''The Queen's Nose'' is a 1995

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's television series. It was adapted by Steve Attridge from the novel of the same name written by

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

. It ran for seven series.

Premise

Harmony Parker, a twelve-year-old girl who loves animals, receives a magical 50 pence coin from her Uncle Ginger that can grant wishes when

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's nose is rubbed.

Production

The novel was adapted into three television series by the

which were broadcast during the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

slot between 1995 and 1998. The stories remained faithful to the book, although in the book Harmony is granted only seven wishes compared to the ten wishes being granted upon rubbing the coin in the TV series. The first series by Steve Attridge, directed by Carol Wiseman and edited by Sue Robinson, won the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

1996 award for best Children's Drama, and the third series also by Steve Attridge winning the Indie Awards 1999 prize for Digital Cinematography. According to a podtail interview with Victoria Shalet in February 2021, the director Carol Wiseman was responsible for her being cast in the role of Harmony Parker after she had been impressed with the actress after working with her on the TV series '' Goggle-Eyes'' in 1993. In 2000, the BBC revived the series with new stories, but without the main character Harmony, with a further four series being made between 2000 and 2003. Many viewers felt that the departure from the novels and the loss of the main character, played by Shalet, diminished the series. The later series did however still feature other members of the Parker family in various roles. Harmony's sister Melody, played by Heather-Jay Jones, stayed on until the penultimate series. As of 2010, ''The Queen's Nose'' was no longer repeated on the

CBBC Channel CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

. ''The Queen's Nose'' has also been broadcast in Germany, under the name ''Die Magische Münze'' (The Magic Coin).

Cast

*Harmony Parker – Victoria Shalet (series 1–4) *Melody Parker – Heather-Jay Jones (series 1–6)List of cast *Mr Arthur Parker – Stephen Moore (series 1–2, 4–5) *Mrs Audrey Parker –

Paula Wilcox Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. She played Chrissy Plummer in the ITV sitcom '' Man About The House'' from 1973 to 1976, and also had roles in TV shows such as '' The Lovers'', '' Miss Jones and Son'', '' The Queen� ...

(series 1–2, 4–5) *Uncle Ginger –

Donald Sumpter Donald Sumpter (born 13 February 1943) is a British actor who has appeared in film and television since the mid-1960s. His credits include three appearances in ''Doctor Who'' (1968, 1972, 2015), '' The Black Panther'' (1977), ''Bleak House'' (19 ...

(series 1–3) *Gregory – Callum Dixon (series 1–3, 6) *Tom – Anthony Hamblin (series 1, 2) *Granny – Liz Smith (series 2) *Aunt Glenda –

Nerys Hughes Nerys Hughes (born 8 November 1941) is a Welsh actress and narrator, known primarily for her television roles, including her parts in the BBC TV series '' The Liver Birds'' (1971-1978) and '' The District Nurse'' (1984-1987). Early life and e ...

(series 3) *Dino – Vicki Lee Taylor (series 3) *Grobler –

Ian Reddington Ian Reddington (born 25 September 1957) is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Greatest Show in t ...

(series 3) *Himself –

Gary Mabbutt Gary Vincent Mabbutt (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made more than 750 professional appearances, first playing for Bristol Rovers and going on to play 619 games for Tottenham Hotspur, despite being diagnosed with typ ...

(series 1) *Himself –

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and television presenter, whose career spans over 60 years. Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio Londo ...

(series 2) *Paul – Joe Cadden (series 2, 7) *Sam – Ella Jones (series 4–6, 7) *Sophie –

Dominique Moore Dominique Moore (born 12 January 1986) is a British actress. She is best known for her roles in the ''BAFTA'' winning ''Horrible Histories'', ''Hotel Trubble'' and ''Paddington Green (TV series), Paddington Green''. She starred in ''Horrible His ...

(series 4–6, 7) *Mrs Dooley –

Annette Badland Annette Badland is a British actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Charlotte in the BBC crime drama series '' Bergerac'', Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction se ...

(series 4, 5) *Aaron – Darryl Hutton (series 4) *Pansy – Grace Atherton (series 4–6) *Emily – Montanna Thompson (series 4) *Melody's Agent –

Paul Danan Paul Louis Danan (2 July 1978 – 15 January 2025) was an English actor and television personality, known for portraying the role of Sol Patrick in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', between 1997 and 2001. In 2005, he appeared as a contes ...

(series 6) *Jake – Jordan Metcalfe (series 7) *Gemma – Lucinda Dryzek (series 7) *Chief –

David Sterne David Sterne (born 1946) is an English actor. He has appeared in more than 90 films since 1973. Career After leaving the British Army, Sterne trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Compa ...

(series 7) *Wesley – Joshua Garland (series 7) *Duncan –

Nicholas Gleaves Nicholas Gleaves (born 2 January 1969) is an English actor and playwright. Career Gleaves's first theatre part was as an extra in ''Don Carlos'' at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. He did several plays there including the lead in ''Ma ...

(series 7) *Nick – Brock Everitt-Elwick (series 7) *Carla –

Juliet Cowan Juliet Cowan is a television, film and stage actress from Northern Ireland. Cowan has had various TV guest star roles in long-running shows such as ''EastEnders'', ''Silent Witness'', and ''Casualty''. Cowan has also had a recurring role in the ...

(series 7) *Ben – Pablo Duarte (series 6, 7) *Mr Marsh – Bill Bingham (series 7) *Darren – Andrew James Michel (series 7) *Frank – Martin Jarvis (series 7) *Frank Puppeteer –

William Todd-Jones William Todd-Jones (born 1958) is a Welsh puppeteer, puppet designer, performer, director, movement consultant and writer for film, television and theatre in the UK and abroad. As an environmentalist, Todd-Jones is a longstanding patron of the w ...

(series 7) *Judge –

Bob Goody Robert Goody (16 April 1951 – 5 March 2023) was a British actor, librettist, writer and former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Early life Goody was born in Brighton, East Sussex, the son of Kenneth William Goody (1926–2005), an air ...

(series 4–one episode)

Owners of ''The Queen's Nose''

* Harmony Parker (series 1 to 3) * Dino Parker (series 3 alongside Harmony) * Sam (series 4 to 6) * Jake (series 7)

Episodes

VHS

Radio dramatisation

In 2011 The Queen's Nose was adapted for radio by Elizabeth Kuti and the hour-long drama was broadcast on Radio 4 Extra on Sunday 26 June 2011. The programme was produced by Heather Larmour.List of cast 2011

Radio dramatisation cast

*Harmony Parker - Lauren Mote *Uncle Ginger -

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in '' A Room with a View'', '' Maurice'', '' The Madness of King George'' and '' The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he sta ...

*Mr Parker - Richard Lumsden *Mrs Parker -

Matilda Ziegler Matilda Ziegler (born 23 July 1964) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Donna Ludlow in ''EastEnders'', Irma Gobb in '' Mr. Bean'', and Pearl Pratt in '' Lark Rise to Candleford''. Television and film career Ziegler's first sc ...

*Melody Parker -

Holly Bodimeade Holly Bodimeade is an English actress. Early life Born in Chichester, West Sussex, Bodimeade was a pupil at Stonar School in Wiltshire. Career Bodimeade starred in her first lead role as Maddy in the BAFTA-nominated BBC TV drama '' Summerhill ...

Ratings (CBBC Channel)

References

External links

* *
British Film Institute database entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen's Nose (TV series), The Queen's Nose, The British television shows based on children's books British children's fantasy television series British supernatural television shows 1995 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series 2000s British children's television series Television series produced at Pinewood Studios British English-language television shows