The Herbs

The Herbs
Genre	Children's television
Created by	Michael Bond
Written by	Michael Bond
Directed by	Ivor Wood
Narrated by	Gordon Rollings
Country of origin	England
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer(s)	Graham Clutterbuck
Producer(s)	Ivor Wood
Running time	15 minutes
Production company(s)	FilmFair
Distributor	Abbey Home Media (DVD-Video)
Release
Original network	BBC1
Picture format	405-line
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	12 February (1968-02-12) – 6 May 1968 (1968-05-06)
Chronology
Followed by	The Adventures of Parsley (1970)
External links
The Herbs and its sequel, The Adventures of Parsley

The Herbs is a television series for young children made for the BBC by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair company. It was written by Michael Bond (creator of Paddington Bear), directed by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation and first transmitted from 12 February 1968 in the BBC1 Watch with Mother timeslot. There were 13 episodes in the series, each one 15 minutes long.

A spin-off series entitled The Adventures of Parsley was transmitted from 6 April 1970 in the 5-minute period between the end of children's TV and the BBC Evening News. This had 32 episodes, some of which were released on VHS as Parsley the Lion and Friends.

The Herbs consisted of a fantasy mix of human and animal characters inhabiting the magical walled garden of a country estate. At the beginning of each episode, the narrator (Gordon Rollings) spoke the magic word, "Herbidacious", which caused the garden gate to open.

As with The Magic Roundabout, the sophisticated writing style and narrative delivery of The Herbs meant that the appeal was somewhat broader than was originally intended, and much of Parsley's droll humour undoubtedly went over the heads of the age group that was its main target. Consequently, it still retains a following among those who watched it when it was first broadcast.

Characters

Each character was the personification of a herb. It is said that Bond used quotes from Nicholas Culpeper's 17th Century book, Culpeper's Complete Herbal, to find the herbs whose botanical traits he could best reflect in the individual characters. As each character appeared in the show, they were introduced by a little signature song, which varied slightly from one episode to the next.

The major character was Parsley the Lion. Parsley did not actually speak (although he did have his own signature tune: "I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley....") but his thoughts were voiced by the narrator. Rollings' dead-pan style became a feature of the programme, and was similar to that used by Eric Thompson in his characterisation of Dougal the dog in the English version of The Magic Roundabout.

The characters

Regulars (appearing in almost all episodes)

• Parsley the Lion – Parsley the Lion was the shy but friendly main character. He always sat on the path in front of the herb garden to welcome the viewers. He was very frightened of strangers until he got to know them. He was one of only two Herbs who seemed aware of the viewers. He hated getting his tail wet. He could not be heard by the other Herbs.
• Sage the Owl – A bad-tempered owl who was almost always in a bad mood. He fell out of his nest a lot, and hated getting his feathers wet.
• Dill the Dog – Dill was a hyperactive dog who was always getting into scrapes, which provided Parsley with a rich source for his laconic comments. He was constantly chasing his tail, and a source of great annoyance to Constable Knapweed.
• Sir Basil – The "King of The Herbs"- wore a deerstalker and had a fondness for hunting, although he wasn't particularly good at it.
• Lady Rosemary – Sir Basil's prim and proper wife.
• Constable Knapweed – A policeman who was constantly writing Herbs' names and unimportant events in his notebook for no real reason.
• Bayleaf the Gardener – Always hard at work in the garden. Worked for Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary.

Semi-regulars (appearing in some episodes)

• Aunt Mint – An old Auntie-like woman who was nearly always seen sitting in a rocking chair and sewing.
• Mr Onion – Father and schoolmaster of the Chives.
• Mrs Onion – His wife, who was always crying.
• The Chives – The Onions' children. There were ten chives. They were always referred to as "The Chives", and never given individual names. It was not even specified whether any of them were male / female.
• Tarragon the Dragon – A friendly but clumsy dragon. This was perhaps on account of the fact that everything he breathed fire at disappeared; he hatched from an egg that fell from the top of a tarragon plant in the sky.

Minor / One-off characters (appearing in only a few episodes)

• Pashana Bedhi – An Indian snake-charmer, who only appeared in a few episodes.
• Good King Henry – A minor character, who only appears briefly in the series.
• Miss Jessop – A very fussy middle-aged woman.
• Belladonna the Witch – The evil Belladonna was a one-off character. She turned several of the Herbs into weeds, but was finally thwarted by Dill, as this herb was used to ward off witches in real life. She left behind her broom, which Dill used to restore the transfigured Herbs to their original state, and which Parsley sometimes used in later episodes.
• Signor Solidago – Another one-off character, Signor Solidago is an opera singer from Italy who attempted to teach Sage (and very briefly, Parsley) to sing. He failed miserably on both counts, eventually storming out of his own classroom.

Episode list

There were 13 episodes of The Herbs and 32 of The Adventures of Parsley. The entire collection is available on DVD in a two-disc set.

No.	Title	Original air date
01	"Parsley's Tail"	12 February 1968 (1968-02-12)
Parsley's tail is blown off by Sir Basil's gun and during this time, everyone is trying to help Parsley by finding him a new tail. Eventually, it is found when Sage the owl is blown out of his tree and it is all over his eyes.
02	"Sage's Nest Blows Down"	19 February 1968 (1968-02-19)
Sage is still out of his tree which leads to trouble with Constable Knapweed. It is up to Pashana Bedhi to save the day for Sage.
03	"Belladonna the Witch"	26 February 1968 (1968-02-26)
An evil witch named Belladona comes to the herb garden, and turns some of the Herbs into weeds with a magic potion.
04	"Tarragon and the Eggs"	4 March 1968 (1968-03-04)
A reluctant Sage has to help hatch an egg which appears in the herb garden.
05	"The Chives Catch Colds"	11 March 1968 (1968-03-11)
The Chives, belonging to Mr. Onion and his wife, catch a cold during a lesson.
06	"Pashana Bedhi the Snake Charmer"	18 March 1968 (1968-03-18)
Pashana Bedhi's snake escapes from his basket, and everyone confuses him with Bayleaf's garden hose.
07	"Miss Jessop Tidies Up"	25 March 1968 (1968-03-25)
Miss Jessop's constant tidying is upsetting everybody and it soon decided that she needs a husband. But Bayleaf is not happy when he hears who the first choice is.
08	"Parsley and the Circus Lion"	1 April 1968 (1968-04-01)
Another lion looms the Herb Garden with everyone thinking it is Parsley.
09	"Sage's Singing Lesson"	8 April 1968 (1968-04-08)
Sage wants to learn to sing, and attends lessons with Senor Solidago. But he fails miserably.
10	"Strawberry Picking"	15 April 1968 (1968-04-15)
Sir Basil, Lady Rosemary, and Bayleaf are busy with the annual strawberry picking, but when they finish for the day, they find all the fruit has disappeared.
11	"Sir Basil's Fishing Expedition"	22 April 1968 (1968-04-22)
Sir Basil's Fishing Expedition is ruined in the end.
12	"The Show"	29 April 1968 (1968-04-29)
The other herbs put on a show for Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary, but chaos ensues.
13	"Parsley's Birthday Party"	6 May 1968 (1968-05-06)
All the Herbs, except Belladonna the Witch, come together to celebrate a special day secretly which Parsley is not allowed to know about for some reason.

External links

• Official website
• The Herbs at Jedi's Paradise