Synopsis:

For over a hundred years, British animation has been employed to sell everything from soap powder to democracy and, in the process, established itself as a world-class industry. Using material found in government and public archives, private collections and sheds, the three-part series traces the use of animation as the perfect sales tool from jingoistic cartoons in the First World War to MTV.

1. The Art of Persuasion looks at how the fledgling British animation industry benefited from the influx of Eastern European émigrés in the 1930s and how it became firmly established as a result of the government's patronage in the Second World War, when cartoons were seen as a way to sugar the pill of official information.

2. Something to Say: The irreverent side of animation came through in the trippy delights of Yellow Submarine, counter-culture classics like Monty Python's Flying Circus and dark modern visions such as Monkey Dust.

3. Visions of Childhood: Magical Worlds created by animators have had a huge influence on generations of children. The film includes clips from programmes such as Noggin the Nog, Bagpuss, The Wombles and Wallace and Gromit.