Of all the programming from the “golden age of children’s television” surely no body of work is so fondly remembered as that of Smallfilms.
Narrator/animator Oliver Postgate and his artist friend Peter Firmin created worlds together which have endured for generations. Bagpuss is consistently voted the nation’s favourite children’s character, but there were also the Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Pogles’ Wood and many more. Outside of his work for Smallfilms, Firmin also designed and created Basil Brush.
Northern Ireland Screen’s Broadcast Archivist, Evan Marshall, presents the whole history of Smallfilms, from its earliest beginnings to its final works and beyond. Illustrated with Firmin’s magical art and clips from the shows themselves, the talk shines a light on the famous works as well as some of the more forgotten chapters of Smallfilm’s history with clips unseen for decades such as Sam on Boffs’ Island and Oliver’s impassioned anti-nuclear 1980s documentary, Life on Earth, Perhaps.