This footage from the UTV archives shows the famous guitarist Bert Weedon – a hugely influential musician for most of the British guitarists of the 1960s and author of the bible of guitar tutorials, Play in a Day. In this clip from the longer piece, A Day in the Life of Bert Weedon, he is seen opening a case to reveal a guitar-playing puppet.
This wonderful character was called Erbert and was created by the legendary Peter Firmin, famous for being one half of the Smallfilms creative team alongside Oliver Postgate, and designer of the Clangers, Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog and Basil Brush. The puppet was created for an appearance on the BBC children’s series Crackerjack alongside Weedon.
Unfortunately,
the episode of Crackerjack featuring Bert and Erbert is missing from the
archives and it is thought that this is the only remaining moving footage of
this Peter Firmin creation.
Erbert survived in his case until the end of Bert’s life and was eventually auctioned alongside Bert’s guitars and mementos of his career.