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Television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Herbs is a television series for young children made for the BBC by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair company. It was written by Michael Bond (creator of Paddington Bear), directed by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother timeslot. There were 13 episodes in the series, each one 15 minutes long.[2]
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The Herbs | |
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Genre | Children's television |
Created by | Michael Bond |
Written by | Michael Bond |
Directed by | Ivor Wood |
Narrated by | Gordon Rollings |
Theme music composer | Tony Russell |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Graham Clutterbuck |
Producer | Ivor Wood |
Running time | 15 minutes |
Production company | FilmFair[1] |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 12 February – 6 May 1968 |
Related | |
The Adventures of Parsley (1970) |
A spin-off series entitled The Adventures of Parsley was transmitted from 6 April 1970 in the five-minute period between the end of children's TV and the BBC Evening News. This had 32 episodes, some of which were released on VHS as Parsley the Lion and Friends.
The Herbs consisted of a fantasy mix of human and animal characters inhabiting the magical walled garden of an English country estate. At the beginning of each episode, the narrator (Gordon Rollings) spoke the magic word, "Herbidacious", which caused the garden gate to open.
As with The Magic Roundabout, the sophisticated writing style and narrative delivery of The Herbs meant that the appeal was somewhat broader than was originally intended, and much of Parsley's droll humour undoubtedly went over the heads of the age group that was its main target. Consequently, it still retains a following among those who watched it when it was first broadcast.
Each character was the personification of a herb. It is said[by whom?] that Bond used quotes from Nicholas Culpeper's 17th-century book, Culpeper's Complete Herbal, to find the herbs whose botanical traits he could best reflect in the individual characters. As each character appeared in the show, they were introduced by a little signature song, which varied slightly from one episode to the next.
The major character was Parsley the Lion. In the original series Parsley did not actually speak (although he did have his own signature tune: "I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley...") but his thoughts were voiced by the narrator. Rollings' dead-pan style became a feature of the programme, and was similar to that used by Eric Thompson in his characterisation of Dougal the dog in the English version of The Magic Roundabout.
Regulars (appearing in almost all episodes)
Semi-regulars (appearing in some episodes):
Minor / one-off characters (appearing in only a few episodes):
A comic strip based on the series was drawn by Bill Mevin and published in Pippin.[3]
There were 13 episodes of The Herbs and 32 of The Adventures of Parsley. The entire collection is available on DVD in a two-disc set.[4]
No. | Title | Original air date | |
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1 | "Parsley's Tail" | 12 February 1968 | |
Parsley's tail is blown off by Sir Basil's gun and during this time, everyone is trying to help Parsley by finding him a new tail. Eventually, it is found when Sage the owl is blown out of his tree and it is all over his eyes. | |||
2 | "Sage's Nest Blows Down" | 19 February 1968 | |
Sage is still out of his tree which leads to trouble with Constable Knapweed. It is up to Pashana Bedhi to save the day for Sage. | |||
3 | "Belladonna the Witch" | 26 February 1968 | |
An evil witch named Belladona comes to the herb garden, and turns some of the Herbs into weeds with a magic potion. As more Herbs fall victim to her power, the only hope is for the transformed Parsley to wake up a sleeping Dill. | |||
4 | "Tarragon and the Eggs" | 4 March 1968 | |
After Bayleaf accidentally creates a giant plant in the garden, Parsley is sent climbing to the top, and returns with a giant egg that a reluctant Sage has to help hatch. | |||
5 | "The Chives Catch Colds" | 11 March 1968 | |
The Chives, belonging to Mr. Onion and his wife, catch a cold during a lesson, prompting Parsley to search for a cure for them. | |||
6 | "Pashana Bedhi the Snake Charmer" | 18 March 1968 | |
Pashana Bedhi's snake escapes from his basket, and everyone confuses him with Bayleaf's garden hose. | |||
7 | "Miss Jessop Tidies Up" | 25 March 1968 | |
Miss Jessop's constant tidying is upsetting everybody and it soon decided that she needs a husband. But Bayleaf is not happy when he hears who the first choice is. | |||
8 | "Parsley and the Circus Lion" | 1 April 1968 | |
Another lion roams around the Herb Garden, which leads to everyone mistaking Parsley for the rogue party, followed by Parsley deciding to imitate the lion's example. | |||
9 | "Sage's Singing Lesson" | 8 April 1968 | |
Sage wants to learn to sing, and attends lessons with Senor Solidago. But he fails miserably. | |||
10 | "Strawberry Picking" | 15 April 1968 | |
Sir Basil, Lady Rosemary, and Bayleaf are busy with the annual strawberry picking, but when they finish for the day, they find all the fruit has disappeared. | |||
11 | "Sir Basil's Fishing Expedition" | 22 April 1968 | |
Sir Basil's Fishing Expedition is ruined in the end. | |||
12 | "The Show" | 29 April 1968 | |
The other herbs put on a show for Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary, but chaos ensues. | |||
13 | "Parsley's Birthday Party" | 6 May 1968 | |
All the Herbs, except Belladonna the Witch, come together to secretly celebrate a special day, but Parsley is not allowed to know about it for some reason. |
In 1989, Tempo Video released three videos of the Herbs, each with four episodes and omitting Strawberry Picking.
Title | Release Date | Episodes |
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The Herbs: 4 Timeless Stories (V9233) | April 1989 |
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The Herbs: 4 Stories from the Classic T.V. series (V9234) | April 1989 |
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The Herbs: 4 Herbadacious Stories (92352) | November 1989 |
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In October 1989, the Strawberry Picking episode of The Herbs appeared on the BBC video release of "Watch with Mother the Next Generation" (BBCV 4280) along with Tales of the Riverbank, Pogles' Wood, Mary, Mungo and Midge and Barnaby the Bear.
On 14 June 1993, Castle Communications Plc released three videos of The Herbs with exciting episodes on each one in a slightly different combination than the earlier Tempo tapes, including Strawberry Picking, but omitting Parsley's Birthday Party.
Title | Cat. No. (Castle Vision) | Cat. No. (Playbox) | Episodes |
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The Herbs: 4 Exciting Episodes (Parsley's Tail) | CVS 4043 | PVC 148 |
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The Herbs: 4 Exciting Episodes (The Chives Catch Colds) | CVS 4044 | PVC 149 |
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The Herbs: 4 Exciting Episodes (Sage's Singing Lesson) | CVS 4045 | PVC 150 |
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In 2008 Abbey Kids released a DVD set containing all 13 episodes of the Herbs along with the 32 episodes of The Adventures of Parsley.
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