'Goods' by Oliver Postgate

We come to the Clangers' planet and see some Clangers for pointing anxiously up into the sky. They squeak and dive for their holes. Haul in the lids and clang them shut. A rain of assorted components falls on the planet. After it ends the Clangers come out and see what is there. They seem to be parts of a machine. The Clangers carry them below and assemble the pieces. Tiny Clanger and Small Clanger nose around outside and find a sort of plastic wheel with punched holes in it and pictures of articles on it, a hat, a spoon and fork, a plate, a teapot, a piece of cloth, etc. etc. They take this indoors. The Clangers have fitted up the machine and they are wondering what it is for. The wheel fits in some obvious place. The machine is then ready to work. Major Clanger winds a handle and pulls a number of levers. The machine has made a plastic teaspoon. They move the wheel to another position and Major Clanger goes through the considerable effort of working all the levers and pumps etc. and in the end the machine produces a teapot. The machine makes Major Clanger a plastic bowler-hat. Other Clangers want one. They set the machine to full speed and it turns out six bowler hats at speed. They try to stop it but only succeed in altering its instructions so that it produces showers of plastic spoons, plastic boxes, funny hats, patent tin openers and small fancy goods of all sorts. It gets faster and faster and the tide of tawdry consumer goods grows to an avalanche. The Clangers flee. The Soup-Dragon rise from her well and does battle with the machine. She succeeds in stopping it. The Cave is full of stuff. Mrs. Clanger weeps but the Froglets, who have come up from their underworld to watch, know what to do. They go below and fetch their top-hat. The Clangers watch them as they set up the top-hat, cover it with a cloth, and . . Hey Presto! there in the top-hat is a small woolly rabbit. Tiny Clanger is pleased to see the woolly rabbit but the other Clangers are puzzled. What use is something that produces more articles? The Froglets put the woolly rabbit back into the hat and vanish it. Now the Clangers understand. They pile the goods into the top-hat while the Froglets chirp incantations. The goods vanish wholesale. In the end it has disposed of everything even the dismantled machine. Everybody is happy except Tiny Clanger who is very upset about something. The Froglets and Major Clanger confer and they re-materialise the woolly rabbit. She is happy. The Froglets are about to go below when Major Clanger points out that the top-hat is still there. One of the Froglets jumps into the hat and both hat and wand vanish. The Clangers and the Froglet say goodnight and go their ways.

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:
22nd February 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. <