''Harry's Mad'' was a children's television programme that was shown on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between 4 January 1993 and 11 March 1996. It is based upon a book written by

Dick King-Smith Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE (27 March 1922 – 4 January 2011), was an English writer of children's books, primarily using the pen name Dick King-Smith. He is best known for ''The Sheep-Pig'' (1983). It was adapted as the movie ''Babe'' (1995 ...

. Steve Attridge originally adapted the book and wrote most of the first 3 series.

Premise

The show begins when Harry Holdsworth (

Gareth Parrington Gareth Parrington is a television actor. In the television drama ''Soldier Soldier'', Parrington played James Anderson, the eight-year-old son of Colour Sergeant Ian Anderson (Robert Glenister). On the ITV children's sitcom ''Harry's Mad'' ...

) inherits his American great-uncle George's macaw named Madison. At first, the Holdsworth family are not very pleased with their new pet, but they soon start to notice that Madison is no ordinary parrot, and that he is highly intelligent and very articulate. He becomes an instant family member. As well as getting the Holdsworths out of many problems, Madison is also the cause of many too. Terry Crumm (

Mark Billingham Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

) hears about Madison's intelligence and sets out to steal him on many occasions, but most of the time Madison foils his plans and saves the day. In the third series, the family sell their house and move to a rather run down hotel which they took over when Aunt Agatha moved to America. Harry is studying for his GCSEs back at his old school and so is not featured much in this series. Instead, Hattie, played by Amy Butterworth, and Jools, played by Richard Castillo, Aunt Agatha's adopted children, take his place. In the fourth and final series, Jools leaves the family and Harry returns from his GCSEs. Many guest stars appeared in ''Harry's Mad'' including

Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey, radio presenter and television presenter. Travis began his broadcasting career on the pirate radio station Radio Caroline in 1965. He ...

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both i ...

and

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

The parrot

Madison was played by a living parrot in only certain scenes that required the view of his full body, such as when he was flying or perched on Harry's arm. In most other scenes, however, an animatronic parrot was used to allow Madison to talk and interact with other characters properly.

Trivia

*Although the animatronic parrot was mostly accurate, there is one revealing mistake, the animatronic parrot has a totally grey beak while the real parrot has a black and white beak. *Whilst Madison is a macaw in this series, in the original book, he is an African grey parrot.

References

External links

* . {{Dick King-Smith 1993 British television series debuts 1996 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series 1990s British comedy-drama television series British television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows ITV children's television shows ITV comedy ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Central Independent Television