A plea to the BBC… please get it right.

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 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.

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.