Oliver Postgate, the creator of Bagpuss, The Clangersand a series of other classic children's television programmes, has died at the age of 83.
His other creations, including
Noggin the Nog,
Ivor the Engineand
Pingwings, were screened on the BBC and ITV from the 1950s.
Mr Postgate's creations were made by Smallfilms, the company he set up with the artist and puppeteer Peter Firmin, and he also narrated all its productions.
Although only 13 episodes of
Bagpusswere made in the 1970s, the pink cloth cat remains fondly remembered and was voted Britain's best-loved children's television character earlier this year.
Mr Postgate died at a nursing home near his home in Broadstairs, Kent, yesterday.
Born in Hendon, Middlesex, Postgate set up Smallfilms in a disused cowshed near Canterbury after spending his early years in a number of different jobs.
PA