Making a South Yorkshire granny into an internet sensation

That’s what award-winning Doncaster film maker Wayne Sables is aiming to discover as he begins work on a new project with the celebrated Granny Norbag!

The larger than life puppet character is the creation of Rotherham teacher, performer, composer and writer Malcolm Carratt, who began telling Granny Norbag stories to his young pupils almost 20 years ago.

His first Granny Norbag book - Granny Norbag and the Naughty Pirates - was published in 2018, illustrated by artist Nick Oldham, and was followed by more stories, songs, a podcast and a Granny Norbag stage show.

And now Malcom is working with Doncaster film maker Wayne to create a series that will take Granny Norbag beyond Rotherham and see her visit a range of UK locations, including some famous London landmarks like Buckingham Palace and cities such as Edinburgh, Manchester and York.

They are also creating material that will form part of Granny’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe show - Granny Norbag Saves The Planet - which will be on stage at the international arts event from August 15 to 18.

“I first encountered Malcolm during the Covid lockdown when he signed up for one of my online smartphone filming courses,” said Wayne.

“Granny Norbag has been a big success but to take her to the next level Malcolm felt she needed her own TV show and I was invited to film all the content.

“And going right back to the way we first met, we decided to film it on the iPhone 15 Pro with professional sound because this is a project that we want to be simple but of really outstanding TV quality.”

He went on to say: “It’s proof of what you can do with the tools you have to hand and which are already part of the creative process if you know how to utilise them correctly.

“And we’re shooting on the sort of device that people will most probably use to watch the finished films, which we expect will be screened on platforms like YouTube.”