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Seeing Things: A Memoir By Oliver Postgate
For over forty years Oliver Postgate's name was synonymous with the best in children's television - Bagpuss, The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, The Pogles, Noggin the Nog, Pingwings. His work is still loved by viewers of all ages. In this delicious autobiography Oliver Postgate describes how he came to create his stories and characters, developing innovative techniques of animation and puppetry alongside his friend and co-producer Peter Firmin. The story of Oliver Postgate's extraordinary and adventurous life, and the wonderful characters who populated it, both real and imagined, is witty, charming, beautifully remembered and beautifully told.
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First published May 19, 2000
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About the author
Oliver Postgate
134 books9 followersOliver Postgate was an English animator, puppeteer and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes. Pingwings, Pogles' Wood, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers and Bagpuss, were all made by Smallfilms, the company he set up with Peter Firmin, and were shown on the BBC between the 1950s and the 1980s, and on ITV from 1959 to the present day. In a 1999 poll, Bagpuss was voted the most popular children's television programme of all time.
In 1957 he was appointed a stage manager with Associated-Rediffusion, which then held the ITV franchise for London. Attached to the children's programming section, he thought he could do better with the relatively low budgets of the then black and white television productions. Postgate wrote Alexander the Mouse, a story about a mouse born to be king. Using an Irish-produced magnetic system – on which animated characters were attached to a painted background, and then photographed through a 45 degree mirror – he persuaded Peter Firmin, who was then teaching at the Central School of Art, to create the background scenes. Postgate later recalled they undertook around 26 of these programmes live-to-air, which were made harder by the production problems encountered by the use and restrictions of using magnets.
After the success of Alexander the Mouse, Postgate agreed a deal to make the next series on film, for a budget of £175 per programme. Making a stop motion animation table in his bedroom, he wrote the Chinese story The Journey of Master Ho. Setting up their business in a disused cowshed at Firmin's home in Blean near Canterbury, Kent, Postgate and Firmin worked on children's animation programmes. Based on concepts which mostly originated with Postgate, Firmin did the artwork and built the models, while Postgate wrote the scripts, did the stop motion filming and many of the voices.
They started in 1959 with Ivor the Engine, a series for ITV about a Welsh steam locomotive who wanted to sing in a choir. It was remade in colour for the BBC in 1976 and 1977. This was followed by Noggin the Nog for the BBC, which established Smallfilms as a reliable source to produce children's entertainment, when there were only two television channels in the UK. The Clangers and Bagpuss, perhaps their most popular works, followed in the early 1970s.
In the 1970s and 1980s Postgate was active in the anti-nuclear campaign, addressing meetings and writing several pamphlets including The Writing on the Sky. In 1986, in collaboration with the historian Naomi Linnell, Postgate painted a 50-foot-long (15 m) Illumination of the Life and Death of Thomas Becket for a book of the same name, which is now in the archive of the Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury. In 1990 he painted a similar work on Christopher Columbus for a book entitled The Triumphant Failure. A Canterbury Chronicle, a triptych by Postgate commissioned in 1990 hangs in the Great Hall of Eliot College on the University of Kent's Canterbury campus.
In his later years, he blogged for the New Statesman. Postgate's voice was heard once more in 2003, as narrator for Alchemists of Sound, a television documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. In 1987 the University of Kent at Canterbury awarded an honorary degree to Postgate, who stated that the degree was really intended for Bagpuss, who was subsequently displayed in academic dress.
After his death there was huge recognition of his influence and effect on British culture, and affection for the role his work had played in many people's lives. His work was widely discussed in the UK media and many tributes were paid to him and his work across the internet. Charlie Brooker dedicated a portion of his Screenwipe show to Oliver Postgate, and the way he influenced his own childhood, on an episode that was to be broadcast the day after Postgate's death.
In 1957 he was appointed a stage manager with Associated-Rediffusion, which then held the ITV franchise for London. Attached to the children's programming section, he thought he could do better with the relatively low budgets of the then black and white television productions. Postgate wrote Alexander the Mouse, a story about a mouse born to be king. Using an Irish-produced magnetic system – on which animated characters were attached to a painted background, and then photographed through a 45 degree mirror – he persuaded Peter Firmin, who was then teaching at the Central School of Art, to create the background scenes. Postgate later recalled they undertook around 26 of these programmes live-to-air, which were made harder by the production problems encountered by the use and restrictions of using magnets.
