Bod (series)

''Bod'' is a BBC1 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 and Maggie Henderson with music by Derek Griffiths 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'' series, and were also sold to Australia's ABC 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 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 as part of the story, and always ended with Alberto choosing a different flavour of milkshake as his reward for solving a problem, and was narrated by Maggie Henderson.

''Bod'' has appeared in Channel 4'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 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 beliefs of Bod's original creators.

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References in other media

Bod is a fictional deity in the BBC Radio 4 science fiction comedy '' Nebulous'', and the ''Bod'' theme music is heard in one episode.

Homestar Runner'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
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{{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