Harry's Mad

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Harry's Mad
Harry's Mad Title Screen
Format	Comedy/Drama
Created by	Dick King-Smith
Developed by	Central Independent Television
Written by	David Lloyd & Mark Billingham
Starring	Anthony Asbury (Madison voice) Gareth Parrington (Harry Holdsworth) Jackie Lye (Angie Holdsworth) Mike Walling (John Holdsworth)
Country of origin	UK
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	36
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Picture format	720x576 (4:3)
Original run	4 January 1993 – 11 March 1996
External links
IMDb profile

Harry's Mad was a children's television programme shown in the UK on CITV from 1993 to 1996. It is based upon a book written by Dick King-Smith.

Madison (animatronic parrot)

The show begins when Harry Holdsworth (Gareth Parrington) inherits his American great-uncle George's macaw named Madison. At first the Holdsworth family aren't very pleased with their new pet, but they soon start to notice that Madison is no ordinary parrot, and that he is highly intelligent and very articulate. He becomes an instant family member. As well as getting the Holdsworth's out of many problems, Madison is also the cause of many too. Terry Crumm (Mark Billingham) hears about Madison's intelligence and sets out to steal him on many occasions, but most of the time Madison foils his plans and saves the day.

Harry Holdsworth and Madison (real parrot)

In the third series, the family sell their house and move to a rather run down hotel (inherited from Aunt Agatha), Harry was studying for his GCSE's back at his old school and so wasn't featured much in this series. Instead Hattie and Jool's (Aunt Agatha's adopted children) take his place.

In the fourth and final series, Jools leaves the family and Harry returns from his GCSE's

Many guest stars appeared in Harry's Mad including Dave Lee Travis, Michaela Strachan and Steve Davis.

[edit] The Parrot

Madison was played by a living parrot in only certain scenes that required the view of his full body, such as when he was flying or perched on Harry's arm. In most other scenes, however, an animatronic parrot was used to allow Madison to talk and interact with other characters properly.

[edit] Trivia

Although the animatronic parrot was mostly accurate, there is one revealing mistake, the animatronic parrot has a totally grey beak while the real parrot has a black and white beak.

Whilst Madison is a Macaw in this series in the original book he is an African Grey Parrot^{[citation needed]}.