After the death, in December 2008, of Oliver Posgate, creator of Ivor the Engine and the Clangers, the Guardian reprinted an article which he wrote in 2003, in which he attacked the impact of commercialism on the production of children's television programmes. In one particularly striking paragraph, he wrote:"The demise of small companies and with them the elimination of integrity, is just the predictable result of trying to turn a small craft into a massive industry. It is sad, because crud is always crud, however glossily and zappily produced, but it's part of a general trend in human commerce. Does it matter? Yes!"

Sound famiiar?

Nick