It always was a kids program! The writer is expressing their own view of RW, not the BBCs, but no doubt it was regarded as a kids/ adults crossover show, hence the early evening time slot and its remarkable popularity. The format was clearly designed to appeal to kids and perhaps to whimsical adults of the Thunderbirds generation too. As it turned out, lots of other more normal adults enjoyed all the weird looking machines beating the hell out of each other...