Ivor The Engine

Ivor The Engine

We've been to Wales a decent number of times now, often to attend the 'Regenerations' conventions in Swansea, plus assorted pilgrimages to the 'Doctor Who' Experience in Cardiff, though our first attempt to track this down saw us wandering about lost somewhere off Bute Street, when the map on Lisa's phone took exception to the postcode.

If you travel on the train, there's a friendly 'Welcome To Wales' sign that greets you when you finally emerge from the tunnel, but for some reason there's no 'Welcome To England' one when you make the return journey, which is always slightly disconcerting...

But we've never been anywhere near the top left-hand corner of Wales, which is a shame as I'd like to spend some time in the Village from 'The Prisoner'. But apart from the unique architecture of Portmeirion, this is also the land of 'Ivor The Engine', a series which portrays an idyllic way of life that is very attractive, in common with much of the work of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin.

Names such as Jones The Steam, Evans The Song and Dai Station may provoke amusement at their simplicity, but let us not forget how many British surnames came to be in the first place. You were either named after the place you lived, the job you did or who your father was.

I grew up with the colour episodes of the mid 1970s and I definitely identified with the respect shown to animals in 'Ivor'. There's Jones allowing the fox to hide in the hatbox when being pursued by the local hunt, not to mention Bluebell the donkey coming to the rescue when Ivor is temporarily derailed.

But most of all there's Idris, the small red Welsh dragon with the fantastic singing voice, whose introduction nicely nudges the series into the realm of magic and mythology, but retaining the down-to-earth surroundings of tea, choirs, fish-and-chip shops and village bobbies.

When one mentions Oliver Postgate, most people probably think of 'Clangers' or 'Bagpuss' first, but 'Ivor The Engine' was an obvious choice to help BBC Wales promote the digital channel 2W.

Postgate and Firmin always created fully-formed worlds that simply exuded gentleness and sheer downright niceness. The Village would be an interesting place to visit, but 'Ivor's world would be a wonderful place to live.

Lovely.

(By Andrew Trowbridge)