Much-loved children’s TV show The Clangers - co-created by Blean illustrator Peter Firmin - is returning to BBC television.

Work is already under way on the £5million production and it is set to be broadcast in 2015 on the Cbeebies channel for children.

First broadcast in 1969, it was one of many shows to emerge from Smallfilms, the production company of Mr Firmin and creative partner Oliver Postgate which was also behind Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog.

Mr Firmin said: “We hope to engage and entertain children of all ages and their families, just as Oliver and I did all those years ago.

"The new series will include great story telling with lots of heart. It will also be technically improved.

“When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made. It was magical for its time, but this is a new Clangers for a new age.”

The Clangers are pink, long-nosed mouse-like creatures who live on a small blue planet not far from earth.

Its surface is peppered with holes topped with metal dustbin lids, which flip open with a clang to reveal steps down to their home beneath the surface of the planet – containing a series of interconnecting tunnels and caves.

Kind and generous creatures, they communicate with distinctive whistles, and a narrator comments on the events which occur in every episode.

The Clangers are a family consisting of Major, Mother, Small (a boy), Tiny (a girl) and Granny.

Other favourites returning to the new series are The Soup Dragon, who provides green soup from the soup wells, The Iron Chicken, whose favourite food is nuts and bolts, the Glow Buzzers, who create a magical light inside the caves, and the mischievous Froglets

Oliver Postgate died in 2008, but his son Daniel is taking part in the new series.

Daniel said: “Clangers is my favourite Smallfilms show. In fact, it is my favourite children’s show of all time.

“I was about five years old when it was made – just the right age. The new Clangers is not something we’ve rushed into. It has been carefully considered. For me, this is a labour of love.”

Cbeebies controller Kay Benbow added: “Nostalgia is a funny thing, and we always think very carefully about remakes or reimaginings of classic children’s programmes. The Clangers is a programme that has an enduring magic.”

Log on to www.clangers.com for updates on the series and more information.