Oliver Postgate

Oliver Postgate

From Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

November 3, 2025 · 28 min

About this episode

Andrew Davenport discusses the profound impact of Oliver Postgate's work in children's television.

"Postgate's work is deep inside me and I think that's true for so many of my generation...His work represents nothing less than a touchstone for our national imagination and in that sense it's profoundly important" Andrew Davenport, writer, composer, and creator of Teletubbies and In the Night Garden, nominates Oliver Postgate, who, along with his Smallfilms business partner, the artist Peter Firmin, invented the children's television shows Ivor the Engine, The Clangers and, perhaps most loved of all, Bagpuss. Postgate was a late bloomer. Following Dartington school (which he hated) a stint in jail and working the land, several odd jobs and even odder inventions, he eventually discovered a love of stop-motion animation and created some of the most enduring worlds and best-loved characters in television, all from a cowshed in Kent. Including clips of his programmes, contributions from singer and musician Sandra Kerr. and archive from Postgate's 2007 Desert Island Discs interview. With cultural historian Matthew Sweet. Produced by Ellie Richold. Presented by Matthew Parris.

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Parris

Guest: Andrew Davenport

Topics covered

  • children's television
  • animation
  • cultural history
  • British television
  • stop-motion
  • creativity

Keywords

  • Oliver Postgate
  • children's shows
  • stop-motion animation
  • Ivor the Engine
  • The Clangers
  • Bagpuss
  • Smallfilms
  • cultural significance
  • British television history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Smallfilms, BBC Radio 4

Books & works: Ivor the Engine, The Clangers, Bagpuss

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