The 33-year-old from Newtonabbey plays the role of Potto in Sesame Tree – the Northern Ireland TV incarnation of the legendary children's show Sesame Street.

"I'd been a big fan of Sesame Street for a very long time, and got into puppets when I was studying performing arts," Paul said.

Henson

"I just wanted to be Jim Henson, but I couldn't grow a beard," he joked, in reference to the puppetry maestro responsible for the Muppets and the furry characters in Sesame Street.

Paul had worked in puppetry – making his own puppets, appearing in shows and conducting workshops – before this new role came along.

"Everybody can be a puppeteer," Paul said.

"But you have to split yourself in two and become the director and the actor at the same time.

"Children, and adults who have that sense of innocence, tend to be good at it."

He had wanted to work with the most recognised puppets in the world for several years.

Rejection

"I would occasionally email The Jim Henson Company and Sesame Street asking about internships, but I think you needed to be American to do that so I would get a polite 'no' in reply," he said.

"Then Lisa Henson – Jim Henson's eldest daughter – came to Belfast to give a talk at the Cinemagic festival.

"Like a complete geek, I turned up with my puppet, thinking she was going to sweep me off my feet to Hollywood.

"She didn't, of course, but she was very encouraging and mentioned that there were plans to make a Sesame Street in Northern Ireland."

Since then, Paul continually searched the internet for word of Ulster's Sesame Street.

Details of the show slowly emerged, with local production company Sixteen South chosen to make the programme and a schedule set in place.

Audition

The once-unlikely plan to create a version of Sesame Street in Northern Ireland was becoming a reality and Paul ending up at an audition for the show with 60 other hopefuls.

Part of that audition process was a workshop with Sesame Street veteran Marty Robinson – the man behind Telly Monster and Mr Snuffleupagus.

"The experience of doing the workshop was fantastic," Paul said, "it was a privilege to work with Marty."

From there, Paul was chosen to be one of the puppeteers – or, more accurately, Muppeteers – who would perform on the Sesame Tree.

Technical glitch

While the hard part about puppetry is taking a range of emotions and conveying them from your elbow to your fingertips, Paul had a more technical problem.

"You're encouraged to look at the monitor, not the puppet, which is what I had been used to," he said.

"Everything you see in the monitor is in reverse, which is a bit of a brain melt."

But after the rehearsals, Potto came to life as one of Northern Ireland's new Muppets – a purple, furry character who is gentle, bookish
and a brilliant inventor.

He lives in the Sesame Tree with Hilda, an Irish hare with bundles of energy.

Eccentric

Potto and Hilda are joined by supporting characters who include: the Bookworms, two helpful and friendly worm-Muppets who live among Potto's books; Claribelle, a bright bird and lovable, eccentric auntie character who occasionally visits the tree and the three Weatherberries – the singing fruit.

If the characters might seem unusual to viewers, the moment those working on the programme first encountered them was magical.

"I was amazed to see the puppets they'd made especially for Northern Ireland, and it was an honour to be the first to bring it to
life," Paul said.

"Everyone was giddy with excitement."

And the up-beat sense of fun continued throughout the making of Sesame Tree.

"We all had the biggest laugh – the shoots were intense, but everyone had so much fun," he said.

Paul is pleased with how the show has turned out: "It looks amazing," he said.

Legacy

"When we saw it played back in the studio it looked like something from the classic Muppets era of the 1970s, and that's a huge compliment.

"Everyone who was involved has done Jim Henson's legacy proud."

While Sesame Tree is aimed at pre-schoolers, it's a programme that should have the universal appeal of the original Sesame Street, and hopefully linger as long in the memories of viewers.

"The children will be enthralled by it, and the adults will be whisked back to their childhood," Paul said.

Sesame Tree will begin tomorrow on BBC2 at 6.15am and 6.45am, and at the same times on Sunday. The show will also be repeated on
Tuesday at 2.15pm.