After the success of Alexander the Mouse, Postgate agreed a deal to make the next series on film, for a budget of £175 per programme. Making a stop motion animation table in his bedroom, he wrote the Chinese story The Journey of Master Ho. Setting up their business in a disused cowshed at Firmin's home in Blean near Canterbury, Kent, Postgate and Firmin worked on children's animation programmes. Based on concepts which mostly originated with Postgate, Firmin did the artwork and built the models, while Postgate wrote the scripts, did the stop motion filming and many of the voices.
They started in 1959 with Ivor the Engine, a series for ITV about a Welsh steam locomotive who wanted to sing in a choir. It was remade in colour for the BBC in 1976 and 1977. This was followed by Noggin the Nog for the BBC, which established Smallfilms as a reliable source to produce children's entertainment, when there were only two television channels in the UK. The Clangers and Bagpuss, perhaps their most popular works, followed in the early 1970s.
In the 1970s and 1980s Postgate was active in the anti-nuclear campaign, addressing meetings and writing several pamphlets including The Writing on the Sky. In 1986, in collaboration with the historian Naomi Linnell, Postgate painted a 50-foot-long (15 m) Illumination of the Life and Death of Thomas Becket for a book of the same name, which is now in the archive of the Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury. In 1990 he painted a similar work on Christopher Columbus for a book entitled The Triumphant Failure. A Canterbury Chronicle, a triptych by Postgate commissioned in 1990 hangs in the Great Hall of Eliot College on the University of Kent's Canterbury campus.
In his later years, he blogged for the New Statesman. Postgate's voice was heard once more in 2003, as narrator for Alchemists of Sound, a television documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. In 1987 the University of Kent at Canterbury awarded an honorary degree to Postgate, who stated that the degree was really intended for Bagpuss, who was subsequently displayed in academic dress.
After his death there was huge recognition of his influence and effect on British culture, and affection for the role his work had played in many people's lives. His work was widely discussed in the UK media and many tributes were paid to him and his work across the internet. Charlie Brooker dedicated a portion of his Screenwipe show to Oliver Postgate, and the way he influenced his own childhood, on an episode that was to be broadcast the day after Postgate's death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 23, 2020
I actually bought this book for my husband, but it's still on his bookpile so I nabbed it for a lockdown comfort read!
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's creations, particularly Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog and the Clangers, were magical childhood favourites which we have since shared with our son and granddaughters.
I was interested to read Oliver Postgate's back story, and he certainly was an unusual, hugely inventive person who came across to me as essentially humble. I was fascinated to learn that Oliver's grandfather was George Lansbury, founder member of the Labour Party (Leader from 1932 - 1935), and a staunch socialist.
The author's disclaimer to the memoir includes the following:
'So in the end, I simply looked through my memory for the pieces that have, for reasons of their own, stayed with me, perhaps because they once made sense, illuminated some perception, caused grief or joy, or were just fun.'
I was interested to read of Oliver's 'peak experience', which reminded me of Eckhart Tolle's description of something sounding remarkably similar in his book The Power of Now.
Certainly this is not a narrative memoir from a writer with the gifts of someone like Norman Lewis, but it was very enjoyable, especially, for me anyway, once he started with the stories for children.
Now I just have to find time to catch up with all the recordings of Smallfilms' wonderful work!
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's creations, particularly Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog and the Clangers, were magical childhood favourites which we have since shared with our son and granddaughters.
I was interested to read Oliver Postgate's back story, and he certainly was an unusual, hugely inventive person who came across to me as essentially humble. I was fascinated to learn that Oliver's grandfather was George Lansbury, founder member of the Labour Party (Leader from 1932 - 1935), and a staunch socialist.
The author's disclaimer to the memoir includes the following:
'So in the end, I simply looked through my memory for the pieces that have, for reasons of their own, stayed with me, perhaps because they once made sense, illuminated some perception, caused grief or joy, or were just fun.'
I was interested to read of Oliver's 'peak experience', which reminded me of Eckhart Tolle's description of something sounding remarkably similar in his book The Power of Now.
Certainly this is not a narrative memoir from a writer with the gifts of someone like Norman Lewis, but it was very enjoyable, especially, for me anyway, once he started with the stories for children.
Now I just have to find time to catch up with all the recordings of Smallfilms' wonderful work!
August 5, 2015
This is a fascinating book and once I started reading it I didn't want to put it down. Because Ivor the Engine, the Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss are great favourites of mine I especially liked those sections about how Oliver Postgate and his co-creator Peter Firman created the characters and made the films. But I also thought the sections where he reveals his thoughts and emotions are particularly moving.
An exceptional life; a truly creative and inventive man.
An exceptional life; a truly creative and inventive man.
