1 9 6 6 – 1 9 6 7 (UK)
32 x 15 minute episodes
A Smallfilms Production about tiny woodland folk who live deep in the middle of a wood . . . A special wood . . . in Pogles’ Wood.
Pogles’ Wood was originally shown by the BBC between 1966 and 1967 as part of the Watch With Mother series. It was the result of a collaboration between Peter Firmin (below left) and Oliver Postgate (below right), who made many children’s programmes between 1957 and 1987. Other Smallfilms productions include The Clangers and Bagpuss.
It is arguably the finest self-contained serial Postgate and Firmin ever produced, although it’s less well-known than its predecessors.
The main characters were Mr Pogle, Mrs Pogle (who is always referred to as “wife” by her husband), a young boy called Pippin and an unidentified animal called Tog who looks like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel.
Mrs Pogle is a very strong matriarch and rules her family with an iron-fist (sending them to pick blackberries for her etc) while Pippin’s exact relationship to Mr and Mrs Pogle is never stated. He refers to Mr Pogle by name and not as “Dad”, suggesting he is not their son.
In the Pogles’ garden is a magic plant which tells stories and explains the world to Pippin and Tog.
In the 60s there was a weekly comic called Pippin which contained Pogles’ Wood stories.
