair needed to be cut according to period rules: no clippers; not too short, hence the barber babysitting. If you go to the show on opening night, have a look and do let me know if he managed to get it right.

Gilded Balloon venue refurb unveiled

The University of Edinburgh has offered us a sneak peek behind the scenes of its redevelopment of its Teviot student union building, showing an impressive new bar area, jaw-dropping refurbished stained glass windows and work on a new, accessible entrance at the back of the building.

Due to be opened in spring next year, the reason I'm so excited by this - to be honest, after my undergraduate neighbours held a massive party in my stairwell last weekend, keeping us all awake until the wee hours, I have little appetite at the moment to improve the social lives of students - is it will mean Gilded Balloon will be able to return there during next summer's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Gilded Balloon directors Katy and Karen Koren told me during this year's Fringe that they can't wait to get back inside Teviot - and neither can I.