Brighton Festival: The Sagas Of Noggin The Nog
Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24

IN the lands of the North, where the Black Rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long the Men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale...”

So opened one of the best-loved animations of the 20th century, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin’s take on the Icelandic saga Noggin The Nog.

This new touring production from Third Party is bringing those characters back to life more than 55 years on, from the noble Noggin to the brave Thornogson, to Noggin’s evil uncle Nogbad The Bad, in a style looking back to the original Smallfilms production.

“The way Peter Firmin designed the original show had a very homemade feel to it,” says Clive Holland, who shares production and artistic direction duties at Third Party with Tony Gleave.

“It was important for us to keep that with our set – we’re using lots of boxes and barrels. We spoke to Firmin, who is now 87 and living in Canterbury.

“He always says they made things like Bagpuss and Ivor The Engine which made children think: ‘I could make one of those’.

“Nowadays when you watch children’s television all the cartoons are highly technical, full of music and lights.

“Firmin and Postgate’s story-telling was quite different – natural, thoughtful and charming. It was terribly English writing, with lots of cups of tea and hot buttered toast, a slightly homespun feel about it.”

For this live production Third Party are recreating the first two Noggin The Nog stories, telling how Noggin rose to the throne of Nogland, and his quest to find the Ice Dragon.

“We have stuck closely to the original script,” says Holland.

“With the second story there were things they could do on film that we couldn’t possibly do on stage.”

That said the production does have its own 9ft tall Ice Dragon, complete with wings and smoke.

“This is a family show,” says Holland. “It’s not just for children, and it’s not just for adults – there are elements adults will find funny, and children won’t, and vice versa.”

The decision to put Noggin The Nog on stage can be traced back to Holland’s own memories of the show.

“I was born in the 1950s and we didn’t have a telly,” he says.

“I remember going to a friend’s house when I was seven or eight and being transfixed when Noggin The Nog came on. There was hardly any television for young people then.”

Meeting Firmin, and Postgate’s son Dan who looks after the Smallfilms legacy, Holland got to see the barn where all the original films were made.

“The sets for The Clangers were still there, with the Clangers on clothes hangers,” remembers Holland. “We saw the shop in Bagpuss, which was the window into Peter’s family kitchen.

“Peter told me the best invention they had for making Noggin The Nog was Blu-Tack – up to then they always had problems with their stop-motion characters losing limbs as they were moving them around.”

The flipside to this close connection to Smallfilms came when Third Party premiered The Sagas Of Noggin The Nog at London’s New Diorama Theatre two years ago.

“It happened to be Peter’s 85th birthday, and he had brought about 20 of his family to see the show,” says Holland. “We were backstage thinking: ‘No pressure then...’”

As for the future Holland would love to visit some of Noggin’s other sagas.

“There is a lovely story Noggin And The Flying Machine,” says Holland. “I would love to get that into a Noggin The Nog part two next year.”

Essential info
Starts 5pm, 11am and 2pm shows on Sun, tickets from £5. Call 01273 709709.