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The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley
CLASSIC BBC KID'S ANIMATION DEVISED & WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BOND
PARSLEY THE LION
Same book -2 print runs
Left-The 1st publication in 1972
By William Collins aka Armada Lion.
Right is a 1994 reprint,
published by Diamond Books.
It's a collection of 9 episodes
from The Adventures of Parsley
Written by Michael Bond
Drawings by Ivor Wood.
No stills
1. Dill's Dabbles
2. Egg Trouble
3. Parsley's Endurance Test
4. Parsley's Invention
5. Mr.Onion and Self-defence
6. Dill's Television
7. Parsley's Car
8. Parsley's Breakdown
9. Dill's "Who's Who" Entry.
A FEW THOUGHTS.
If you wanted a written demonstration of why The Adventures of Parsley struck a chord with mums and dads as well as their kids,then here it is.
The Herbs was a Watch With Mother lunchtime vehicle designed solely to keep the tots happy for 15 minutes.But the sequel filled the early evening slot vacated by The Magic Roundabout,so it also had to cater for the adult Dougal fans,ostensibly waiting for the news.
So the writing tries to give a little something to everyone.And does a pretty good job.
With a bit of dry sardonic wit for the adults and a bit of slapstick for the kids (or should that be the other way round) Plenty of gags for all ages and a bit of pocket philosophy thrown in for good measure.
Question:- What links The 2 Herbs series with The Magic Roundabout ? Well,the timeslot, the fact Ivor Woods worked on both.........and the influence of 60's comic Tony Hancock.
Because Parsley's lines sound as though they could have been written for him.And Eric Thompson practically did a vocal impersonation for Dougal.Which is a testimony to just how big a star he was around the time they were both written.
PARSLEY PARADE This was also brought out in 1972 to accompany the 'Parsley the Lion" one.And simply had some more stories lifted from The Adventures of Parsley.Although I've not seen any later reprints of this one.
All the other publishing details that apply to "Parsley the Lion" apply to "Parsley Parade", and the stories are as follows:-
1: The Sound of the Sea 2: Holiday Time 3: Looking into the Future
4: Exam Time 5: Looking for Work 6: Parsley's Telegram
7: Dill's Stately Kennel 8: Dill's Restaurant 9: Dill's Pop Group.
CONCLUSION As these books feature scripts from The Adventures of Parsley rather than The Herbs,then they're actually quite an engaging read for an adult.And if you enjoyed the programmes as a kid then they've got to be worth a couple of quid of anyone's eBay money.
