³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Morph first popped up on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in children's programme Take Hart, alongside artist and presenter Tony Hart, in 1977.

The six-inch high terracotta character with the ability to 'morph' into innumerable forms was a big hit with young viewers.

The stop-motion character appeared mainly in one minute shorts interspersed throughout the show, with the accident-prone Morph, chattering away in his own language with meaningful gestures.

Morph appeared on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Blue Peter

Later on, Morph, who lived in a wooden pencil box in the art studio, was joined by cream-coloured Chaz, who was much more badly behaved, as well as assorted other characters including the elderly Grandmorph, a tin-foil girl called Folly, a 'pet' Nailbrush and The Very Small Creatures which were basically clay balls with eyes!

Morph continued to pop up in subsequent ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ art shows throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the 21st century, including C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's SMart, as well as having a show of his own - The Amazing Adventures of Morph.

Morph has even made the giant leap from TV to the mobile phone, with 35 shorts now available to download.

Some of the early models of Morph, along with other Aardman artwork, sets and archives were destroyed in a warehouse fire in October 2005.