Book of the Smallfilm
‘It was Christmas day in the top left-hand corner of Wales…’ More than any other Smallfilms production, Ivor the Engine feels as though it’s a part of the fabric of Britain. Inspired by the writings of Dylan Thomas, and a friend of co-creator Oliver Postgate who had been an engine fireman, Ivor has the feel … Continue reading
‘On Christmas morning the Plantaganets woke to hear real carol singers in the street outside. “Peace and goodwill among men,” sang the carol singers. “And among dolls,” said Mr Plantaganet. “I hope among dolls.” Unfortunately for Mr Plantaganet, an abused doll with a crudely drawn pencil moustache on his upper lip, things are … Continue reading
In 1969 the BBC made the surprising decision that what a nation of children, entranced by the real life drama of the moon landings needed was a space series made by two men in a cow shed in Kent. Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin had, up till that point, carved a career out of handmade … Continue reading
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, fresh from reimagining the Norse sagas in cardboard moved on to the dark corners of the European folk tale for their next major venture, The Pogles. Viewers were invited into the woodland behind Firmin’s barnyard studio in the Kent countryside, where a family of centuries old tree dwelling small people … Continue reading
‘In the lands of the North, where the black rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long the men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale…’ So began every episode of the Saga of Noggin the Nog, an animated TV series … Continue reading
