Little Gems - Snippets

The Pingwings program is on the very edge of my earliest memories and even now I am not entirely sure I remember seeing it. For some reason I may have it confused with a sponge/felt penguin bathroom soap cover that seemed all the rage in those days (a bar of soap wrapped in an animal shaped sponge cover - ring any bells ?). Anyway "The Pingwings" was set in Berrydown farm (owned by Peter and Joan Firmin ?) between 1961 and 1965 and was created & directed by the brilliant Oliver Postgate. He later, along with the equally great Peter Firmin went on to create some of the greatest children's television productions ever produced - The Clangers, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Pinny's House, The Pogles and Pogles Wood & Tottie - The Story of a Doll's House. No one has even come close to reproducing their superb work.

The Pingwings concerned the day to day lives of four little woolen penguin type creatures called "The Pingwings." Mr. and Mrs. Pingwing had two children called Penny and Paul. A third Pingwing called baby Pingwing arrived later. The Pingwings moved around a little but had a house in the big barn. They ate Bumbleberry's for breakfast and spent their time wandering around the fields and the garden. Mr. Pingwing makes his entrance by being hung out to dry on the washing line after being washed. He was able to get himself down though when the need arises.

There were three series of the Pingwings each lasting around 8-10 minutes and made in black and white. They were first shown on ITV back in the early 1960s although they were first seen by television viewers somewhere in the South East of England. I am not entirely sure if the series ever made it up to Scotland.

Season One	Season Two	Season Three
The Happy Event	Robinson Pingwing	A Game of Spoonball
The Ice Cream Tree	The Fish	Moving House
The New House	Mrs. Pingwing	Buying and Selling
Baby Pingwing	The Flying Bird	Ice Cream for Tea
The Sorry Birds	The Rag Doll	A Proper Kitchen
The Seaside	Visitors	Mrs. Pingwing's Entertainment

The Pingwings was written and directed by	Oliver Postgate
Told by	Oliver Postgate & Olwen Griffiths
The music was composed by	Vernon Elliott
The music was played by	Vernon Elliott & Sidney Sutcliffe
The film was made by	Smallfilms