Peter Firmin

...Not very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales, there was a railway. It wasn't a very long railway or a very important railway, but it was called The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, and it was all there was. And in a shed, in a siding at the end of the railway, lives the Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, which was a long name for a little engine so his friends just called him Ivor..." ...And that was how it began, back in 1959: one of Oliver Postgate's most loved creations, Ivor the Engine. It was a series about the Welsh adventures of a little green railway engine and his many friends. But Ivor wasn't an ordinary steam engine. He pretty much wished he was a person and ended up doing things like singing in a choir and swimming in the sea! One season of six, 10 minute, Black and White films was made for and screened by Associated-Red.

Noggin the Nog is a popular British children's character. Noggin himself is a simple, kind and unassuming King of the Northmen in a roughly Viking-age setting, with various fantastic elements such as dragons, flying machines and talking birds.

Bagpuss is a UK children's television series, made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate from 12 February 1974 to 7 May 1974 through their company Smallfilms. The title character was, "An old, saggy, cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams." Although only 13 episodes of the show were made, it remains fondly remembered, and was regularly repeated in the UK for thirteen years. In 1999 Bagpuss topped a BBC poll for the UK's favourite children's TV programme.

Tottie: The Story of a Doll's House is a 1984 animated television series. It is based on The Dolls' House, a children's novel written by Rumer Godden originally published in 1947, and focuses on the toys living in a Victorian Dolls' House belonging to sisters Emily and Charlotte Dane. The whole series had a very dark edge as the dolls had to wish very hard that good things would happen and they would not fall on misfortune. The series started with the phrase "Dolls are not like people, people choose, but dolls can only be chosen".

A British television series starring puppet character Basil Brush. It ran from 1968-1980 on the BBC and featured Rodney Bewes, Derek Fowlds, Roy North, Howard Williams and Billy Boyle. Many episodes from this series are considered lost due to the BBC "junking" or reusing tapes in the 1960s and 70s.

Children's programme featuring animated nursery rhymes.

Enjoy once again the adventures of Welsh steam engine Ivor, Jones the Steam and the good people at the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company - not to mention the dragon and his chestnut barrow!

The Seal of Neptune was a children's programme created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, also known for their works Ivor the Engine and Clangers. It was broadcast on BBC Television in 1960. Oliver Postage tells the sage of Sirus,the small seahorse who sets out beneath the waves with his friend Shrimp to return the Seal of Neptune to its rightful owner.

In the late 60s, with the arrival of Colour TV, the BBC was keen for something different, modern and colourful. Postgate and Firmin rolled their eyes to the sky; not in desperation but for inspiration. They discovered a small blue planet populated by pink beings known as Clangers, a green dragon who cultivated soup and orange monopods who emerged from a magician’s top hat. Wonderful and exotic creatures would often visit, and were always very welcome, especially a chicken made of iron who lived on a nearby nest made of space junk. The BBC wanted something different and that’s certainly what they got.

A look at the life and career of Oliver Postgate

As the general election is held in the UK, it's polling day for the Clangers on a small blue planet far away.