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Original poster

your thoughts, please, on noggin the nog-oh and oliver postgate's autobiography

92 replies

FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:01

now, I didn't have a tv growing up, so all this bagpuss/clangers business is a bit lost on me, but dp very much into them and I do like the drawings and the welsh accents.

Now

First, has anyone got firsthand experience of this nogmaia business

and second, has anyone read oliver postgate's autobiography, called, I think, "seeing things" and is it any good? Here it is on amazon seeing things

thanks

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Blandmum · 22/10/2006 16:49

In fact the asian children in the school I went too were about the only middle class kids we ever met

rustycreakingdoorbear · 22/10/2006 16:48

It's OK about the "old" thing btw - I've just had a few too many "That's your half century then" remarks lately.

Blandmum · 22/10/2006 16:48

RE Indian people in Wales in the 60s and 70s, yes there were indian /pakistani/bangladeshi people there, and a good job too. The valley I grew up in would have been devoid of doctors otherwise!

The accents are quite accurate as well. And good choice of names, Idris the dragon. My SILs father is called Idris. there was an Idwal in it too, and my dad was called Idwal

FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 16:47

Not too bad! I think....

rustycreakingdoorbear · 22/10/2006 16:46

Dare I ask how the party went?

FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 16:45

Sorry, it was me being deliberately cheeky, rusty

and also trying to be "down wiv da kids" because Filly is a lot younger than me

rustycreakingdoorbear · 22/10/2006 16:44

Old people F&Z?? - It was on in 1966, not that I watched it because I was 10 by then but I am not old [very sensitive because of recent 50th birthday emoticon]

FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 16:43

Yes, here

Seriously? Erm, well, there's all sorts of shit on TV that I don't want to watch. The medium is the same of course and a large part of my reservations are purely about the medium, which is why we don't watch any tv atm, but content will be proportionally more of a concern for me when he is older. There isn't any difference between watching Bagpuss on TV and watching Bagpuss on DVD, of course, except that our laptop hasn't got a CRT and many TVs have, so that would be marginally better I guess...

But I am not sure I have really got what part of it you don't get, so am wittering at random, sorry....

Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 16:35

oh ROFL at you and your "no tv but dvds" thing.

I mean, what is the difference? Seriously?

(I don't really watch any tv...but am being sucked in by bagpuss. Have spent the afternoon humming the Miller's Song. )

oh has anyone seen a tape/dvd of song from bagpuss?

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FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 16:25
FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 16:23

Pogles, Filly, not Poggles

Gawd knows what it is, only old people know

Nogmania looks like a book about the Nogs, like a reprised version. The entire collection is here if you are feeling very flush.

But honestly, I would focus your efforts on Bagpuss and the Clangers, they are Top Trumps

Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 15:49

ok, honing in now on noggin the nog, nogmania, is that all the books in softcover? or is it some tie in?

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Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 15:37

but wtf is the poggles?

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Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 15:36

am feeling increasinly strongly that a childhood without tv is not a good thing. it never bothered me until today

have found dvds, they are here

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PigeonPie · 22/10/2006 15:27

I really enjoyed Oliver Postgate's biog, although it was a few years ago now that I read it so can't remember it properly! If anyone can find DVDs of Noggin I'd be grateful to know where to get it from - I've been searching for years.

norkmaiden · 22/10/2006 15:09

oooh Graculus, that's it!
Great link rusty, thanks.
Now experiencing Noggin nostalgia - complete DVD (2 of them) is sold online in a few places for around £25-30 if anyone's after it

SoupDragon · 22/10/2006 14:57

I have the Complete Clangers on DVD. Naturally.

rustycreakingdoorbear · 22/10/2006 14:44

Noggin rules!
(Literally, in fact, as he is a king, but I meant figuratively)
It's not at all bloodthirsty, not even the bird's name which is Graculus, not Draculus.Even when a dragon is apparently terrorising the people it turns out he's actually the Treasurer of the Dragon's Friendly Society and it's all a mistake. See here for more info.
There's also a nogginthenog.co.uk, but it does strange things to my laptop, so I won't do a link to that one (perhaps Nogbad the Bad has hijacked it!)

Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:44

"but there aren't really any black people in north wales, or certainly not in the 70s ". Am regretting posting this, have re-read and it doesn't really say what I meant. I mean, there are some, and given what was happening in the 70s there should have been way better representation...no, the above is a crap excuse really.

ok am changing my mind on this one now

Its very tricky because actually the show depicted a traditional mining community. And a big part of this was the fairly insularness, where everyone pretty much knew everyone-the choirmaster is Jones wife;s brother's something! But they still had an Indian person (am assuming he is Indian, btw?) there...It would also, surely, be somewhat disingenius to suggest that there was not massive racism in wales, like most of the UK at this time, so to show say a family who had moved from say Pakistan or India in the 60s being welcomed and integrated into their local commmunity...well, to the best of my knowlege that is not what happened, to what should be, IMO, the great of the rest of us.

for some reason it always reminds me of the Chinese butler in East of Eden, who speaks perfect English but pretends not to cos its more revealing to see how people treat him when he acts in a stereotypical way...aargh am not making sense...I think this was as good as things were going to get, really...the character (wtf was his name? was very well rounded and had his own personality etc-he wasn't just a crude stereotype, none of them were.

this is somewhat more involved than I intended.

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Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:31

(i have stood up, btw, meaning that I am on my way off MN, Oh yes)

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Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:30

yes but there aren't really any black people in north wales, or certainly not in the 70s

and, ffs, jones the steam talks to engines

and emily has a magic cat

and theres something up with some guys tail but I can't work out what it is cos I don't speak cod yet.

I mean, its nowhere near as bad as thomas is it? That normalises and trivialises slavery, IMO.

And don't get me started on Dipsy and Milo.

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FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 13:25

YES I AM GOING

very shortly

FrannyandZooey · 22/10/2006 13:25

Hmm, I am not sure the sole representation of a non-white person being an elephant keeper is totally true to life, myself

but they are all barking in Ivor so I suppose it cancels out

Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:24

ps franny go and get ready, you will be fab.

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Original poster
FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 22/10/2006 13:22

I watched it very carefully for racism/funny accent gibes or whatever, cos I was on edge when I saw the elephant keeper, and it seemed ok, tbh. In particular, they call the guy "bach" which is a big sign of inclusion. But am not Indian and complelye prepared to stand corrected. But I and dp, who like to go mad with political correctness, couldn't find anything to complain about. And also, we were quite pleased that there was some representation there, tbh.

Re Welsh accents. Again am prepared to stand corrected but all the welsh people I have met love it! The accents are pretty accurate, IMO, and there is certainly no implication that welsh people are dim or anything.

(actually, i might be wrong, but I think bagpuss might be set in wales-opening scene of houses is very valleys.)

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