''Pingwings'' was an animated

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

, comprising 18 ten-minute episodes, broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV in three series of six programmes each, between 1961 and 1965. It first aired on

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was co ...

. Created by

Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008), generally known as Oliver Postgate, was an English animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television progra ...

and

Peter Firmin Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Smallfilms Smallfilms is a British television production company that made animated TV programmes for children from 1959 until the 1980s. In 2014 the company began operating again, producing a new series of its most famous show, ''The Clangers'', however it ...

, it starred a family of

penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

-like creatures who lived at the back of a barn on the fictional Berrydown Farm. The Pingwing characters were knitted by Firmin's sister Gloria Wilson, and the animation was achieved using the

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

technique. Some of the animated sequences were filmed in the open air. Such sequences were often intercut with live-action sequences, featuring Mr and Mrs Farmer and Gay the Goat. In this way the Pingwing family interacted with their neighbours on the farm. The series was in fact filmed partly "on location": since Peter Firmin and his wife lived in an old farmhouse, and the Smallfilms film studio was located in a disused barn adjacent to it, all the exteriors needed for the series were available literally on their doorstep.Filming ''Pingwings''
/ref> The series was captured on 16mm black-and-white film. All of the voices were provided by Oliver Postgate and Olwen Griffiths. A short sequence of ''Pingwings'' is available on the CD accompanying Oliver Postgate's autobiography, and a DVD of the 18 episodes is also available, from the ''Dragons' Friendly Society''. The music for the series was composed by

Vernon Elliot Vernon Pelling Elliott (27 July 1912 – 12 October 1996) was a British bassoonist, conductor and composer. Born into a musical family in 1912, Elliott took up the bassoon at a very early age. From then on he had an eventful, busy and very musica ...

, and performed by him with the oboist

Sidney Sutcliffe Sidney Clement Sutcliffe (6 October 1918 – 1 July 2001) was a British oboist. He played in the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC Symphony orchestras, and was professor of oboe at the Royal College of Music in London. Life and career S ...

Broadcasts

Series One
Series one was broadcast from August to September 1961 and was repeated from November 1962 to January 1963. Episode 1: "''The Happy Event''"
Episode 2: "''The Ice Cream Tree''"
Episode 3: "''The New House''"
Episode 4: "''Baby Pingwing''"
Episode 5: "''The Sorry Birds''"
Episode 6: "''The Seaside''" Series Two
Series two was broadcast from January to February 1963 Episode 7: "''Robinson Pingwing''"
Episode 8: "''The Fish''"
Episode 9: "''Mrs Pingwing''"
Episode 10: "''The Flying Birds''"
Episode 11: "''The Rag Doll''"
Episode 12: "''Visitors''" Series Three
Series three was broadcast from August to September 1965 Episode 13: "''A Game of Spoonball''"
Episode 14: "''Moving House''"
Episode 15: "''Buying and Selling''"
Episode 16: "''Ice Cream for Tea''"
Episode 17: "''A Proper Kitchen''"
Episode 18: "''Mrs Pingwing's Entertainment''"

Characters

Mr Pingwing The father figure, portrayed as less than bright but loves his family. Mrs Pingwing The archetypal mother figure, she wears an apron. Paul Pingwing The eldest child. Technically minded and overconfident, he wears a hat. Penny Pingwing Paul's younger sister, she wears an apron. Baby Pingwing Egg laid in episode one, hatched in episode four. Frequently gets into trouble. The Pog A strange, wise pig-like creature Mr. Pingwing often asks for advice in later episodes. Gay the Goat Large role in episode two, remains a background character elsewhere. She is deaf and kindly and a live action character.

References

External links

Toonhound's Pingwings site

* {{Smallfilms 1961 British television series debuts 1965 British television series endings 1960s British animated television series British children's animated television shows British stop-motion animated television series Television series by Smallfilms 1960s British children's television series Animated television series about penguins