- [first lines]
- Narrator: Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a little girl and her name was Emily, and she had a shop.
- [picture of Emily's shop appears]
- Narrator: There it is. It was rather an unusual shop because it didn't sell anything. You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost, and Emily had found, and brought home to Bagpuss.
- Narrator: [quoting Emily's magic words] / Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss, / Old fat furry cat-puss, / Wake up, and look at this thing that I bring, / Wake up, be bright, be golden and light, / Bagpuss, oh hear what I sing.
- Narrator: Emily's cat Bagpuss: the most important, the most beautiful, the most magical... saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world.