''Bod'' is a British children's television programme first shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

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 probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation com ...

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 1970s to present and has more recently played parts in television drama. Career Griffiths was ...

and produced by David Yates.

Source books

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 tiny tots to pre-school childr ...

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

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

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 (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

as a segment on the '' Pinwheel'' program.

Characters

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.

Alberto Frog

There is also another segment which appears in each episode called ''Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band'' with artwork by Joanne Cole. This section, narrated by Maggie Henderson, features short extracts from famous pieces of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

as part of the story, and usually ends 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, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

as his reward for solving a problem.

Episode titles

# Bod's Present* (23 December 1975) # Bod and the Dog* (30 December 1975) # Bod and the Apple (6 January 1976) # Bod and the Kite (13 January 1976) # Bod and the Cherry Tree (20 January 1976) # Bod and the Rain (27 January 1976) # Bod's Dream* (3 February 1976) # Bod on the Beach (10 February 1976) # Bod and the Birds* (17 February 1976) # Bod and the Cake (24 February 1976) # Bod and the Grasshopper (2 March 1976) # Bod in the Park (9 March 1976) # Bod And Breakfast* (16 March 1976) 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, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

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 (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

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. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

science fiction comedy '' Nebulous'', and the ''Bod'' theme music is heard in one episode.

Homestar Runner ''Homestar Runner'' is an American comedy animated 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 the ...

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

Legacy

''Bod'' has appeared in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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

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 1975 animated television series debuts 1976 British television series endings BBC children's television shows British children's animated musical television series British English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes Book series Child characters in animated films Animated television series about children 1970s British children's television series BBC animated television series