Mr Benn (TV Series 1971 - 1972)



 

Plot



Popular British children's animation series, repeated almost constantly since 1971. Mr Benn is the ordinary, bowler-hatted office worker who lives in the ordinary suburban street of Festive Road. However, when he tries on a costume in a mysterious costume shop, he steps out of the changing room into a different time and place, appropriate to his apparel. His adventures include him being a Spaceman, a Pirate and an American Indian.

 

Episode Guide & Mementoes Collected



( 1 )  The Red Knight (box of matches)     
( 2 )  The Big Game Hunter (photograph) 
( 3 )  The Clown (red nose)             
( 4 )  The Balloonist (medal)         
( 5 )  The Wizard (a jar)              
( 6 )  The Spaceman (lump of rock)
( 7 )  The Caveman (stone hammer)        
( 8 )  The Cook (wooden spoon)               
( 9 )  The Zoo-Keeper (parrot's feather)
(10)  The Diver (a shell)
(11)  The Cowboy (Sherrif's badge)
(12)  The Magic Carpet (bottle stopper)
(13)  The Pirate (Jolly Roger flag)
(14)  The Gladiator (whistle)





Characters





 







Mr Benn

Mr Benn lived in a terraced house (at 52 Festive Road) and even dressed in his suit and bowler hat at weekends (maybe he didn't earn a lot of money to buy more clothes?).I feel that in the real world, Mr Benn didn't have the most exciting life and didn't make the difference to others. But when he was invited to a Fancy Dress party, he had to hire a costume and he came across his local Fancy Dress Shop. This was the day his life would change and he could at last be someone and make the difference (he never did go to the Fancy Dress party - he'd had too much adventure in a day).  When he walked through the other changing room door, into an adventure, he used all his knowledge and skill to help the people he came across:When he was a Knight, he helped a Dragon, after he was banished when a match seller framed him for some fires. He decided to go and tell the King the truth.  When he was a Hunters assistant, he did everything in his power to stop him shooting animals, by saying that the animals were too small for such a great hunter. He plotted against the hunter by hatching a plan with the largest of all the animals - the Elephants.   When he was a cook, he hatched a plan to get Princess Annabella to eat. He invited all the poor children from the area, to a banquet at the palace. Here they ate loads, and offered the Princess some food, which she ate.As mentioned earlier, Mr Benn always came back with a souvenir, so don't be surprised to find his house clogged up with them.    

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The Shopkeeper

The shopkeeper was a strange person. Well, do you know anyone in London that wears a Fez (please no emails to tell me about your Fez wearing friend!).He ran the Fancy Dress Shop down a back lane. This shop must have been one of the more classier Fancy Dress shops, as all his costumes looked so authentic, compared to some of the opposition. But he did have an advantage with the costumes, as he could go back or forward in time to get the original ones.  In his shop, he used to appear out of thin air (as if by magic), which didn't seem to frighten Mr Benn at all? I would have thought the shopkeeper would have kept quiet about his magic powers and the ability to travel to other places in time. Maybe he didn't expect Mr Benn to go through the other door and maybe he is the only other person to know this secret...who knows? But he seemed very happy to allow Mr Benn to have a magical adventure and amazingly enough, not pay to hire a costume outfit.   He would again appear at the end of Mr Benn's adventure, disguised as some one else and would try to usher him through a door, which would lead back to his shop