What Planet is He On?

I know Robbie can be a bit random at times but on Friday evening he looked up from his laptop and started talking about the Clangers and why they didn't fall off their planet. I have considered many questions about the clangers over the years but I have never given the atmospheric conditions of their (imaginary) planet. I have wondered how Major Clanger acquired a military rank when the clangers do not have an army and I gave more than a passing thought to the soup dragon's reproductive habits, apparently there was only one soup dragon so where did the baby soup dragon come from? I was very tempted to tell him that being knitted allowed them to cope with the sparse atmosphere of their planet, but I know Robbie too well and such a comment would have led to him talking about Clangers all weekend. So I just asked him what made the Clangers pop into his head, he explained that one of his friends had commented about it on facebook, apparently her son had asked why Clangers don't fall off their planet. Obviously kids go for the easy questions these days. When Sam was little he liked to watch Coronation Street with his Grandma and one day he asked "How did the doctors make Hayley into a girl?" I would have preferred a nice safe question about the Clangers!!

A Legacy of Happy Memories

On Tuesday my radio alarm clock clicked on and I was roused from my slumbers by the Radio 4 Today program. I lay there only half listening while enjoying the last few minutes of comfort before getting up. Suddenly the radio commanded my full attention, because the voice of my childhood is gone Oliver Postgate has died. I have written before about the important part he played in my childhood memories and I was sad to hear that he had died. I first came across him (or rather his voice) when I was a very young child, Pogles Wood was my favourite Watch with Mother program and the voice and imagination of Oliver Postgate brought a unique magic to the series. As time went on I grew to love his other work, the Clangers, Ivor the Engine and my special favourite Noggin the Nog. When my own children came along I was delighted to find that they also enjoyed the work of Oliver Postgate in Bagpuss. His work had a very special quality and for my family as well as so many others, the sound of his voice evokes very happy memories.

Childhood Memories 20.07.07

I found myself doing a fair bit of driving around this morning with only Radio 4 for company. Suddenly I heard a voice that transported me back to early childhood. Oliver Postgate was being interviewed on Desert Island Discs and just hearing his wonderful voice took me once again to the magical worlds of Pogles Wood, The Clangers, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine. I was only 3 when Pogles Wood was first shown on television and I loved it, it felt safe and magical, but looking back it was very much of it's time. Can you imagine a program today having such blatant sexism at it's heart? Mrs Pogle was known only as wife and her only existence was in the kitchen preparing the next meal for her husband and son. The little me took all that at face value and thanks to my own mum I grew up secure in the knowledge that anything a man can do a woman can do better, we have a distinct advantage - because we read the instructions!!

Who could forget The Clangers and dear old Bagpuss, but my favourites were Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine. The tales of the Lands of the North and the wicked plots against Noggin the Nog by his Uncle Nogbad the Bad held me spellbound. Ivor was an engine with attitude, small but not easily ignored (rather like me). Ivor never let his size or his rails stop him enjoying life, he sang in the choir and he even went to the beach!

If this entry has rekindled happy memories you may enjoy this link http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/