August 3, 2022
His TV creations the mainstay of my childhood and I'm sat here with a Bagpuss cuddly toy by my side, so the impact this man had on us growing up was immense. So this was a fascinating read to find out more about that man, who led such an interesting life with lots to share and many hurdles to face in his life.
But his creative genius was always there and he always seemed to have some project or other on the go, be it in his personal or professional life and there was so much to learn about him. What a legacy to leave behind and i'm forever thankful to him and his team for creating such wonderful tv that I still happily watch today!
But his creative genius was always there and he always seemed to have some project or other on the go, be it in his personal or professional life and there was so much to learn about him. What a legacy to leave behind and i'm forever thankful to him and his team for creating such wonderful tv that I still happily watch today!
March 29, 2021
A truly fascinating and enjoyable read. Almost accidentally one man's imagination created some timeless story telling and more besides
January 24, 2011
Oliver Postgate is one of the recognised fathers of British Whimsy, as entrenched as A. A. Milne or P.G. Wodehouse. His television creations delighted children, who grew up to be adults who remained delighted by them, because they were endearing and memorable.
Unsurprisingly, his memoir is equally as endearing, often a bit sad, but a reflection of a life in which confusion and anxiety were the flip side of the marvellous imagination and ability to lose himself in the creation of anything that imagination presented him. Rather than let the reader stumble, unaided and unhappy, through the times where that state of anxiety prevailed, he colours everything in for us; the sometimes isolated childhood, a confusing school experience, a diverse war-time career at home in Britain (putting the ‘conscientious’ in conscientious objector), a hectic family life, with layers of charming detail. Small anecdotes describe the landscape, making this one of the most gentle and easy-going memoirs I’ve read, but that’s not to say that he was completely unaware of the world’s edges. He just made himself very reasonable when pointing them out (a quick visit to oliverpostgate.com gives a slightly schizophrenic feel to the man’s interests… 70’s children’s characters and global politics are a trippy combination).
There’s a good balance of technical description, career peaks and troughs, family history and, of course, whimsy to Oliver Postgate’s memoirs. I am left with a definite impression of liking Oliver Postgate, not just for the wonderfully absurd legacy of the Clangers and their ilk, but for being the adult version of an early school report comment: ‘a loveable wee fellow’ with ‘delightful manners’.
This is automatically one of my favourite ‘celebrity’ memoirs, if only because Oliver Postgate was (ironically, given his childhood struggle for attention) the antithesis of ‘celebrity’… his writing suggests a chap with talent for creation who meandered gently into public perception with a flattered, friendly, and slightly diffident smile, while trying to forge a career out of a head full of ideas.
Unsurprisingly, his memoir is equally as endearing, often a bit sad, but a reflection of a life in which confusion and anxiety were the flip side of the marvellous imagination and ability to lose himself in the creation of anything that imagination presented him. Rather than let the reader stumble, unaided and unhappy, through the times where that state of anxiety prevailed, he colours everything in for us; the sometimes isolated childhood, a confusing school experience, a diverse war-time career at home in Britain (putting the ‘conscientious’ in conscientious objector), a hectic family life, with layers of charming detail. Small anecdotes describe the landscape, making this one of the most gentle and easy-going memoirs I’ve read, but that’s not to say that he was completely unaware of the world’s edges. He just made himself very reasonable when pointing them out (a quick visit to oliverpostgate.com gives a slightly schizophrenic feel to the man’s interests… 70’s children’s characters and global politics are a trippy combination).
There’s a good balance of technical description, career peaks and troughs, family history and, of course, whimsy to Oliver Postgate’s memoirs. I am left with a definite impression of liking Oliver Postgate, not just for the wonderfully absurd legacy of the Clangers and their ilk, but for being the adult version of an early school report comment: ‘a loveable wee fellow’ with ‘delightful manners’.
This is automatically one of my favourite ‘celebrity’ memoirs, if only because Oliver Postgate was (ironically, given his childhood struggle for attention) the antithesis of ‘celebrity’… his writing suggests a chap with talent for creation who meandered gently into public perception with a flattered, friendly, and slightly diffident smile, while trying to forge a career out of a head full of ideas.
January 30, 2016
This is a curious book, and slightly hard to summarise my thoughts on. Up until the final hundred or so pages, I was all ready to write a modestly pleased review of this autobiography of Oliver Postgate (co-creator of many British children's TV programmes beloved of many folks growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s). Though most of the autobiographies I have read before have been written by comedians, hence having a higher 'funny per page' count than this, it did make for an interesting, engaging and witty read for the first three quarters of the book, and gave me an appreciation of the practicality and 'make do' skills of previous generations.
