Noggin the Nog

Did You Know?

• Peter Firmin derived the name Noggin after seeing Neasden tube station on the London Underground.
• Some original artwork was displayed at the former Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury.

Plot and characters

The stories centre on Noggin, the simple but good-natured son of King Knut of the Nogs and Queen Grunhilda. He meets and marries Nooka, an Inuk princess, becoming the new king; they later have a son, Knut. Regular characters include Thor Nogson, the loyal but lazy Captain of the Royal Guard who calls himself the Hero of a Thousand Battles; Olaf the Lofty, an eccentric inventor whose creations rarely work as intended, though he does succeed with a Flying Machine; Graculus, a big green bird who arrives as Nooka's messenger and later is found to come from a family incapable of human speech; and Groliffe, a friendly ice dragon. Most trouble is caused by Nogbad the Bad, who continually tries to claim the throne but always loses, often without direct intervention from Noggin.

Television series

The stop-motion animation was basic. The on-screen title was The Saga of Noggin the Nog, and episodes opened with lines such as 'Listen to me and I will tell you the story of Noggin the Nog, as it was told in the days of old', accompanied by Vernon Elliott's bassoon score. The visual style was primarily inspired by the Lewis chessmen; one story involves Noggin playing chess with Nogbad the Bad. A new series was rumoured in the late 1990s but did not materialise.

Books

Various Noggin short stories were published, written by Oliver Postgate and illustrated by Peter Firmin. One of them, Noggin and the Moon Mouse, provided the basis for the characters in the Clangers TV series.

Theatre

Firmin also handled the design, and the production featured six songs by Postgate set to music by Norman Dannatt. Piers Rogers took the role of Noggin, Jane Sandbrook played Nooka, Paul Chapman was Nogbad, and Stuart Knee portrayed Prince Knut. The programme described the story as previously unknown, following Prince Knut's birthday journey that inadvertently brings together the Rings of the Black Sorcerer of Nudrug, transforms the troll king, and finally shatters the rings' evil power. It also acknowledged differences from the television version, noting that such changes are common in retellings of myths. Graculus did not appear, and the flying machine was attributed to Olaf the Lofty, even though the machine had supposedly existed before Prince Knut was born.