Muffin the Mule, the UK's first hit children's television character, is celebrating 60 years in the entertainment business.
The wooden puppet appeared in the BBC programme For the Children from 1946 to 1955, dancing on a piano played by host Annette Mills.
After a stint at ITV, the character returned in animated form to the BBC's CBeebies channel in 2005.
About 300,000 children tune in each week to watch the mule's adventures.
The BBC decided not to continue with the original series featuring Muffin the Mule when Mills, sister of the actor Sir John Mills, died in 1955.