The last part of the book was very disappointing, however. Following a bout of post-operation delirium, Postgate starts to fill pages with pseudo-spiritual gibberish about purpose in life and other existential issues. I've no doubt that this was important to him, as personal faith has every right to be, but it seemed incongruous within the book and I had no interest in it. Likewise, he uses the last part of the book to harp on about his views on nuclear disarmament - making lots of arguments based on his feelings, and little based on fact. I have read much more informative and balanced prose in this area, and it seemed more like another 'cranky old man' diatribe than something which fitted with the autobiographical content of the majority of the book.
I might've voted it a 'two stars out of five' had it not been for how much I enjoyed earlier parts of the book, and his refreshing criticism on trendy modern deconstructive criticism of films and books and art - "..trying to reconstruct art from intellectual data.." - which was astute.
The last part of the book was very disappointing, however. Following a bout of post-operation delirium, Postgate starts to fill pages with pseudo-spiritual gibberish about purpose in life and other existential issues. I've no doubt that this was important to him, as personal faith has every right to be, but it seemed incongruous within the book and I had no interest in it. Likewise, he uses the last part of the book to harp on about his views on nuclear disarmament - making lots of arguments based on his feelings, and little based on fact. I have read much more informative and balanced prose in this area, and it seemed more like another 'cranky old man' diatribe than something which fitted with the autobiographical content of the majority of the book.
I might've voted it a 'two stars out of five' had it not been for how much I enjoyed earlier parts of the book, and his refreshing criticism on trendy modern deconstructive criticism of films and books and art - "..trying to reconstruct art from intellectual data.." - which was astute.
July 28, 2020
Oliver Postgate is one of my 'odd ducks' of show business. It's not so much that he fell into it through fiddling with magnets for an aborted animation technique, but he seemed to realize there was a place for him, even when he didn't know where. The years of early struggle on the fringes of old time theater are juxtaposed with an eccentric family of British socialists and the dysfunction of roles in both employment and wartime. None of which served to quell his worries about 'gainful employment.'
His rise through early television, to find a niche in children's films is uplifting for one who always seems to be 'caught up in it' and then manages to define it along the way. When he achieves ascendancy to the establishment, the book becomes, perhaps predictably, less interesting. He has time to wander into spiritual realms that he struggles to express. The naivety of his socialist upbringing seems to be revisited with his compulsion toward a late crusade on behalf of humanity, and the passion for nuclear disarmament returns him to the fractured mind of his youth.
I'm a sucker for the social history, and he has a measured way with words that can be both funny and touching. Well worth the read for those points alone.
His rise through early television, to find a niche in children's films is uplifting for one who always seems to be 'caught up in it' and then manages to define it along the way. When he achieves ascendancy to the establishment, the book becomes, perhaps predictably, less interesting. He has time to wander into spiritual realms that he struggles to express. The naivety of his socialist upbringing seems to be revisited with his compulsion toward a late crusade on behalf of humanity, and the passion for nuclear disarmament returns him to the fractured mind of his youth.
I'm a sucker for the social history, and he has a measured way with words that can be both funny and touching. Well worth the read for those points alone.
October 9, 2014
This was, quite simply, lovely. A story of the ways we muddle through life and how that can be extraordinary from someone who's a little awkward, not brilliant in school or excited about business or career, just very clever at building things and wonderfully creative. Of course, hearing about the making of Bagpuss and Clangers and all the rest is marvelous, just as the casual references to Bertrand Russell and G.D.H. Cole and his grandfather George Lansbury. This is also about love and loss and aging and illness and all those things that all of us face. It's wonderful.
One of the things that struck me most was the luck involved in Oliver Postgate being able to make such wonderful shows at all, and that it was only possible because the BBC was run in a very different way than it is now. Not that it was too wonderful then, but open to the shoestring, the untried, and the...how to describe these amazing flights of fancy that he created, like Noggin the Nog? And you could make a living at it, even if a little precarious. That seems fairly impossible today, and that is tragic.
One of the things that struck me most was the luck involved in Oliver Postgate being able to make such wonderful shows at all, and that it was only possible because the BBC was run in a very different way than it is now. Not that it was too wonderful then, but open to the shoestring, the untried, and the...how to describe these amazing flights of fancy that he created, like Noggin the Nog? And you could make a living at it, even if a little precarious. That seems fairly impossible today, and that is tragic.
August 4, 2025
I loved Noggin the Nog - it was initially broadcast between 1959-1965, years in which I was ending my childhood and entering teenage. Noggin the Nog, black and white TV, tales delivered with the authority of post-war BBC but quietly voiced in an English accent which was engagingly middle class rather than the austerity of an elitist BBC. I loved the storytelling, the line drawings, the clunky animation.
