With George Lansbury as a grandfather and G D H Cole for an uncle, Oliver Postgate could have been trapped in politics. It's fortunate for generations of tots that he was determined to find his own destiny. After aborted acting and business careers, he became a children's TV pioneer, taking millions of still pictures of funny model creatures in different positions and putting them in stories. Of all the animated characters, including Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, the Pogles and the Clangers, none was more loved than old moggy Bagpuss. Postgate is unashamed to express his delight in the world's ordinary marvels. He can conjure the magic of the sounds, sights and smells of his very early years, and so knows what children like. He tells it all with a gentleness and humour which, despite the occasional teeter into purple slush, is wholly delightful. A real pick-you-up.