''Bod'' is a

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

children's television programme first shown in 1975, with thirteen episodes, based on four original ''Bod'' books by Joanne and Michael Cole. It is a cutout animated cartoon series narrated by

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation co ...

and Maggie Henderson with music by

Derek Griffiths Derek Griffiths (born 15 July 1946) is a British actor, singer, and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in television drama. Career Griffiths was ...

and produced by David Yates. The four books were published in 1965 in the United Kingdom and later in the United States and France. They are: ''Bod's Apple'', ''Bod's Present'', ''Bod's Dream'' and ''Bod and the Cherry Tree''. The French version of ''Bod's Apple'' is called ''La Pomme de Gus''. Before the animated series was commissioned, the four books had been read on another BBC children's programme: '' Play School''. In 1974, thirteen five-minute episodes were created for transmission on the BBC as part of the ''

Watch with Mother ''Watch with Mother'' was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at pre-school children, a developme ...

'' series, and were also sold to Australia's

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

channel. Soon thereafter, it was shown in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland and Israel. In the United States, ''Bod'' aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

as a segment on the '' Pinwheel'' program. The character of Bod is a boy who lives in a town with Aunt Flo, PC Copper, Frank the Postman and Farmer Barleymow. Each of the characters has their own theme music performed by Griffiths which is heard when they appear. Regular features are animal identification and Bod Snap. There is also another set of characters who appear in each episode called ''Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band'' with artwork by Joanne Cole. This section featured short extracts from famous pieces of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

as part of the story, and always ended with Alberto choosing a different flavour of

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

as his reward for solving a problem, and was narrated by Maggie Henderson. ''Bod'' has appeared in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's '' 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows'' and '' 100 Greatest Cartoons''.

Episode titles

# Bod's Present* # Bod and the Dog* # Bod and the Apple # Bod and the Kite # Bod and the Cherry Tree # Bod and the Rain # Bod's Dream* # Bod on the Beach # Bod and the Birds* # Bod and the Cake # Bod and the Grasshopper # Bod in the Park # Bod And Breakfast* All thirteen Bod episodes are available on DVD. The ''Alberto Frog'' segments were produced separately by the BBC and were originally shown alongside the Bod episodes; only five of these thirteen segments are known to survive, following a decision in the early 1990s to wipe a large amount of videotaped 1970s children's programmes. The five surviving segments are marked above with an asterisk and are present on the Bod DVD. Another was recovered from an old VHS tape and is available on YouTube, and a further full episode - Bod and the Grasshopper - appeared in 2020.

Tie-ins and Taoism

As well as books for each of the televised episodes, there have been two other

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

books based on ''Bod'', by Alison and Lo Cole, the children of creators Joanne and Michael Cole. ''Bod's Way: The Meaning of Life'' was being worked on by Michael Cole before he died in 2001, and was completed by Alison. The books reveal the

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

beliefs of Bod's original creators. * *

References in other media

Bod is a fictional deity in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

science fiction comedy ''

Nebulous ''Nebulous'' is a post-apocalyptic science fiction comedy radio show written by Graham Duff and produced by Ted Dowd from Baby Cow Productions; it is directed by Nicholas Briggs. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4. Set ...

'', and the ''Bod'' theme music is heard in one episode.

Homestar Runner ''Homestar Runner'' is an American Flash animated comedy web series and website created by Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps. The series centers on the adventures of a large and diverse cast of characters, headed by ...

's titular character dressed up as Bod for the 2020 Halloween special.

References

* Contains a chapter on ''Bod'' and an interview with Lo Cole.

External links

''Bod'' on BCDB
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bod (Series) 1970s British animated television series 1975 British television series debuts 1976 British television series endings BBC children's television shows British children's animated musical television series English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes Series of books Child characters in animated films Animated television series about children 1970s British children's television series