Postgate was responsible for a string of animations and characters which captured the imagination and enduring love of so many children – Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, Pogles, the wonderful Clangers … and more. Nothing hi-tech about these, no fuss, no extravagance … just simple, gentle story-telling, inviting the viewer into the characters’ world.
Which is possibly why the autobiography is such a disappointment. It’s gentle story-telling, I can almost hear the voice, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. What we get are a chronological list of anecdotes – I did this, I went here, I made these, I talked to X, I solved a problem or two, got something to work, tried my hand at acting then found myself drawn into the world of animation. Anecdotes, engaging enough … but do you get to see the man? Are you left wondering what he's not telling us? It just feels sanitised.
Postgate had a relatively privileged upbringing – his grandfather was George Lansbury, briefly Labour Party leader in the 1930s, a man of socialist and pacifist principles, and hardly a rich man. But Postgate grew up in a secure, middle class family – safe, a stable home, with resources for holidays, a life in which encouragement and stimulation were offered the children, a home which could afford to send the children away from London when war broke out, providing them with schools in the West Country.
And we get one hint about Postgate. He got his call-up papers towards the end of the war and refused to serve in the army – he had apparently inherited the pacifism from his grandfather. He tells us what he did as an alternative to becoming a soldier, he doesn’t explain his beliefs, doesn’t write about the courage it must have taken to stick to principles when a war against Fascism seemed principled enough.
And that’s what we get in the autobiography. Anecdotes and stories about memorable incidents – in 1948 I was here, in 1950 I was there, in 1952 I did this, etc. He’s a shadow man, a spectre – a black and white cartoon appearing on a black and white TV screen, with a voice over telling the story … but no colour, no passion.
It’s politically moribund. Life in England, in the UK, across the world was changing so rapidly during his lifetime. A Labour Government was returned in 1945 (Lansbury had died in 1940), it ushered in the Welfare State. Nothing, not a comment, no sense of hope, no passion.
Korea, Cold War, spread of nuclear weapons, etc. Nothing. Just a list of the jobs Postgate did, his first ventures into TV, etc. It becomes so bland and passionless any enthusiasm you had at the start of the book becomes dissipated.
Great memories of the characters Postgate invented … the autobiography is instantly forgettable.
Postgate was responsible for a string of animations and characters which captured the imagination and enduring love of so many children – Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, Pogles, the wonderful Clangers … and more. Nothing hi-tech about these, no fuss, no extravagance … just simple, gentle story-telling, inviting the viewer into the characters’ world.
Which is possibly why the autobiography is such a disappointment. It’s gentle story-telling, I can almost hear the voice, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. What we get are a chronological list of anecdotes – I did this, I went here, I made these, I talked to X, I solved a problem or two, got something to work, tried my hand at acting then found myself drawn into the world of animation. Anecdotes, engaging enough … but do you get to see the man? Are you left wondering what he's not telling us? It just feels sanitised.
Postgate had a relatively privileged upbringing – his grandfather was George Lansbury, briefly Labour Party leader in the 1930s, a man of socialist and pacifist principles, and hardly a rich man. But Postgate grew up in a secure, middle class family – safe, a stable home, with resources for holidays, a life in which encouragement and stimulation were offered the children, a home which could afford to send the children away from London when war broke out, providing them with schools in the West Country.
And we get one hint about Postgate. He got his call-up papers towards the end of the war and refused to serve in the army – he had apparently inherited the pacifism from his grandfather. He tells us what he did as an alternative to becoming a soldier, he doesn’t explain his beliefs, doesn’t write about the courage it must have taken to stick to principles when a war against Fascism seemed principled enough.
And that’s what we get in the autobiography. Anecdotes and stories about memorable incidents – in 1948 I was here, in 1950 I was there, in 1952 I did this, etc. He’s a shadow man, a spectre – a black and white cartoon appearing on a black and white TV screen, with a voice over telling the story … but no colour, no passion.
It’s politically moribund. Life in England, in the UK, across the world was changing so rapidly during his lifetime. A Labour Government was returned in 1945 (Lansbury had died in 1940), it ushered in the Welfare State. Nothing, not a comment, no sense of hope, no passion.
Korea, Cold War, spread of nuclear weapons, etc. Nothing. Just a list of the jobs Postgate did, his first ventures into TV, etc. It becomes so bland and passionless any enthusiasm you had at the start of the book becomes dissipated.
Great memories of the characters Postgate invented … the autobiography is instantly forgettable.
