Noggin the Nog

Noggin the Nog is a popular British children's character appearing in his own TV series (of the same name) and series of illustrated books, the brainchild of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin. The TV series is considered a "cult classic" from the golden age of British children's television. Noggin himself is a simple, kind and unassuming King of the Northmen in a roughly Viking-age setting, with various fantastic elements such as dragons, flying machines and talking birds.

Peter Firmin is said to have come up with the name of Noggin after travelling on the London Underground and seeing Neasden station, which made him think 'Noggin'.[1]

Some of the original artwork for the series is on display at the Rupert Bear Museum.[2] The appearance of the characters was influenced by Peter Firmin seeing the Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum. [3]

Plot and characters

The stories were based around the central character of Noggin, the simple good-natured son of Knut, King of the Nogs, and his queen Grunhilda. When King Knut dies, Noggin must find a queen to rule beside him or else forfeit the crown to his uncle, Nogbad the Bad. After many adventures, Noggin meets and marries Nooka of the Nooks, (an Eskimo princess), and becomes the new king. Noggin and Nooka have a son, Knut, who comes to the fore in later storylines. Other regular characters include:

Although the individual stories vary, any trouble encountered by the heroes is usually caused by Nogbad the Bad, who never gives up trying to claim Noggin's throne for himself. Nogbad always loses in the end.

Television series

The original television series was first broadcast on 11 September 1959 shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom from 1959 to 1965.[4] twenty-one programmes were made in black and white, and six in colour at a running time of ten minutes, by a company called Smallfilms. When the programme made a comeback in 1979, it ran for just six episodes and was made in colour, one new two-part story and a colour remake of the second saga, originally a six-parter, "Noggin and the Ice Dragon". This colour series of Noggin the Nog ran until mid-1980. The level of stop-motion animation was basic, but did not detract from the popularity of the series.

The on-screen title is "The Saga of Noggin the Nog", since the stories were based on the principle of a Norse saga, and episodes began with the words, "Listen to me and I will tell you the story of Noggin the Nog, as it was told in the days of old", or "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 ... and those tales they tell are the stories of a kind and wise king and his people; they are the Sagas of Noggin the Nog. Welcome to Northlands, a tribute to Noggin, King of the Nogs and the People of the Northlands." These opening lines, combined with Vernon Elliott's haunting bassoon score, conveyed a slightly "creepy" atmosphere, which children found a little frightening and consequently even more exciting.

Visually, it was primarily inspired by the Lewis chessmen (of Norse origin),[5] in fact one story is about Noggin playing chess with Nogbad the Bad.

A new series was rumoured in the late 1990s but nothing came of it.[6]

The complete series was released on DVD in 2005, in a package that also included DVD versions of the short story books.

TV Sagas

1 The Saga of Noggin the Nog (a.k.a. The King of the Nogs) (6 episodes) (b/w)

2 The Ice Dragon (6 episodes) (b/w)

3 The Flying Machine (3 episodes) (b/w)

4 The Omruds (3 episodes) (b/w)

5 The Firecake (3 episodes) (b/w)

6 Noggin and the Ice Dragon (4 episodes) (colour) (remake of 2nd saga)
7 Noggin and the Pie (2 episodes) (colour) (based on the book published in 1971)

Narrated by Oliver Postgate.
Character voices by Oliver Postgate and Ronnie Stevens.
Stories by Oliver Postgate, Pictures by Peter Firmin.
Music by Vernon Elliott.

Books

The 1992 book: The Sagas of Noggin the Nog

Various Noggin short stories were also published, and a visitor in one of them, Noggin and the Moon Mouse, provided the basis for the characters in the popular Clangers TV series. All the books were published by Kaye and Ward and written by Oliver Postgate, illustrated in full colour by Peter Firmin.

Edmund Ward Starting to Read books:

  1. Noggin The King (1965)
  2. Noggin and The Whale (1965)
  3. Noggin and The Dragon (1966)
  4. Nogbad Comes Back! (1966)
  5. Noggin and The Moon Mouse (1967)
  6. Nogbad and The Elephants (1967)
  7. Noggin and The Money (1973)
  8. Noggin and The Storks (1973)

There was also a standard book series published in the 1960s and '70s consisting of 12 illustrated hardback books:

  1. King of the Nogs (1968)
  2. The Ice Dragon (1968)
  3. The Flying Machine (1968)
  4. The Omruds (1968)
  5. The Island (1969)
  6. The Firecake (1969)
  7. The Pie (1971)
  8. The Flowers (1971)
  9. The Game (1972)
  10. The Monster (1972)
  11. The Black-Wash (1975)
  12. The Icebergs (1975)

Also a large b/w illustrated book about Nog life was published:

Also to tie in with the colour series two omnibus Noggin books were published:

  1. Three Tales of Noggin Volume 1 (1981) (Noggin the King/Noggin and The Whale/Noggin and the Moon Mouse)
  2. Three Tales of Noggin Volume 2 (1981) (Noggin and the Dragon/Nogbad and the Elephant/Noggin and the Storks)

In 1992 a fully illustrated 96-page colour book published by Harper Collins titled The Sagas of Noggin the Nog. This volume includes four tales: King of the Nogs, The Ice Dragon, The Flying Machine, and The Omruds.

Recognition with a Noggin stamp

1994 stamp: Noggin and Ice Dragon (SG1804)

Noggin has received an accolade achieved by very few Norse characters – he appeared with the Ice Dragon reading him a note from Nogbad, on a British commemorative postage stamp (SG1804) in January 1994. The art work for the stamp was drawn by Peter Firmin, who also produced a series of illustrations for the advertising campaign to publicize the new stamps.[7] The stamp was one of a set of ten on the theme of "messages", featuring characters from British children's literature. All the characters were pictured holding a letter, note or message. Noggin's note reads: "I, Nogbad the Bad do hereby promise to be Good."[8]

References

  1. ↑ 'Noggin rides again' Arts Guardian 28 July 2014; An interview with Peter Firmin by Julia Raeside. Firmin also recalled how his children helped him name some of the characters (eg Nooka of the Nooks came from his daughter talking about the film 'Nannook of the North')
  2. ↑ "Postgate's genius lives on at museum". Canterbury City Counci l. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. ↑ 'Noggin rides again' Arts Guardian 28 July 2014
  4. ↑ "The BBC Story – September anniversaries". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "The Saga of Noggin the Nog". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  6. ↑ Fontaine, Rex (21 June 1998). "In a spirit of animation". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Stamps and First Day Cover". Smallfilms. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  8. ↑ "Noggin the Nog Memorabilia – stamps". Northlands (Neil Jones). 1997–2003. Retrieved 23 September 2009.

External links