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A plea to the BBC… please get it right.

The Clangers was just the best TV ever made. Ever!!!!!!
The Clangers was just the best TV ever made. Ever!!!!!!

 

I read the other day that the BBC is about to do a remake of the Clangers.

For those of you who did not grow up in the UK in the late 60’s – the Clangers are small pink knitted aliens who live on – or rather mostly inside – a very small planet not far from Earth. They talk in whistles.

They are / were just magical.

I was a late comer to the Clangers. They didn’t have them when I was growing up in Australia, but I fell in love with them the moment I saw them, and promptly wrote a short story about Clangers (which you can read here)

A creation of the wonderfully talented Oliver Postgate – the Clangers had a simple honesty and innocence and a wicked sense of humour.

The late Oliver Postgate and friends
The late Oliver Postgate and friends

 

The production was not sophisticated – and in this day of computer generated wiz-bangery, those old films look pretty crusty. But even now they have not lost their magic.

The BBC is planning to revive them with original co-creator Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate’s son, Daniel.

They are promising new stories and have promised to be careful to preserve the original magic of the show.

I hope they will also be respectful – not just of the Clangers, but also of the children inside all of us who love these funny pink creatures.

I beg of you, BBC – do not become over enthusiastic about flash new animation techniques.

 

 

If the BBC has forgotten how to make the Clangers, there are instructions available on several websites.
If the BBC has forgotten how to make the Clangers, there are instructions available on several websites.

 

The Clangers were all about the stories. Simple stories that touched our hearts with the notes of a swanee whistle.

Please, BBC – make sure you give me back the same Tiny Clanger, and Major Clanger and the Soup Dragon and the Iron Chicken and Hoots that I love.

There's Clanger (and friends) living in my TV room.
There’s Clanger (and friends) living in my TV room.