‘The cameras were held together with Meccano’: how we made Bagpuss

‘Dad used the skeleton of a clanger to make him’ … Bagpuss. Photograph: Coolabi

Emily Firmin, played Emily

With their company Smallfilms, Oliver Postgate and my dad Peter created children’s TV series like Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog. Oliver did the stories and voices while Dad made puppets and artwork. They filmed The Clangers in our barn, and behind it was Oliver’s studio in a converted pigsty. As a child, I would hear the weirdest noises coming from there.