Once upon a time
Not so long ago
There was a little girl and her name was Emily
And she had a shop
There it is
It was rather an unusual shop because it didn't sell anything
You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost
And Emily had found
And brought home to Bagpuss
Emily's cat Bagpuss
The most Important
The most Beautiful
The most Magical
Saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world

The opening words of one of the most popular 'fly on the wall' documentaries ever.

Over a number of years viewers around the world were transfixed by the adventures of Bagpuss his friends Professor Yaffle, Madeleine, Gabriel, a group of high pitched Mice, and of course Bagpuss' off screen relationship with what the saggy old cloth cat called 'his Emily.'

But now it seems the relationship between the two has turned sour, with unnamed sources close to the couple claiming that the relationship is 'all but over'.

The main cause is allegedly Bagpuss' incessant sleeping.

'Emily's a young girl and she wants to do what young girls do, go out, party, drink alco pops, that kind of thing. All Bapuss seems to want to do is sleep, and that's not really in line with where she's at right now.'

The couple are said to have rowed repeatedly, the last one apparently curtailed by the fact that in the middle of it Bagpuss gave a big yawn, and settled down to sleep.

'That was the final straw,' said a close friend.

And of course when Bagpuss goes to sleep, all his friends go to sleep too. The mice were ornaments on the mouse-organ Gabriel and Madeleine were just dolls. And Professor Yaffle was a carved wooden bookend in the shape of a woodpecker.

Even Bagpuss himself once he was asleep was just an old, saggy cloth cat Baggy, and a bit loose at the seams.

But Emily loved him.

Or at least she did. Whether she still does or not remains to be seen.

Grainy Pap shot of Emily

Posted by damian at April 28, 2006 11:09 AM