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The Characters

Emily - Bagpuss - Professor Yaffle - Madeleine - Gabriel - The Mice

Emily
emily.gif (39246 bytes)		 Although Emily doesn't appear in the stories, except for the introduction, she is a major character.

After all, it is Emily that runs the shop, finds things to be repaired, and wakes Bagpuss up so that he can identify and repair the latest thing with his friends.

Emily was played by Peter Firmin's daughter, Emily.
Bagpuss
 "So Bagpuss thought, and as usual, his thoughts appeared like magic. 'Ah, er will that do?'" (19,256 bytes)"So Bagpuss thought, and as usual, his thoughts appeared like magic. 'Ah, er will that do?'" (155,256 bytes)"Yawn" (10,256 bytes)"Yawn" (71,256 bytes)
Bagpuss is a magical cat.  When he wakes up, all his friends come to life.  He can also make his thoughts visible in bubbles above his head.

Despite this, he doesn't play a major part in most of the stories, instead being content to lie on his rug and listen to the songs the others sing as they identify and repair the thing.

All in all, he's just an old, saggy cloth cat. 
Baggy, and a bit loose at the seams.
But Emily loved him.

Professor Yaffle
 "Nyaff, nyaff, nyaff, nyaff" (5,576bytes)"Nyaff, nyaff, nyaff, nyaff" (41,576bytes)"Fiddlesticks and flapdoodle" (5,576 bytes)"Fiddlesticks and flapdoodle" (41,576 bytes)
Professor Yaffle, full name "Augustus Barclay Yaffle", the carved wooden book-end, is the brains of the outfit, or so he'd like to think.  He is very knowledgeable, but a bit proud, and the mice love to play tricks on him to bring him down a peg or two.

Despite being a bit aloof, Yaffle can be touched by beauty, as he shows in "The Ballet Shoe", when he dances with the Marvellous Mechanical Prima Ballerina.

Yaffle is the most complex of the characters, and moves around more than most, being nailed to the floor with tacks to prevent him falling over.

Madeleine
 "It's time for working now, not for singing" (5,576 bytes)"It's time for working now, not for singing" (41,576 bytes)
Madeleine Remnant is a rag doll, who sits in a wicker chair.  She never moves anywhere, and is happy to be a mother to the mice, tell stories and sing songs with Gabriel.

Madeleine only really exists to give a home to the voice of Sandra Kerr.

Gabriel
 "That's right, and the mice have a roll of music for it too." (8,312 bytes)"That's right, and the mice have a roll of music for it too." (65,312 bytes)
Gabriel Croaker (of the "Tea-Time toads") is a banjo-playing toad, who lives on   top of the round tin on the shelf.

Like Madeleine, Gabriel exists to provide a home for the voice of John Faulkner, who, with Sandra Kerr, produced the music.

The Mice
 "We will rub it, we will scrub it etc..." (41,144 bytes)"We will rub it, we will scrub it etc..." (335,144 bytes)"Heave, heave, heave. The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse-organ." (16,520 bytes)"Heave, heave, heave. The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse-organ." (131,520 bytes)
The mice are really the major characters, and tend to get involved in everything that goes on.

They like to play tricks on Yaffle, and always like to sing together while they are working.  Indeed, they go on strike when they are told to stop singing in "The Ballet Shoe".

The pride and joy of the mice is the Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ, which plays rolls of music, and projects a picture onto the screen, like a television.

There are six mice in the TV series:
Charliemouse, who wears a grey checked suit, and appears to be their leader.

Eddiemouse, who wears a blue suit with a green jacket.

Janiemouse, who wears a pink dress with a red waistcoat.

Jenniemouse, who wears a blue dress.

Lizziemouse, who wears a blue flowery dress with a blue waistcoat.

Williemouse, who wears a flowery top and red trousers.

In the books, there are another two mice (they must have been breeding) - Millymouse and Tillymouse, which might help to explain some of the photos where more than six mice are visible (like the Annual and the Cards).

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