DO you like Thrones? Do you like a Game? Then you’ll love Game of Thornes.

But why watch that pale imitation of legendary stories, why not turn back the clock and watch the original Game of Thrones which is Noggin The Nog.

Noggin the Nog was created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin and first appeared on the BBC on September 11, 1959 and ran until 1965.

There were twenty-one programmes made in black and white, and six in colour, each with a running time of ten minutes.

Each started with these words: “Listen to me and I will tell you the story of Noggin the Nog, as it was told in the days of old”, or “In the lands of the North, where the Black Rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long, the Men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale ... and those tales they tell are the stories of a kind and wise king and his people; they are the Sagas of Noggin the Nog. Welcome to Northlands, a tribute to Noggin, King of the Nogs and the People of the Northlands.”

Somerset County Gazette:

The regular characters include: -

- Thor Nogson – Noggin’s closest friend and Captain of the Royal Guard. Nogson portrays himself as “fierce”, but is actually anything but fierce.

Nevertheless, he is unfailingly loyal, and never hesitates to defend the honour of his king.

- Olaf the Lofty – An eccentric and occasionally arrogant, but well-meaning, inventor.

Olaf’s inventions rarely work out exactly as he intends them to, although his most notable success is the Flying Machine.

- Graculus – A big green bird who arrives as Nooka’s messenger in the first episode.

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Later by chance they return to the place of his birth and meet his family, who unlike him are incapable of human speech.

n Grolliffe – A friendly ice dragon who Noggin befriends, and who helps Noggin and his friends in a later episode.

Although the individual stories vary, any trouble encountered by the heroes is usually caused by Nogbad the Bad, who never gives up trying to claim Noggin’s throne for himself.

Nogbad always loses in the end, though not always through the intervention of Noggin himself.

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Now you can see a live version of Noggin the Nog when Third Party Productions present The Sagas of Noggin the Nog at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre on Sunday, February 4, 2018.

Accompanied by the brave and mighty Thor Nogson and the great green bird Graculus, we go North on a journey of adventure & discovery to battle the fearsome Ice Dragon and the dastardly deeds of Noggin’s wicked uncle, Nogbad the Bad.

Silly Vikings, puppets, projection and live music abound.

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One of actors involved in this stage production is Anthony Gleave whose favourite television programme when he was four/five-years-old was Noggin the Nog.

Anthony explained how they came up with the idea of staging this production.

He said: “One of the major differences is what was on television was stop start animation.

“You could see clearly how it was done, but it had a magic and a charm.

“It was fantastic storytelling which everyone watched together as it was on before the news.

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“Now children have their own channel CBBC so they do not necessarily watched television with their parents in the same way.

“What are production is sees four actors as four out of work Vikings who are sitting around a fire telling stories.

“When we got the idea we thought could we do it and then how could we do it?

“We talked to Dan Postgate the some of Oliver Postage and Peter Firmin and they said they would be happy if we did the show but made it a little different to what was originally produced.

“We have been faithful to the original and even use part of it in the show when it is shown thanks to an overhead projector.

“What we find we have a lot of bearded old man coming to see it with their grandchildren to see it.

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“This is definitely grandfather powered when you look at the audience, but the youngsters love it as just as much.

“The main thing is everyone enjoys the adventure.

“We enjoy performing it on stage and find it very rewarding.”

The Sagas of Noggin the Nog will be at the Tacchi-Morris at 2pm on Sunday, February 4.

Ticket Prices: £8 / £6 Under 16’s / £23 family of four.

You can buy tickets online at tacchi-morris.com or call the box office on 01823 414141.