The best childrens TV programme ever...

[sbisson]

...was not Bagpuss, though it did come from the same stable.

It was the wonderful Ivor The Engine.

"...Not very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales, there was a railway. It wasn't a very long railway or a very important railway, but it was called The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, and it was all there was. And in a shed, in a siding at the end of the railway, lives the Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, which was a long name for a little engine so his friends just called him Ivor..."

What more could you want? Ivor had everything: North Wales, choirs, coal mines, narrow gauge steam railways, elephants, and (of course) dragons!

And now, if you have a colour printer (and a toilet roll), you can make your very own Ivor!

Comments

[fraserspeirs.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh!

[fleetfootmike.livejournal.com]

James (who's 4) got the complete Ivor on video for Xmas. A hit, I think :)

And James' Dad (me) enjoyed watching it as much as he did! Every link in this post was in the vlink colour already :)

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

Ha! Ye who shun the faith of the One True Noggin!

[davorg.livejournal.com]

Vote for Noggin seconded.

And don't forget Pogle's Wood.

[muninnhuginn]

Nah! All wrong. "Ludwig" first, with "The Clangers" as close runners-up.

[margotmetroland.livejournal.com]

Ooh no! That violin gave me the creeps.

[muninnhuginn]

The whole aura of voyeurism--that deerstalker-clad man with the binoculars for a start--was faintly odd. Bu the baby hedgehog with the hiccups was classic.

So glad I'm not the only one who remembers it tho': I was beginning to think it was a figment of my imagination.

[fleetfootmike.livejournal.com]

Ludwig was brilliant. Wish it was available on video.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, I remember it well!

[muninnhuginn]

It was superb. I even overcame my general dislike of LvB and learned all the tunes by ear on the flute.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

I always wondered why it was "in the top left hand corner" of Wales. It's clearly in the middle, or even the South of Wales - the scenery, the coal and gold mining, and not a slate quarry in site.

[colours.livejournal.com]

I have an Ivor the Engine book :oD It's from about 1950 or something, and will probably soon be placed on ebay to fund my theatre-habit.

[margotmetroland.livejournal.com]

I'm scared by the fact that it was a figment of somebody's imagination in the first place!

Now you've reminded me of the man with the binoculars, I'm going to have to go and hide in the airing cupboard with a bottle of vodka until the memories fade.

[drpete.livejournal.com]

My Dad used to like NtN so much, he named hs dog after Noggin...


Above and beyond the call of duty that one I reckon.

[lproven.livejournal.com]

Nooo! It was as tedious as drying paint and patronizing and juvenile to boot. I thought, when I was like... 3 or something. Tsk.

The Clangers rocked. And Morph. Ludwig and (?) Mr Cuddles were fun. And Blue Peter and Jackanory and even John Craven's Newsround if I was bored. And Swapshop.

But any Tex Avery or good Warner Bros cartoon beat 'em all. Or early Tom & Jerry, before they started talking. [Yuck. Just WRONG.]

But I think I preferred the Goodies to all of them by the time I was back from Africa 1st time around...