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. 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), 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.
The complete series was released on DVD in 2005, in a package which also included DVD versions of the short story books.
Read more about this topic: Noggin The Nog
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