Clanger puppet stolen more than 50 years ago returned to Britain after thief's deathbed confession

George Bunn
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 20:40:27 +0000

A puppet from one of Britain's most beloved children's television programmes has made its way back to Blighty following a theft that occurred over five decades ago.

Mother Clanger, the iconic character from The Clangers, vanished in 1973 when two 15-year-old boys took the handcrafted figure from a London exhibition.

The mystery of her disappearance remained unsolved until one of the teenagers made a confession on his deathbed.

Michael O'Connor, who had been captivated by the puppet's charm as a youth, revealed the truth to his son Michael Burke shortly before passing away.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

The admission finally brought closure to a 50-year puzzle and set in motion the puppet's emotional journey home to Canterbury, where her Clanger relatives await.

Following the theft, Mr O'Connor transported the puppet to Ireland, where he concealed it in his attic.

As the years passed and he started his own family, Mother Clanger lay forgotten in her hiding place.

The secret remained buried until Mr O'Connor's final days, when guilt prompted him to tell his son about the stolen treasure tucked away above their home.

After his father's death, Mr Burke discovered the mysterious knitted figure and reached out to the museums and galleries team at Canterbury Council.

Together with his mother Ellen Burke, he met with Clangers co-creator Peter Firmin's daughters Emily, Charlotte and Kate to hand over the long-lost character.

The family devised a plan to bring Mother Clanger back to Kent, where she belonged.

Emily Firmin expressed her delight at the unexpected reunion, describing the puppet as being in "remarkable condition" despite spending years stored in a box.

She said: "It was such a surprise, despite her years in an attic box, Mother Clanger was in remarkable condition and still radiating her unique charm."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Litter picking group started in UK aims to collect ONE MILLION bags filled with rubbish worldwide

London schoolgirl, 11, becomes England’s top female chess player after stunning global rise

Asda delivery driver saved a shopper’s life with ‘gut instinct’ heroics

She noted that the wool had faded over time and the tip of the character's nose had sustained some damage.

"We are just glad to get her back to be with her Clanger family," she added.

Ms Firmin said her parents would have considered the pair "naughty boys" for their teenage antics, but would now be "full of forgiveness especially as they told us as soon as they found her."

The Clangers first graced television screens in 1969, with the original series narrated by co-creator Oliver Postgate.

Mr Firmin and Mr Postgate crafted the show at their studio in Blean, near Canterbury, as part of the Smallfilms production company.

Between them, they brought to life a family of small knitted creatures who lived on a hollow, moon-like place.

The whistling characters resided in burrows with dustbin-lid doors, dining on blue string pudding and Green Soup provided by the Soup Dragon.

Councillor Charlotte Cornell, cabinet member for culture and heritage, offered a warm welcome: "For someone who has not been fed Green Soup by the Soup Dragon for five decades, Mother Clanger is not looking too shabby."

She described the return as "the closing chapter of a story filled with curiosity, guilt, discovery and, ultimately, a proper homecoming."

Mother Clanger now sits in the Smallfilms Gallery at The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge museum in Canterbury alongside Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine and her fellow Clangers.

The series was revived by the BBC in 2015, narrated by Monty Python actor Michael Palin in the UL and Star Trek's William Shatner in the US.