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The differences between the series
Overview
The Adventures of Parsley sequel was different in quite a few ways.
Largely as a result of 2 things:-
1. A reduction in episode length from 15 minutes to 5.
2. A move in the schedules from The Herbs "Watch With Mother" lunchtime slot,to the earlier evening slot just before the news that The Magic Roundabout had occupied.
In short ...
The Herbs was tasked solely with providing entertainment for pre-schoolers with some morality tales and a bit of botanical knowledge thrown in.
Whereas the sequel could forget the "worthy" undertones and go for all-out comedy due to the shorter runtime and more grown-up time slot.
Sequel discards.
2 things that were in The Herbs were dropped completely from the sequel :-
1. Out went .... any references about the character's plant origins.
Which was really just a rather laboured attempt to fulfill the BBC remit to educate as well as entertain.And didn't work well.
and,
2. Out went .... all the character's signature tunes.
As with many animated kids' contemporaries,like Trumpton and Camberwick Green,they were used in The Herbs as a useful narrative device.But really weren't needed for a sequel,even if the time had allowed.
Location
All the action still took place within the confines of the same walled garden.
But the set design took on a far more brightly-coloured psychadelic look that fans of The Magic Roundabout would instantly relate to......and a series which chief Herbs animator and designer,Ivor Wood,had also been heavily involved with.
Characters voices
In a major departure,all the animals were given voices.
In the original,only the humans "spoke" with the 3 animals - Parsley,Dill & Sage - being restricted to nods in response to questions from the narrator,accompanied by the odd roar {parsley},woof {dill} or squawk {sage}.
Not that their new-found voices came as too much of a shock,because the narrator had used them in the Herbs when singing their little signature songs.So it was all pretty logical and seamless really.
And it didn't involve any more work for the animators either,because none of the characters ever opened their mouths to "speak" in either series- except briefly,to reinforce an exclamation like "ouch !" or a "woof !".
And for no other reason than it was simply too time-consuming and expensive to do.
Which was fine,because kid's simply took it as read that the words came from the individual concerned anyway.
Characters
There were no new characters introduced at all for the sequel.
And the 2 main winners by far were Parsley and Dill,whose newly-acquired voices enabled them to be transformed into a fully fledged double act around which the entire series was based.
Two inseperable friends but with two completely different personalities,providing plenty of comedic possibilities of course -which Michael Bond was only too happy to exploit.
And,as such,their place in animated kids' tv history owes far more to their appearances in the sequel than the original.
Most of their Herbs colleagues did pop up at some stage,but they were largely reduced to cameos and walk-ons.
With the 2 notable exceptions being Knapweed and Bayleaf,who formed quite a strong comedy double act of their own, although mainly as fall guys for the 2 new stars.
And,to a lesser degree,even Sage blossomed,despite being a bird of few words even when blessed with the means to speak them !
The entire cast list is discussed in detail on the characters page
And that ends this overview for now
* Both series were commissioned by the BBC.
and devised & written by "Paddington Bear" author Michael Bond.
And if you're interested in his career leading up to their creation then take a look at the "author-pre herbs" page
* Both series are set in the same,ostensibly normal,Victorian walled garden.
But it's a surreal world.
Home to classic British human caricatures and some animals with distinctly human characteristics.
See "characters" page
All were named after garden herbs,whose traits they were supposed to share.
But the botanical connection was only mentioned in the original and had disappeared completely by the time of the sequel - amongst some other significant changes.
And all the differences between the 2 series are outlined further down this page.
* Both series were shot by the Filmfair production company under the auspices of legendary head animator Ivor Wood.
And both used stop motion animation,with actual 3D models & sets. See "making of" page
* Both series were contemporaries of other BBC animated kids classics like ....
The Clangers (first shown 1969) ..... Camberwick Green (1966) ..... Trumpton (1967) ..... The Pogles (1968) .....
and Mary Mungo & Midge (1969) ..... whilst Bagpuss came out a bit later in 1974.
But despite being just as popular at the time they struggle to get similar recognition now for some reason.
* Most widely remembered bit ?
Arguably "Herbidacious" -the magic word used by the narrator at the start of every Herbs episode to open the garden gate.
Although it should be noted that it wasn't used at all in the sequel. And here's the audio
* Dvds
Abbey Home Media secured the rights to bring out the entire Filmfair back-catalogue on dvd.
And some initial piecemeal releases were finally capped off with a full boxset in 2008.
See the "dvd" page
* Recent UK TV exposure
The last known sighting was a residency on NickleOdeon's Nickjr channel up until 2009.
But with so many channels these days it's entirely possible they've resurfaced somewhere .... or if they haven't,they will.
And,failing that,there's always the complete boxset of course.
* Spin-off merchandise
There hasn't been anything licensed for years,largely reflecting it's absence from mainstream terrestial tv.
But there was a fair bit produced from 1968 to the early 70s. Much of which still crops up on ebay.
And all listed on the "toys,books etc" page
The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley
On this page ..... A fact-filled overview of both series .... and how they differ.
The Herbs ..... the original series.
One series only,consisting of 12 x 15 minute episodes.
First episode was broadcast on BBC 1,February 1968,in the lunchtime "Watch With Mother" slot.
The Adventures of Parsley ..... the sequel
One series only,consisting of 32 x 5 minute episodes.
First episode was broadcast on BBC1,April 1970,in the slot previously occupied by The Magic Roundabout just before the early evening news.
