The Herbs
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.
A spin-off series entitled The Adventures of Parsley
was transmitted from 6 April 1970 in the 5-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 a 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.
'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
. 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
.
in a two-disc set.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair
FilmFair
FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced stop motion children's television series and animated cartoons from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s...
company. It was written by Michael Bond
Michael Bond
Thomas Michael Bond, OBE is an English author, most celebrated for his Paddington Bear series of books.-Life:Bond was educated at Presentation College, a Catholic school in Reading...
(creator of Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....
), directed by Ivor Wood
Ivor Wood
Ivor Wood was a prolific Anglo-French stop motion director, producer, animator and writer known for his work on children's television series....
using 3D stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
model animation and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother
Watch with Mother
Watch With Mother was a cycle of children's programmes broadcast from 1952 by BBC Television which was created by Freda Lingstrom.It was the first BBC television programme specifically aimed at pre-school children, like its radio equivalent Listen with Mother that also started in 1950...
timeslot. There were 13 episodes in the series, each one 15 minutes long.
A spin-off series entitled The Adventures of Parsley
The Adventures of Parsley
The Adventures of Parsley was a 32-episode children's television series animated in stop motion. Produced by FilmFair, The Adventures of Parsley was a spin-off of The Herbs. The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley were created and written by Michael Bond, directed by Ivor Wood, and distributed by...
was transmitted from 6 April 1970 in the 5-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 a country estate. At the beginning of each episode, the narrator (Gordon Rollings
Gordon Rollings
Gordon Charles Rollings was a British actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England and started his career in radio in Israel...
) spoke the magic word, "Herbidacious", which caused the garden gate to open.
As with The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout was a children's television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot...
, 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.
Characters
Each character was the personification of a herb. It is said that Bond used quotes from Nicholas CulpeperNicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician and the Complete Herbal , which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick ,...
'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
Parsley the Lion
Parsley the Lion is a fictional character from the BBC1 children's show The Herbs, created by Michael Bond. There was a follow-up series of 5-minute episodes shown in 1970 called The Adventures of Parsley, which featured all of the other characters from the original show.-Character:He is a simple,...
. 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
Eric Thompson
Eric Norman Thompson was an English actor, producer and television presenter.Thompson was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of George Henry and Anne Thompson, and grew up Rudgwick, Sussex, attending Collyer's School, Horsham...
in his characterisation of Dougal the dog in the English version of The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout was a children's television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot...
.
The characters
- ParsleyParsleyParsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
the Lion – Parsley the Lion was a friendly but shy herb. He always sat on the path in front of the herb garden to welcome the viewers. He was very frightened of strangers until he got to know them. He was usually very mischievous with the other Herbs and was able to 'see' the viewers (a skill he shared with Dill), whereas the other characters could not. He hated getting his tail wet! - SageCommon sageSalvia officinalis is a small, perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the family Lamiaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region, though it has naturalized in many places throughout the world...
the Owl – An irate owl who was almost always in a bad mood. He also fell out of his nest a lot, and hated getting his feathers wet. He couldn't sing if his life depended on it, and was roped into helping to hatch Tarragon's egg. His song was "I'm a rather fat feathery owl called Sage / I'm not at all happy, in fact in a rage!" - DillDillDill is a perennial herb. It is the sole species of the genus Anethum, though classified by some botanists in a related genus as Peucedanum graveolens C.B.Clarke.-Growth:...
the Dog – Dill was an excitable and hyperactive dog who was always getting into scrapes, which provided Parsley with a rich source for his laconic comments. He was constantly chasing his tail, and a source of great annoyance to Constable Knapweed. - Sir BasilBasilBasil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....
– The "King of The Herbs"- wore a deerstalkerDeerstalkerA deerstalker is a type of hat that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the hat's popular association with Sherlock Holmes, it is also a stereotypical hat of a detective.-Construction:...
and had a fondness for hunting, although he wasn't particularly good at it. - Lady RosemaryRosemaryRosemary, , is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs, and is one of two species in the genus Rosmarinus...
– Sir Basil's wife. - Constable Knapweed – A policeman who was constantly writing Herbs' names in his notebook for no real reason.
- BayleafBay leafBay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine...
the Gardener – Always hard at work in the garden. Worked for Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary. - Aunt MintMenthaMentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
- An old Auntie-like woman who was nearly always seen sitting in a rocking chair and sewing. She did not appear in every episode. - Mr OnionOnionThe onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
– The schoolmaster. - Mrs Onion – His wife, who was always crying.
- The Chives – There were ten chives, who were very difficult to tell apart.
- TarragonTarragonTarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood. Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb". It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India,...
the DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
– A character who did not appear in every episode. This was perhaps on account of the fact that everything he breathed fire at disappeared; he hatched from an egg that fell from a kingdom in the sky, after Sage had helped to incubateAvian incubationIncubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
it. - Pashana BedhiPlectranthus amboinicusPlectranthus amboinicus is a tender fleshy perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae with an oregano-like flavor and odor, native to Southern and Eastern Africa, but widely cultivated and naturalised in the Old and New World Tropics...
– A snake-charmer, who did not appear in all individual episodes. One of his roles is to help Sage learn how to sing. - Good King HenryGood King HenryGood King Henry , also called Poor-man's Asparagus, Perennial Goosefoot, Lincolnshire Spinach or Markeryis a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe....
– Very little is known about this elusive character, perhaps because Sir Basil is dubbed "King of The Herbs". - Miss Jessop – Note: Miss Jessop's Upright is a variety of rosemary.
- BelladonnaDeadly nightshadeAtropa belladonna or Atropa bella-donna, commonly known as Belladonna, Devil's Berries, Death Cherries or Deadly Nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The foliage and berries are extremely toxic, containing tropane...
the Witch – The evil Belladonna actually only ever appeared in one episode of The Herbs. She wished to take over the Herb garden, and have all the innocent Herbs in her power. However, she was considered by the BBC to be too frightening for children, and so her first appearance would also be her last; she managed to revert Parsley, Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary to their natural herb states, but she was driven away by Dill due to the old tradition of 'dill' being planted to keep witches away. She did however leave behind her broomstick, which was occasionally used as a plot device by Parsley, such as helping him create a carriage for Good King Henry and to burn out Taragon's fire. - Senjor Solidago – The music teacher who is supposed to teach Sage to sing. He fails miserably.
Episodes
There were 13 episodes of The Herbs and 32 of The Adventures of Parsley. The entire collection is available on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in a two-disc set.
| Title | Broadcast Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| *Episode 01 – Parsley's Tail | 12th February 1968 | |
| *Episode 02 – Sage's Nest Blows Down | 19th February 1968 | |
| *Episode 03 – Belladonna the Witch | 26th February 1968 | |
| *Episode 04 – Tarragon and the Eggs | 4th March 1968 | |
| *Episode 05 – The Chives Catch Cold | 11th March 1968 | |
| *Episode 06 – Pashana Bedhi the Snake Charmer | 18th March 1968 | |
| *Episode 07 – Miss Jessop Tidies Up | 25th March 1968 | |
| *Episode 08 – Parsley and the Circus Lion | 1st April 1968 | |
| *Episode 09 – Sage's Singing Lesson | 8th April 1968 | |
| *Episode 10 – Strawberry Picking | 15th April 1968 | |
| *Episode 11 – Sir Basil's Fishing Expedition | 22nd April 1968 | |
| *Episode 12 – The Show | 29th April 1968 | |
| *Episode 13 – Parsley's Birthday Party | 6th May 1968 |
External links
- http://theherbs.homestead.com/
- http://www.jedisparadise.co.uk/2/TheHerbs.htm