When Emily had left, Bagpuss would wake up. The programme changed from sepia to colour film, and the toys in the shop would come to life. There was Gabriel the toad, a rag doll called Madeleine, and a wooden woodpecker which was a bookend (something to stop a row of books falling over) called Professor Yaffle. Professor Yaffle spoke like a clever professor. He had a German accent and wore a pince-nez. He would look at the object and tell the audience what it was used for. There were also some mice. They lived in the “mouse organ” (a pun on the word mouthorgan). The mouse organ played music and the mice squeaked in high voices. All the voices except those of Madeleine and Gabriel were done by Oliver Postgate who also wrote the stories.