The first television soap opera for pre-school children, described as a "living story book", is to be launched by BBC Scotland. Applecross, which is set in a fictional Scottish village, will mix a cast of adult actors with documentary sequences involving children to reflect the lives of under-fives.

It will be broadcast from September on Cbeebies, a new children's digital channel for pre-school children from the BBC. The current CBBC is to be revamped to appeal to older children and will be relaunched. The new show is part of £5m worth of commissions won by BBC Scotland for digital channels. They include Rule the School, where children will get the chance to turn the tables on their teachers and The Raven, a new reality game show.

CBBC controller Nigel Pickard said the programmes would "challenge, stimulate and entertain". Lucille McLaughlin, the editor of Applecross, said the programme would be a dramatic leap away from the current television formats for under-fives.