Sarah W
I think it's Major Clanger speaking. Obviously this is a translation from the original Clanger language that we only hear as whistles
Sue ArcherYou know about the actual (mild) swearing in the real Clanger episode?
@suearcher
No! Do you speak Clanger Sue?
No! Do you speak Clanger Sue?
Well, I've read about it...
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin wrote proper scripts for each episode, and then played swannee whistles to the rhythm of the words. In one episode, the dustbin lid of a crater sticks, and the script actually had Major Clanger saying "Oh, sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again"
BBC bosses were not happy when they saw the script, but Postgate reasoned that nice minded children would probably hear "oh bother, the blooming thing's stuck again" and it stayed.
Years later, when the Clanger toys came out, the ones you squeeze and they make Clanger sounds, a simple sample was needed. And so of course, Postgate made sure it was "Oh, sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again!" that was used....
Ken Butler@suearcher @Sarahw this does sound like the sort of thing Postgate would have tried to sneak in.
Related, Have you seen this story?
I was lucky to meet Peter Firmin and his wife Joan, at a talk he gave. It was Joan who knitted the Clangers. All I could say was, thank you for my childhood!
Natasha :mastodon: 🇪🇺 (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image Clanger stolen 50 years ago recovered after deathbed confession "A puppet that was one of the most famous characters on children’s TV has been returned to the UK after it was stolen from an exhibition in London more than 50 years ago. Mother Clanger, from the children’s TV show The Clangers, was taken from an exhibition in 1973 by two 15-year-old boys, with one of the teenagers, Michael O’Connor, hiding the puppet in his attic ... " https://archive.ph/ro0od #UK #UKNews #Clangers #TheClangers
They did have one - I can't remember which.
The talk was mostly about Noggin the Nog, as it was part of the York Viking Festival. Noggin was just before my TV watching time, but I grew up with the Clangers and Bagpuss and love both series.
@suearcher @Sarahw I never got into Bagpuss but I loved Ivor the Engine.
Wasn't The Herbs one of theirs too?
@suearcher
Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen the story. What a confession after all these years!
Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen the story. What a confession after all these years!