Bagpuss (Bagpuss)

Member Name: Clareowen

Product:	Bagpuss
Date:	07/05/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely gentle stories

Disadvantages: Picture quality is not the best

Bagpuss is a television program about a large pink and white stuffed toy which is owned by a little girl called Emily. For some reason Emily has access to a shop(?!) in which she displays things that she has found lying about so that if for some reason a person comes by that has lost said item, they can collect it. "As if by magic" in each programme Bagpuss comes alive, as do all his friends (a woodpecker, a large ragdoll called Madeline, a frog and lots of little mice) who clean up the item, decipher what it is and tell a story or sing a song about it.

If this is sounding like a strange programme to you it's not really a surprise until you are aware of the fact that this programme aired in the 1970's. Only one series was made by the writer Oliver Postgate but was repeated for many years (mainly because in those days there weren't that many other childrens television programmes!). Programmes made for children in that era didn't make a lot of sense but were thoroughly enjoyed all the same by the children who viewed them (I desperately wanted to be Emily with her lovely shop!).

Recently I picked up the DVD of the entire series from Wilkinson for £3.00. The picture quality is not very good, and the sound is not magnificent either, but watching this again with my daughter has been a lovely experience. The programmes have a comfortable quietness to them which is often missing from the programmes of today, which are often so bright and busy they send your children into a hyperactive state! The stories are simple and the songs are short and sweet but personally I think that is a good thing.

My daughter enjoyed watching the "lovely cat" (she is only two so her comments are limited!), and as its such a gentle programme, I don't mind her watching it towards the end of the day.

Summary: Good to watch again