Oliver Postgate has died aged 83. Nothing on any news sites as yet....

[EachPeachPearMum]

but Dragon Friendly Society has this

Feel bereft.

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I think thats the difference isn't it? Programmes then may have been simple, but that's actually what little children need- comfort, quiet, a calm at the end of the day, a nice little story of characters you loved, who seemed loving themselves. I think part of the appeal to children is that many of the characters made mistakes themselves, which children obviously relate to.
I think many people are genuinely affected by his death- it's just another little bit of childhood (or parenthood for some!) that is gone forever. He was just so unassuming, reminds me of Allan Ahlberg in many ways.

I really agree with you Pruners that these days children's television is either hectic overstimulation or obsessive so-called educational stuff with moral/environmental/etc message. Instead of being a calming and fulfilling story that attends to what children actually need and respond to.

It is quite sad.

Cross post EachPeach. Agree with you too.

Very sad.I loved Ivor the Engine and Bagpuss as a child.Did anyone see C4 news tonight?They were interviewing the guy who created Teletubbies and Itng,and Jon Snow had a couple of Clangers and a Bagpuss perched on his desk.Made me

I felt so sad when I heard this on the school run this morning. Really sad.

If you click on "home" you get to read his recent writings on this site.

I didn't know about this

RIP, Mr Postgate. And thank you.

DD will be getting DVDs for Christmas now... I switched off ITNG today (I HATE it, but DH was in placatory mode) and MADE her watch Clangers on YouTube.

They mentioned it on the Five Thirty Show (STV)this evening and had bagpuss as the fairy on their tree. DH bought Bagpuss for dd when she was born.

This makes me so sad.

He epitomised my childhood. Gentle, quirky, funny.

Pruners, yes, I'm pretty sure that he did the narration for most, if not all, of Small Films animations. One you might not have come across is Pingwings which is just delightful.

We bought that and all the Noggin the Nog DVDs for my Ma! I've got nearly all the others apart from Ivor which I must get as it's a gaping hole in our DVD collection!

Wonderful man whose autobiography Seeing Things is well worth putting on your Christmas list.

Pogle's Wood is really evocative for me. Had forgotten about it but can remember loving it. Used to call my eldest Pippin when she was little but had forgotten that's where I must have got it from

The autobiography is out of print and £50+ on amazon

Hope it will be re-issued.

Lovely obit in the Telegraph. which includes:

Both his parents were socialists, and the young Oliver spent many of his weekends at Bradfields, the Essex home of Francis Meynell. Other guests included HG Wells and Bertrand Russell, on whom Postgate later modelled the know-all wooden woodpecker Professor Yaffle for Bagpuss

Professor Yaffle was Bertrand Russell?! How cool is that? I loved Prof Yaffle. Nyah nyah nyah.

The last photo in the autobiography (which I will not be selling on Amazon) ) is entitled 'portrait of the old person', taken 20 years ago.

I think I'm going to have to go and reclaim my Clanger from DD, and cuddle it very gently so its whistle doesn't go off.

Sad news.
Thank you Oliver Postgate, I was a big fan and so are my DCs.

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£50 for Seeing Things? I must tell dh, we have a first edition of that, we are such big fans
He was very ill at the end. I do feel sad at his passing but what a magnificently original and creative life it was.
I loved all his stuff, but Pogle's Wood, with Pippin and Tog were my favourites.
Am smiling at the thought of Prue knitting the first set of Clangers even now

Pippin and Tog are burned into my mind. All through the barren pre-internet years I didn't know who or what they were, I couldn't place them in my memory. I just knew that I loved them.

"In October this year, the rights to many of his creations, including Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine, were acquired by media company Coolabi in a £400,000 deal."

£400,000???? They are having a laugh

from the Indie obit

Very sad news. I used to love watching all of his programmes when I was little. They just did a nice piece on him on Newsnight .. Jeremy Paxman even seemed moved by it.

part 1 of 3 of a documentary on Smallfilms.

Parts 2 & 3 will be there as links too I hope.

Very cute prog

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!