August 31, 2018
Seeing Things - A Memoir by Oliver Postgate 1925 - 2008, illustrations by Peter Firmin
Publisher Canongate
Quote: "You can't reconstitute art from intellectual data. It is a part of love" page 370
This unpretentious and humorous memoir by Oliver Postgate, creative polymath and autodidact, opened new adorable worlds for me. He was the author, animator and filmer of a number of childrens programmes that he made together with the artist Peter Firmin and the musician Vernon Elliot for english television: among others The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nogg, Pogles' Wood
Postgate had a habit of thinking things up: he invented facilities for his disabled female friend, a roof that could warm up his house with solar energy from february to november and much, much more.
Even so, this talented man had from time to time selfdoubts thinking that he "wasn't something" like a doctor, engineer...
Kindly and with consideration, not exposing others, he writes about the people in his life and there were lots of them, lots of friends.
Interesting is how the different zeitgeists shows: his socialistic parent's belief in the future, the engagement against nuclear arms, new "progressive"ideas in schools and universities. And when BBC wants children programmes with cliffhangers and action we're in our time and the heydays for Smallfilm, the production company, are over.
Publisher Canongate
Quote: "You can't reconstitute art from intellectual data. It is a part of love" page 370
This unpretentious and humorous memoir by Oliver Postgate, creative polymath and autodidact, opened new adorable worlds for me. He was the author, animator and filmer of a number of childrens programmes that he made together with the artist Peter Firmin and the musician Vernon Elliot for english television: among others The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nogg, Pogles' Wood
Postgate had a habit of thinking things up: he invented facilities for his disabled female friend, a roof that could warm up his house with solar energy from february to november and much, much more.
Even so, this talented man had from time to time selfdoubts thinking that he "wasn't something" like a doctor, engineer...
Kindly and with consideration, not exposing others, he writes about the people in his life and there were lots of them, lots of friends.
Interesting is how the different zeitgeists shows: his socialistic parent's belief in the future, the engagement against nuclear arms, new "progressive"ideas in schools and universities. And when BBC wants children programmes with cliffhangers and action we're in our time and the heydays for Smallfilm, the production company, are over.
January 30, 2023
The most gripping autobiography I have ever read. It was my second time reading it and I’d forgotten how gripping it is. His parents were part of the Bloomsbury set, and his grandfather was George Lansbury, a well known and popular Labour politician, which was interesting. They went on a cycling holiday in France in 1938 and saw many of the landscapes painted by the Impressionists (especially Sisley, who’s my favourite Impressionist). He went to school in Dartington - I’ve been to the summer music school there and on trade union courses there. During the war, Oliver Postgate was a conscientious objector (so were both my grandfathers). The section on Smallfilms is fascinating! I love Noggin the Nog and the Clangers.
Later in the book, he has one of those experiences where everything is illuminated — I’ve had a couple of those. Also from reading it, you get the sense that Oliver Postgate was just as nice as you think from watching Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, the Clangers, and Ivor the Engine. (If anyone reading this doesn’t know what those are: get thee to YouTube and watch them!) I was friends with his wife Naomi online some time back and she was lovely too.
Later in the book, he has one of those experiences where everything is illuminated — I’ve had a couple of those. Also from reading it, you get the sense that Oliver Postgate was just as nice as you think from watching Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, the Clangers, and Ivor the Engine. (If anyone reading this doesn’t know what those are: get thee to YouTube and watch them!) I was friends with his wife Naomi online some time back and she was lovely too.
January 24, 2025
The creator of such classics as Poggles Wood, ivor the Engine, The Clangers and Bagpuss looks back on his life.
Born in North London in 1925, grandson of leader of the Labour Party, George Lansbury, Oliver Postgate recalls his unconventional childhood including tales about his family, moving house, holidays and his experience as a conscientious objector in World War II. Creating worlds that were very much a part of my childhood gave the book added interest and poignancy.
I felt he lost his way a little in trying to recount a psychological, or philosophical experience he had after some surgery which, frankly, went on a bit too long for me. However, I loved reading about the somewhat Heath Robinson way on which he cobbled together sets for his shot-by-shot films and recruited friends and family members to 'do' the voices. He seems to have muddled through much of his life, but what a very creative one it was, and what a wealth of talent and glorious films for which children's television is probably supremely grateful, the world over.
A worthwhile read.
NB: Oliver Postgate died in December 2008
Born in North London in 1925, grandson of leader of the Labour Party, George Lansbury, Oliver Postgate recalls his unconventional childhood including tales about his family, moving house, holidays and his experience as a conscientious objector in World War II. Creating worlds that were very much a part of my childhood gave the book added interest and poignancy.
