'The Egg' by Oliver Postgate

We come to the Clangers' planet and see the soup-dragon wandering about on the surface. She goes below through one hole as the Clangers come up out of another looking for her. They go down again as she comes up through another hole etc. etc. We follow her inside find see Clangers queuing up beside the soup wells for their soup but the dragon is too distracted to help them. It seems to be broody, looking for something. In the end it goes outside and makes a heap of macaroni tree branches on top of a hillock. Tiny Clanger gets the music trees and the cloud to play it pretty music but it turns its back and looks sad. The cloud goes over to comfort it but when it drops a drop of rain on the dragon's head to attract its attention the dragon flaps at it peevishly and goes on brooding. Tiny Clanger runs in and fetches her radio. She calls up her friend the iron chicken and tells her about the soup-dragon being broody and not giving any soup. The iron chicken seems to know just how she feels. The iron chicken gives clear instructions to Tiny Clanger which she carries out one by one.

1. Fetch the iron egg the music notes were in.
2. Dig out a jewel from a particular place.
3. Collect four notes of music.
4. Collect copper leaves, a piece of rock, and put them all in half of the egg.
5. Add four drops of rain, cover and shake well.
6. Lay it on the heap of twigs the dragon made.
7. Go indoors and keep out of the way, leaving the dragon alone with the egg etc.

Then the iron chicken on its distant spiky star sets up a sort of searchlight which shoots a beam of green light across the universe and on to the egg. The egg glows greenly in the light and is subtly transformed. The soup-dragon stirs from its ill-humour and looks at the egg. It is delighted and as the beam of light expands it climbs on the nest and sits on the egg. The iron chicken sees this and switches off. The soup-dragon crows and stands up. The Clangers come out and see that the egg has hatched out a baby dragon. The two dragons run indoors and dive into the soup-well. The happy dragon ladles out soup for the hungry Clangers.

Original Conception:
Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin

Scenery and Puppets:
Peter Firmin

Music:
Composed by Vernon Elliott

Filming and Editing:
Oliver Postgate

Film Company:
Smallfilms

TX:
25th January 1970 @ 5.55pm

Notes:
*This synopsis is the original outline written by Oliver Postgate for the BBC prior to production, and may differ slightly from the transmitted version.

*The Clangers voices were played on swannee whistles by Oliver Postgate and Stephen Sylvester.