Michael Palin to narrate new series of Clangers on CBeebies

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/08/michael-palin-clangers-narrate-monty-python-tv

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He’s been around the world in 80 days. Now Michael Palin is off to a different planet entirely as the narrator for the new series of children’s TV classic Clangers.

The family of whistling pink knitted creatures who live on a distant planet in craters covered by dustbin lids, along with the friendly Soup Dragon and Iron Chicken, first appeared on the BBC in 1969.

It will return to television on CBeebies next spring in a new £5m production.

The Monty Python star and TV travelogue veteran said the world of the Clangers was “delightful and irresistible. It’s a real pleasure and a great privilege to be part of its return to television”.

The original run of Clangers ran until 1974 but was repeated for many years.

The inventive and loveable mouse-like creatures, who live on a small blue planet lying “across the vast endless stretches of outer space” from Earth, communicate with distinctive whistles while the narrator comments on the events that take place in their world.

The narrator role was originally filled by the late Oliver Postgate, creator and narrator of the original series who is often cited alongside original Clangers co-creator, Peter Firmin, as one of the founding fathers of UK animation.

His son, Daniel Postgate, who will be executive producing the new series alongside Firmin, said: “Michael Palin was my first and favourite choice, so of course I’m absolutely delighted.

“Among other things, he’s been a warm and charming guide for us all in his extensive travels around this world, so it seems wonderfully appropriate that he should pack his bags once more, go off across the starry expanse of space and do the same for the world of the Clangers.”

Firmin added: “As an old stick-in-the-mud, I don’t often change my mind and from the very beginning I wished and hoped that Michael Palin would agree to be our narrator.

“Once, in a blue moon, wishes come true. This is once in a blue moon. I hope Michael enjoys his voyage to our little blue planet.”

The new series is being co-produced by CBeebies, Coolabi Group, Smallfilms, and US pre-school TV channel Sprout, where it will air in the US. It will be distributed by the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

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