The Adventures of Sir Prancelot

*The Adventures of Sir Prancelot*
The Adventures of Sir Prancelot
Created by	John Ryan
Narrated by	Peter Hawkins
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	31
Production
Running time	5 minutes per episode
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	1972

The Adventures of Sir Prancelot is a British children's animated television programme written and produced by John Ryan for the John Ryan Studios company. It followed the adventures of Sir Prancelot, an eccentric inventor-knight who heads for the Crusades in the Holy Land. It was first transmitted on BBC 1 on Thursday, 13 January 1972.

Plot

To escape both his bank manager and his overbearing wife Lady Histeria, Prancelot decides to join the crusades. He is dismayed when he learns that Histeria intends to accompany him and eventually the entire household – including the children Sim and Sue, the miserly majordomo Girth, a cockney minstrel (who is also the show's narrator) and several serfs – set sail for adventure. They repeatedly fall foul of the dastardly Count Otto "The Blot" but always escape by some contrivance of Sir Prancelot himself. After many unlikely adventures they arrive in the Holy Land to discover they are 50 years too late. After a final showdown with Count Otto they return to England in a rocket ship also invented by Sir Prancelot.

Background

The Sir Prancelot animation came from the same stable as Captain Pugwash and was in a similar style.

Narration

All voices were performed by Peter Hawkins. The story featured the narration of The Minstrel character, whose Cockney accent was rather reminiscent of Michael Caine. The music was composed by Alan Parker.

Characters

Sir Prancelot, an inventor-knight and would-be Crusader
Lady Histeria, Prancelot's wife
Sim and Sue, their children
Master Girth, the castle majordomo who administers the accounts
The Minstrel, a cockney lute-player who also serves as the show's narrator
Bert and Harry, the serfs (there were several other serfs who were never named)
Pig William, Lady Histeria's pet pig (who she frequently refers to as Pigwig)
Count Otto, the show's main antagonist, sworn enemy of Sir Prancelot
Duke Uglio, a greedy and bad-tempered Italian aristocrat

Episodes

Crumblecreek Crusade
The Lady Hysteria
A Few Items of Baggage
A Weighty Problem
On the Rocks
Count Otto
Thunderstruck
Landfall
Kidnapped
Hostile Enemy Intentions
The Haunted Watch-tower
The Flight
Flying Crusade
Duke Uglio
An Ugly Affair
Behind the Times
Not Cricket
Balloon Blitz
Ships of the Desert
A Nice Cup of tea
Common Marker
Flying Carpet
Open Sesame
High Treason
Homeward Bound
Hurry to the Rescue
Gold for Otto
Mystery in the Tower
Blast Off
Splash Down
Command Performance

References

External links

The Adventures of Sir Prancelot at IMDb