"This is 29 Accacia Road, and this is Eric, the
     schoolboy who leads an amazing double life..."
 

    DC Thomson's banana-munching schoolboy-turned-hero comes to the small
    screen in a fondly remembered series. Comedians Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie
    and Tim Brooke Taylor, known collectively as "The Goodies" of course, furnished
    the show with some splendidly silly voices, just right for this animated comic strip.

       

    Do we need to go through the detail? - Well, here we go, then. Young Eric is just
    your typical gangly schoolkid, until he eats a banana, whereupon he undergoes
    an incredible transformation into a blue suited sixpackerd superhero, known as
    Bananaman. Er, and that's about it, apart from the fact that Eric's alter-ego
    is a rather clumsy buffoon who defeats a host of supervillains through sheer luck
    and happenstance, rather than guile and cunning. Bananaman drives Chief O'Reilly
    to distraction with his antics. And more often than not, it's Bananaman's clever
    carrion sidekick Crow who saves the day for him, and us.

    Bananaman's not-so-super-villains included Appleman, General Blight, Dr Gloom,
    The Nerks, The Heavy Mob, The Weatherman, and who can forget that knitting
    needle wielding wonder Auntie?

       

    It's surprising to find that Bananaman was in fact the very first DC Thomson star
    to make it to our screens. Animated "Beano" strips and the Dennis & Gnasher
    series followed in the 1990's and there was also Thomson's non-comic creation
    The Blobs. Talk surfaced a while back about an adaptation of The Numskulls
    (see: The Hound), but nothing has yet surfaced.

    The "Bananaman" tv series was produced by Terry Ward and his old production
    partner Trevor Bond. Terry is a prolific animation producer ( The Mr Men, Little
    Misses, Timbuctoo, etc). He was also the producer of those animated "Beano"
    strips mentioned above and due to be indexed at Toonhound in time.

    "Bananaman" aired with some success on Australian tv, and also made the
    jump to Nickelodeon. Whilst it wasn't a DangerMouse success story Stateside,
    the show caught the eye of many an 80s viewer who still recall the battle-cry of
    Bananaman being "ever alert for the call to action!"....

 

    

    From strip to screen

    Bananaman's first appearance was in "Nutty" #1, dated 16th February 1980.
    He was drawn by John Geering, from a script by Steve Bright.

    It's interesting to note the changes that occurred during Banaman's transition
    from the pages of "Nutty" comic, to our tv screens. Bananaman now has yellow
    gloves instead of his red originals, and schoolboy Eric Wimp now has hair and
    a name-change to Eric Twinge, although the essence of the strip remains
    thankfully intact...

 

     Bananaman episodes

     Series 1                                          Series 2
    Bananaman Meets Dr Gloom         Mysteries at the Old Mine
    The Big Breakout                       Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas
    Ice Station Zero                       Trouble at the Mill
    Alien Planet                              The Web of Evil
    The Kidnap Caper                      The Mummy's Curse
    The House on Hangman's Hill        The Night Patrol
    Destination Danger                     Fog of Fear
    Wall of Death                            A Tank Full of Trouble
    Jaws of Steel                            Double Trouble
    Banana Kid                               The Last Banana
    Auntie's Back In Town                Intergalactic Olympics
    Tunnel of Terror                        Memory Lane
                                                 The Final Orbit
    Series 3
    Disaster at Devil's Cove
    Night of the Nerks
    The Snowman Cometh
    Pirate TV Station
    Battle of the Bridge
    Harbour of Lost Ships
    Visibility Zero
    Battle of the Century
    The Perils of Ping-Pong
    The Great Air Race
    Cavern of the Lost 
    Clown Capers
    Banana Junction
    The Crown Jewel Caper
    Operation Total
      
 

     Bananaman on DVD

     Bananaman: The Ultimate Collection
               all 3 series / R2 / Delta Music / October 2004

     Bananaman: Series 1
               12 episodes / R2 / Delta Music / October 2004

     Bananaman: Series 2
               13 episodes / R2 / Delta Music / October 2004

     Bananaman: Series 3
               15 episodes / R2 / Delta Music / October 2004

 

    director:         Terry Ward
    producer:        Trevor Bond
    script writer:    Bernie Kay
    music:             Dave Cooke
    animators:       Richard Cox, Joan Garrick,
                           Geoff Loynes, Janet Nunn
    painters:          Richard Adams, Jane Beecham,
                           Marianne Goldner, Paul Heyward,
                            John Tillet, Anne Whitford
    tracers:            Janine Arthy, Jacqueline Millar,
                           Olive Scott, Phyllis Vince,
                           Anne Ward
    checker:           Katherine R Cowan
    layouts:            Gil Potter
    backgrounds:    Russell Peerman
    editing:             Morgan Daniels Limited
    rostrum
     camera:            Stephen Williams
    production
    co-ordination:   Thomas Barker, Pat C Morton
    voices:              Graeme Garden
                            (Bananaman/Gen. Blight/Maurice)
                            Bill Oddie
                           (Eric/Crow/O'Reilly/Weatherman/H. Nerk/ Dr Gloom)
                           Tim Brooke-Taylor
                           (Narrator/Appleman/Auntie/King Zorg)
                           Jill Shilling
                           (Fiona/Samantha/Mother Nerk)

 

      On the web


      EpGuides
      Here's a handy episode guide, courtesy of George Fergus...

 
      previous »   next »    DC Thomson -------------------- Bananaman Beano The Blobs Broons Dandy Dennis & Gnash. Oor Wullie Sparky    Terry Ward -------------------- Bananaman Junglies Little Miss The Mr Men Nellie The Elephant The Pondles Timbuctoo