Cult kids' TV show The Clangers is to make a multi-million pound return to TV!
The series – which ran in the 60s and 70s – is to be recreated for the BBC's children's channel, Cbeebies at a cost of £5million.
Created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, the programme debuted in 1969. It charted the adventures of a gang of knitted mouse-like aliens living a threadbare existence on a cold blue planet.
The aliens lived in craters covered by dustbins lids – whose 'clanging' sound gave the programme its name.
Co-creator Peter Firmin told the BBC the new series would involve 'great storytelling with lots of heart'.
"When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made," he said. "It was magical for its time, but this is a new Clangers for a new age!"
Daniel Postgate, the son of the late Oliver Postgate, is writing the scripts for the show's new incarnation, and said it was a 'labour of love'.
"I've always loved Clangers," he said. "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."
Kay Benbow, head of CBeebies, said that nostalgia was a 'funny thing' and that the channel always thought very carefully before undertaking remakes of classic children's programmes, but, she added, the Clangers had 'enduring magic'.
"The new proposition has been built firmly upon the joyful foundations of the original, and will be produced by a team of exceptional talent which includes the extraordinary Peter Firmin," she said.
The new series will air in 2015.