As a kid I always loved to watch Mr Benn, I was mesmerised by the cartoon and the adventures of the man in the bowler hat who resided at 52 Festive road. Each episode was essentially the same, Mr Benn would leave his house, see kids playing in the street, go to the costume shop and then ‘as if by magic’ the bespectacled shopkeeper would appear and help him choose an outfit. Then off Mr Benn went to the changing room and the adventures that awaited him. Costumes worn and adventures he got involved in included the red knight, cowboy, clown, spaceman and wizard to name a few.
The original series created by David McKee contained 13 episodes which were seemingly constantly repeated on BBC1 and 2 since first being screened in 1971. Odd that as a kid I must have seen it hundreds of times but Mr Benn never lost that magic, even though they numbered a scant few episodes. The bit I liked most was that there was always a memento of his adventure waiting for him when he got home or something in his suit pocket.
To my nostalgic joy Mr Benn is released on dvd next month with all 13 episodes and a recently filmed 14th episode – I can’t wait.
There a couple of good links below, the first one made me giggle as it introduces theories as to what Mr Benn was all about, there’s even a Freudian theory! The second link has some really cool retro wallpapers for your pc, including one of Mr Benn.
1 comment:
I loved Mr Benn, and I too, never got bored with it.
I was only thinking about him yesterday! I'm planning on nicking Ciff's "Top Ten" idea and one of my listings is going to be fave kids shows (if I can get ten that is!).
Mr Benn is in my top three at the mo.
It's nice to see someone else appreciateing and remenising about such a great show.
Ah those simpler times!
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