I felt he lost his way a little in trying to recount a psychological, or philosophical experience he had after some surgery which, frankly, went on a bit too long for me. However, I loved reading about the somewhat Heath Robinson way on which he cobbled together sets for his shot-by-shot films and recruited friends and family members to 'do' the voices. He seems to have muddled through much of his life, but what a very creative one it was, and what a wealth of talent and glorious films for which children's television is probably supremely grateful, the world over.
A worthwhile read.
NB: Oliver Postgate died in December 2008
December 12, 2021
Postgate writes very well, and books about a person's working life are to be treasured. We get all the detail about the creation of Bagpuss, Noggin, the Clangers etc. He gives credit to collaborators Peter Firmin and - who wrote the music, it's wonderful? He explains he just fell into doing the voiceovers because there was nobody else to do it. Makes me want to rush out and buy a Swanee whistle.
His story is book-ended by the bullying he received from his father and family (who had such lovely high socialist ideals), three months in prison as a conscientious objector in WWII - and much later a kind of spiritual revelation he experienced in hospital. Suddenly he understands everything! We can respect his experience without being able to share or understand it.
I'm glad to read that he had a long happy marriage, only ended by his wife's death. He then found companionship with another woman and they stayed together until his departure.
And who remembers Raymond Postgate (Good Food Guides) now?
His story is book-ended by the bullying he received from his father and family (who had such lovely high socialist ideals), three months in prison as a conscientious objector in WWII - and much later a kind of spiritual revelation he experienced in hospital. Suddenly he understands everything! We can respect his experience without being able to share or understand it.
I'm glad to read that he had a long happy marriage, only ended by his wife's death. He then found companionship with another woman and they stayed together until his departure.
And who remembers Raymond Postgate (Good Food Guides) now?
August 3, 2018
This book was a total delight from start to finish. Of course, I knew Oliver Postgate from his prolific TV output like Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine. This is merely a fraction of this fascinating autobiography, however, with stories of being a conscientious objector, working on farms and inventing farm machinery and helping out in war ravaged Germany barely taking Postgate much out of his teens! This is the story of a man with an amazing hinterland and a determination to 'muddle through' in everything. Never less than honest about himself, sometimes scathingly so, but always generous and open towards others, this is one of the most vibrant lives I have seen put down on paper. If, like me, your childhood was full of his genius, do yourself a favour and track down a copy of this marvellous book.
September 2, 2021
This was a charming, richly detailed book about the life of a man who has, through his experiments with film and story telling, provided wonderful memories for many, many children over the years. What is clear from the book is that part of his ability to do that is his own, childlike wonder, which is evident in his writing about his life. His own childhood is vividly and beautifully remembered and recounted and makes what can often be a quite challenging part of an autobiography, utterly delightful. His recounting of bringing to life the many characters that populated his programmes is also wonderful as it seems very clear that he thought of them as real and you get the sense that he invited them to tell their stories rather than him making them up. The last few chapters, where he talks about his political work was less engaging for me, but this was still a wonderful book, nonetheless.
March 15, 2023
Oliver Postgate's autobiography is a fascinating read. Having co-created so many iconic children's series including The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, and Bagpuss, Postgate could have used his autobiography to champion each of these successes in detail and that would have been fine. Instead, the book is a reflective assessment of his life, where Postgate seems determined to get to the heart of why he is who he is. He often seems embarressed and apologetic about his life, and even the moments of joy are tinged with a strange bittersweetness. Perhaps though, Postgate is having the last laugh. A recurring theme in his life story is his ability to confound expectations, and this book did exactly that.
January 25, 2022
This is a wonderful book and as well as touching on all sorts of interesting connections that resonate with our lives (the Good Food Guide, Noggin, animation, Dartington, Whitstable, tadging) he tries very hard indeed to explain the experience of being him. He is honest about his being a pain as a young man and his later frustrated ideas and projects. The struggle to work out a place in the world and the joy of family life. Wonderful collaborations with Peter Firmin and Vernon Elliott. He was very clear that the basic animation was fine and contributed to not getting in the way of telling the story, which was paramount. He lived to 83.
March 17, 2022
I have a split opinion on this book. I started off very much enjoying it. I thought the formative years were very well described and the book gave a very clear picture of what Britain was like in the 40s/50s and 60s. However, when it came to what should have been the highlight of the book (i.e. the classic childrens films) I was disappointed. Oliver Postgate appears almost dismissive of some of his best work and later parts of the book can only be described (perhaps unkindly) as rambling introspection.
