Move over, Spice Girls. The latest hard-to-explain import from Britain debuts today.

“Teletubbies,” a new series for children ages 1 to 5, airs at 11 a.m. weekdays on Maine Public Television.

The series focuses on the adventures of four roly-poly creatures, Tinky Winky (the purple one), Dipsy (green), Laa-Laa (yellow) and Po (red). They live in their Tubbytronic Superdome, Home Hill, with Noo-Noo, a friendly, funny vacuum cleaner, who is treated like a pet by the Teletubbies. The foursome romp across a landscape of green, rolling hills, complete with colorful flowers and rabbits.

The Teletubbies are the first characters designed for the video age. Atop their heads are antennas; a TV screen is inset in their bellies, on which viewers get to watch real kids at play, whether it’s a girl riding her pony or a boy going out for a bike ride with his father.

To the consternation of some parents, the Teletubbies speak in a kind of toddler language, the same as is spoken by many in their target audience. “Eh-oh” means “hello;” “bye-bye” means “goodbye; “big hug” is the signal for a group hug. It’s not promoting the Queen’s English, but it is a dialect that young children (and parents of young children) can comprehend.

Benignly beaming down on Teletubbyland is a baby-faced sun, which laughs at the quartet’s exploits. The Voice Trumpets, which pop up to lead the Teletubbies in song and exercise and to recite nursery rhymes, are more than a little Orwellian. Also ominous is a magical windmill, which signals that something is about to happen, causing the Teletubbies to scurry away.

A big element of “Teletubbies” is repetition, as videos, dances or nursery rhymes are repeated when the Teletubbies say “again, again.” The theory behind this is educational. According to the producers, “Because young children don’t watch and listen at the same time, movements and images are repeated throughout the series. Children are given time to make predictions — which is essential in the development of their thinking skills.” Such repetition, however, is anathema to most adults, who have also been taught that reruns are bad.

So, overall, how will parents find this bizarre show? While not annoyingly cloying like “Barney,” “Teletubbies” will quickly have most adults longing for the pop-cultural acumen of “Sesame Street.”

But while college students will soon turn the show into a party game (“drink when you see Baby Sun”), this is a show for toddlers. So I turned the preview video over to my 2 1/2-year-old daughter.

She popped it into the VCR and was glued to the set for almost an hour, an eternity in toddler time, before she ejected it to put in “Toy Story.” In order for her to relinquish the tape so I could bring it to my office for another viewing, she had to be bribed with jelly beans.

“Teletubbies” may well baffle many parents, but it should find an enthusiastic audience among young children. It’s about playing, running and having fun, and that’s the world they know best and in which they feel most comfortable. And if they’re at ease and paying attention, they will be able to learn as well.