The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley
CLASSIC BBC KID'S ANIMATION DEVISED & WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BOND
ON THIS PAGE.....Of all the video releases,these 2 are worthy of special mention because they feature
specially shot footage using the original Herbs models.
So......during one particular discussion about childhood tv favourites,both Simes and Sibs revealed a particular soft spot for you know who.Which proved to be surprisingly empowering for all those listeners of a similar age who'd previously thought they really shouldn't admit to such things.
And it actually sparked such a large response that the producers,Filmfair,were finally persuaded to take a punt and get some product on the shelves -which had been scandalously Herb-free up until then.
So,whether they like it or not,Sybil and Simon's place in Herbal history is assured.
And their reward at the time was to front the 2 examples pictured above.
UPSIDES It's great to see all the original models still in great nick,and to be able to guage their actual,real life size in relation to humans.
It's also nice that they actually went to the time and expense of animating them,rather than just having them as inanimate topics of conversation.Although it's not a true mix of live action and animation,because humans and herbs are never seen together in the same frame with both moving.But that was never going to happen with the time and budgetry constraints.So whilst it's hardly a feast,even a tasty morsel is a banquet to a starving man.
But,perhaps most important of all,it's possibly the last time we'll ever see those models in new material.Because you suspect that if the series are ever revisited,they'll be done using CGI rather than stop-motion.Which is a pity.Because whilst their new young audience would have no historical baggage to judge them against,I guarantee it'd be a major letdown for anyone who enjoyed the originals.Although,at the time of writing,we're struggling to get a complete dvd boxset nevermind an entirely new version,so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
DOWNSIDES The main downside is that all the insert footage is exactly the same for the second video as the first,with only the chosen four episodes being different.Which is why no reference is made to any specific episodes in the links. All of which is a bit of a shame,and as there's nothing on the sleeves to let you know,then you'd have the right to feel pretty short-changed if you'd bought both.
The other regret is that we don't get to see or hear anything from Ivor Wood himself.Which may have been because they wanted to create that same original feeling of being a rather privileged uninvited guest into a human-free world.Or simply because he didn't fancy being in front of the camera and found something else to do that day !
And he wasn't involved with the animated segways either,as these were done by Martin Pullen who also doubled as director with his wife,Jo,acting as writer / producer.Both having worked on numerous productions with Filmfair and elsewhere.With credits ranging from Huxley the Pig right through to the animated version of Viz Comic's "The Fat Slags" where Martin was co-director.
So,an excellent replacement and a job well done.
But whoever thought of asking 2 non-actors to act "spotaneously" should definitely be held accountable.
It never works,and it looks a bit cringeworthy here in places.Which is unfortunate and more than a little unfair to expect them to be able to carry it off. Although they do carry-the-day by at least looking happy to be there,which always helps. And even Simon actually gets quite animated (ho ho),and does a passable rendition of Sage's song complete with wing action.Ok,he looks a bit sheepish doing it but nevermind.And no-one but no-one does 'enthusiasm' better than Sybil.
So fair play to them both on their commitment levels.
FOOTNOTE 1 Sadly the original narrator,Gordon Rollings had passed away by the time these were made.
So the Herbs' voices for the link segments were done by actor Charles Pemberton.
He was clearly told to be as true as possible to the original accents and intonations,and it's actually a
pretty good impersonation of Gordon if you didn't know any better.
They were contemporaries and both very much "jobbing actors".And I'm not sure if this is purely
coincidental,but they also appeared alongside each other in the famous 80's John Smith's beer commercials
-see Gordon's page.
Charles Pemberton's acting cv is on the IMDB site, here.
FOOTNOTE 2
This last observation probably depends on how you view late 80's fashion.But Simon does look like a slightly apologetic Bros clone who could well have had a big gay following.And Sybil opts for a whacky dj sweater and sock ensemble, which makes the Herbs gathered round her feet look positively dowdy by comparison.
Sock Shop, Timmy Mallet,......ah,it all comes flooding back.Were those really the days ? What did I look like ?
Well,an adonis.....obviously.And actually in a suit most of the time.But you should've seen me on my days off lol.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
? Simon Mayo presents the weekday 1-4pm show on BBC Radio Five Live,amongst other things.
?? Sybil Roscoe was actually Simon's predecessor in that Five timeslot,until she rather surprisingly left to work on Channel 4's cricket coverage.I'm not sure exactly what she's up to now since they lost the rights,but I understand she writes on cricket for The Telegraph.And hopefully she's doing very nicely thankyou.
??? Radio Two has morphed into a remodelled 80's version of Radio One and enjoys great audience figs.
???? Radio One has re-positioned itself as the yoof station it was always intended to be and doesn't !
????? And the whereabouts of those original Herbs models ? Not sure.They may be with the Woods family,although Ivor sadly passed away in October 2004.Or with the current rights holders,or simply have been disposed of as they obviously would have deteriorated with age.
CONTENT The opening shot shows a hand-written invitation from The Herbs to come and visit them.And,suitably persuaded,we cut to our 2 "jocks" walking towards what's presumably either Ivor Woods London mews home or a Filmfair office,accompanied by a bit of gratuitous map jiggling and some "are you sure this it ?" banter.
It is of course,and the front door magically swings open (nice touch).Undeterred by the fact no-one's around ("they must be at lunch") they go in and have a wander round -as you would- and soon discover all the lifeless models lined up on some shelves (all except Bayleaf for some reason) They take Parsley and Dill over to a sofa and with Simon trying to remember Dill's song,he comes to life and sings it for them.(Dill not Simon !) Then after a bit of chat between the four,Parsley calls all the other characters over and they climb down from the shelving and congregate at their feet.More general interaction between humans and Herbs follows,which act as links between the original episode re-runs -each of which is started by Dill pawing the 'play' button on a remote.
At the end,the gang all return to the shelves and our visitors say their farewell's and exit before the occupants return from lunch.And being uninvited guests of the desirable kind,they don't make off with the VCR either !
It's amazing how many London mews properties look so ordinary,bordering on the tatty.Especially when you consider they cost a bloody fortune.
In the words of that famous 13th century chinese philosopher ..........
" funny innit "
" If you'd done as I told you
and said Disney were your favourites,
we'd be in Florida by now ! "
( Oh,and there's Dill on table next to remote,
and Parsley nxt to Simon btw. )
I sent a similar letter to
Frank Sinatra
Didn't work though.
They only come to life ................
with a phone call from their agent
An understated foot bottom left ........
...... gives way to socks in full bloom,
And a fashion fine from Knapweed
This is a link to Simon's Fab FM days.
And as "The Unofficial History of Radio One" it's a lot more besides.
Utterly poptastic mate and just remember,"it's all for charidee." (although,of course,they don't like to talk about it)
The guy operating Simon is newsmeister Rod McKenzie .And,no,Sybil isn't standing in a hole -she's really quite petite.
BACKGROUND
At the end of the 80's,Simon Mayo hosted the Radio One Breakfast Show with help from Sybil Ruscoe & friends.
A time when the station was still in Smashy and Nicey Fab FM mode.
WIth "posse's","our tunes","quack,quack,oops", Gary Davies' tan,DLT's ego,Steve Wright's plagiarism................and so on.
Comfy cuppa listening for an ageing m.o.r demographic, where the poptastic playlist was slotted in between the 'what yer upta at the weekend,mate ? ' type-chat. Oh,happy days !
