Special Clangers Episode to Transmit on 50th Anniversary of the First Moon Landings
Skwigly
This July, renowned space scientist, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE (CBeebies Stargazing, Sky at Night), will see her childhood dreams come true, as a character inspired by her, visits the Clangers’ Little Blue Planet, in a special episode of the BAFTA-winning pre-school show, due to air on the 50th anniversary of the moon landings.
Airing on CBeebies on Saturday 20th July, special episode ‘The Visitor’, also marks the 50th anniversary of the much-loved show, which was commissioned in 1969 to mark the iconic space race.
In a ‘universe first’, ‘The Visitor’ features the first female astronaut to land on the Clangers’ Little Blue Planet and the first human to return for fifty years. In the episode, Tiny, Small and Baby Soup Dragon are playing outside when they hear the sound of something approaching from space. As it nears and eventually lands, a door opens and out steps a strange creature in a space suit–they don’t know what it is but we can see it’s a human astronaut!
The storyline pays homage to the original Clangers moon landings episode,‘The Tablecloth’ in which an astronaut lands and places a flag in the planet that bears symbols from both the US and Russian flags.
Commenting on the news Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE said:
This is quite an unbelievable moment for me, especially this year with the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, because since I was three years old, I have always watched the Clangers and dreamed of visiting them. The Clangers were such a huge inspiration for me and I hope that this new episode featuring astronaut inspired by me will encourage the next generation of space scientists, scientists and entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to get out there and achieve whatever it is they aspire to do.
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been a friend and fan of Clangers for many years and when the Clangers relaunched in 2015, Maggie hosted the premiere. Maggie is committed to inspiring children to learn more about space and science and she has spoken to thousands of children over the years about how and why she is a scientist, busting myths about careers, class and gender.
Daniel Postgate, son of original Clangers co-creator Oliver Postgate and BAFTA-winning writer and producer of the new series of Clangers said:
When writing the new episode ‘The Visitor’, we really wanted to make the episode special and reflect modern day society. Maggie has been such a good friend and advocate for Clangers for many years and we could not think of anyone more inspirational than her to be featured in this special moon landings inspired episode. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.
Narrated once again by Sir Michael Palin, ‘The Visitor’ is the first episode of the brand new third series of stop motion-animation Clangers, produced by rights owner and media group Coolabi Group.
The special episode will also feature in a series of screening events on 20th July. Bluedot festival in Cheshire will feature a panel discussion hosted by Maggie, with Clangers production team. Click here for ticket details.
The Science Museum in London will also be celebrating the landmark anniversary with a screening of both Moon landings episodes, introduced by series narrator Sir Michael Palin. Sue Horne from the UK Space Agency will also showcase some exciting scientific experiments for families.
The first episode of the new Clangers series, ‘The Visitor’ will air on Saturday 20th July at 6.20pm on CBeebies. Clangers airs every day at 6:10pm on CBeebies.