Christmas

Tue Dec 22, 8-9pm, BBC4

Surely there is no word in the English language that more immediately and effectively evokes the magic of childhood than ‘Bagpuss’ – but why? Was it narrator (and co-creator) Oliver Postgate’s warm and welcoming tones? Or the sheer otherness of the worlds he created? Or perhaps it was the crypto-socialist agenda common to all Postgate’s films? That’s what Michael Rosen reckons, and he may be right, but this generous, overdue filmed tribute to British animation’s eccentric genius is just as charming as the source material, with interviewees including Rosen, Andrew ‘Teletubbies’ Davenport and the real ‘Emily’. And would you believe, his work really was stuffed with the sort of benevolent leftism in which Postgate was steeped, from the championing of community and recycling in ‘Bagpuss’ and ‘The Clangers’ through to the latter’s despairing election special, ‘Vote for Froglet’. Clips from Postgate’s virtually forgotten final series, ‘Tottie’, indicate he was getting left behind but, as ‘A Life in Small Films’ proves beyond doubt, his finest work will be passed down for generations to come. Feature continues