The Herbs

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The Herbs was a BBC TV series for young children. It was written by Michael Bond (creator of Paddington Bear), produced by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation (the technique used for Wallace and Gromit) and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother timeslot.

There were only ever 12 episodes in the series, each episode was 15 minutes long.

A follow-up 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 Six O'Clock News.

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 spoke the magic word, "Herbidacious", which caused the garden gate to open.

1 Characters
- 1.1 The major characters
2 Episodes
3 External links

[edit] Characters

Each character took his or her name from that of a herb. It is said 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. 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, Gordon Rollings. His 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.

[edit] The major characters

Parsley 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!
Dill 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.
Sir Basil
Lady Rosemary
Constable Knapweed
Sage the Owl
Bayleaf the Gardener
Aunt Mint
Mr and Mrs Onion and the Chives - Mr Onion was the schoolmaster for the Chives.
Tarragon the Dragon
Belladonna the Witch - The evil Belladonna actually only ever appeared once in the series; she was considered by the BBC to be too frightening for children, and so her first appearance would also be her last. She did however leave behind her broomstick, which was occasionally used as a plot device by Parsley.

There were also other minor characters, including Pashana Bedhi, an Indian fakir and snake charmer that today would be considered by some to be something of a racial stereotype. It has even been suggested that the inclusion of this character is one reason why the BBC does not repeat The Herbs [1], though it has been shown on Channel 4, and, currently, the satellite channel Noggin.

As with The Magic Roundabout, the sophisticated style of writing 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 something of a cult status among those who watched it when it was first broadcast.