Clangers

My granddaughter is now fourteen months old and has been a Clanger fan for the last four months. The animation, stories and melodies are just superb and she still claps in delight the moment she hears the title music.

As for we adults who have watched all the programmes on numerous occasions, we all can say that they are superbly made and the story lines keep us entertained during our often enforced watching.

The attention to detail in the visual and sound media is excellent and I found it incredible to hear the sounds of the Glowbuzzers in Mother's garden in a particularly quiet time (no narration or Clanger noises).

We look forward to more adventures - not only for a greater variety now that we've internalised the scripts - but to enjoy more tunes and melodies. Who would have thought that the grandeur of space and simple moral lessons could be presented to the young in such a beautiful way.

I was a fan of the clangers as a child and was pleased to hear the BBC was bringing it back for a new generation. The new version has all the charm of the old one, with modern production standards. Such a pleasure to see the clangers' living on their planet with old favourites like the Soup Dragon. They have kept all the old characters and Michael Palin's narration adds a touch of class.

The producers have taken the decision to mix stop-motion animation with computer graphics. This gives a lovely earthy and warm feel to the clangers themselves, while allowing for the world to be expansive and interesting. Perhaps one criticism I might make is that the clangers voices sounded a little too gentle. The slightly harsher voices in the original version enhanced it's other-worldly alien quality.

Obviously, nothing can replace the old Oliver Postgate version, but this is faithful to it and perhaps adds it's own little bit of magic. Time will tell over the whole series.