The Rock Collector Synopsis
The seismometer beacon or whatever it was the astronaut left begins to mutter to itself in astronauts’ jargon and flash a light. The Clangers are puzzled by this. They hear noise and hide as a lunar module comes down. They watch the astronaut climb out. He has a basket and is collecting rocks One rock is hard to loosen. He puts down the basket while he returns to the craft to collect a pick or something. While his back is turned Small Clanger reaches out from under a lid and whips the basket. They wonder what they can give him to take home that is more interesting than old rocks. They fill the basket with lovely soggy blue-string pudding. The astronaut finished loosening the rock and turns to pick up his basket. It isn’t there but as he turns to look around for it the Clangers lift a lid and put the basket out. The astronaut takes the basket back to his module and climbs in, shutting the trapdoor. We hope he likes blue-string pudding. The astronaut’s backchat that has been coming out of the seismometer thing sudden goes squawky and the trapdoor blasts open showering basket and blue-string. Apparently he didn’t like blue-string pudding. The astronaut is puzzled and hunts around. He lifts a lid and comes face to face with Tiny Clanger who greets him civilly. The astronaut ‘activates emergency evasive procedures’ and runs away. He trips and falls into a hole. He rolls through a cave and come face to face with the froglets who laugh at him joyfully. This calls for more evasive procedures and he runs towards the soup-wells where the soup-dragon meets him and causes him to fall head-first into a soup-well. The Clangers lower a rope and haul him out into the open. He is very soupy. They whistle up the cloud who rains on the astronaut as they scrub him with brooms. Major Clanger looks in through the astronaut’s face window and frightens him even more. This time his evasive procedures cause him to run so fast he runs into orbit and sails squawking round the planet. The Clangers fetch their rod and magnet and cast for him. They bring him down and without further ado stuff him back into his module. After a while it sets itself up and blasts off for home.
by John S. Fletcher Copyright © 1996 to 2002 Smallfilms / John S. Fletcher |