October 22, 2023
Not the lovely quiet reminiscing book I imagined but in parts very informative and even a little funny. Unfortunately there is a great deal of pontificating, self analysis and worse politicking going on which makes for a lot of very dull boring chapters.
Still I did learn about Oliver’s life and how his genius fumbled about and hit gold more often than not.
Still I did learn about Oliver’s life and how his genius fumbled about and hit gold more often than not.
May 22, 2024
The book is incredibly detailed, but you might expect that from a story teller like Oliver Postgate. The development of Ivor, The Clangers, Noggin and Bagpuss is fascinating, but there is so much more before and afterwards
October 12, 2017
Mostly charming, bringing back wonderful memories and also explainations of how the programmes were made.
However I found the 'seeing' section very hard to read
However I found the 'seeing' section very hard to read
April 3, 2024
We all know why Oliver Postage was famous but he lived a long and fascinating life which is captured in great detail in this book. It has only endeared him to me more.
June 12, 2025
an interesting fellow
December 31, 2010
First of all I must confess that I had never heard of Oliver Postgate before and I blame it on the fact that I'm not living in the UK, thus not knowing about his works. Secondly, I rarely read biographies. Though there was the wish to read this one for one simple reason - to catch a glimpse into the mind of such a creative person.
As much as I don't know the series and characters from TV I was hooked from page one and couldn't put the book down. Postgate's writing is full of humour, warmth and quirkiness, and you immediately realize that he's not only inventive, but also a fabulous storyteller. Sharing memories from early childhood, all through creating his famous characters, straight to his private life, this is one of the most engaging books I've read in a while. I can't believe he never considered a career as a writer too, he'd been cut out for it for sure.
Obviously, I wished I had the chance to actually watch his ideas come to live on the screen! For now it's enough that this book made Bagpuss and the rest of the bunch come to live in my mind.
In short: A delightful and moving memoir of a truly creative man!
As much as I don't know the series and characters from TV I was hooked from page one and couldn't put the book down. Postgate's writing is full of humour, warmth and quirkiness, and you immediately realize that he's not only inventive, but also a fabulous storyteller. Sharing memories from early childhood, all through creating his famous characters, straight to his private life, this is one of the most engaging books I've read in a while. I can't believe he never considered a career as a writer too, he'd been cut out for it for sure.
Obviously, I wished I had the chance to actually watch his ideas come to live on the screen! For now it's enough that this book made Bagpuss and the rest of the bunch come to live in my mind.
In short: A delightful and moving memoir of a truly creative man!
February 4, 2010
Oliver Postgate was a small man in a big world. He made small films – his business was in fact called Smallfilms – and never aspired to make big ones. He lived a quiet life mostly in small towns in middle England pottering away at whatever happened to come his way; his life had no grand plan. Not that many people will instantly recognise his name, not in the same way that the name Gerry Anderson is known, but his work is known and loved and has been cherished by generations of British children many of whom are now in their sixties and, I dare say, seventies.
It’s enough simply to provide a list: Ivor the Engine, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, The Clangers. Everyone will have their favourite. But if you think his life was spent in a converted cow shed pushing around puppets think again.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
It’s enough simply to provide a list: Ivor the Engine, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, The Clangers. Everyone will have their favourite. But if you think his life was spent in a converted cow shed pushing around puppets think again.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
December 1, 2014
Postgate was the wonderful man who made my childhood a place of magic and safety with Bagpuss and this autobiography is just wonderful. Postgate was an extraordinary man, born to socialist parents whom he called by their first names and who worked from first principles without any engineering expertise to solve any mechanical problem, ending up in animation via a wide range of jobs from stage, farm and charity work in post war Germany. He speaks of his worlds as something that came through him rather than from his imagination, as having a life outwith him, and his philosophies had a lot to teach me.
February 3, 2015
This is a brilliant read about an interesting man who has had an amazing life and approached it in a really positive way. Great if you liked his TV stuff or had very little interest in it. As he was an innovator and an inventor who liked to try things out by doing them himself. Everything is told in a warm, humourous and self-deprecating style that recalls the tone of the stories he told on television. But it also covers his personal life in the same tone.
September 4, 2013
A warts-and-all expose full of salacious detail and debauchery. No, not really, just a thoroughly pleasant and warm-hearted memoir by my generation's favourite uncle. As gently witty and eccentric as you might expect, though the knowledge that he only lived for a few more years after its publication caused a lump in my throat as I approached the end.
November 12, 2016
Not what I was expecting at all, much darker and thought provoking, but on reflection, who could produce such perfect works without experience behind them? Oliver Postgate's thoughts on the world are insightful and helpful and more people should read this....
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