The chickens of Foxearth Farm are at the mercy of fox King Voracious and his
   ever-hungry pack. Or they might be, were it not for those dambusting chickens
   of the sky, The Foxbusters. Ransome, Sims and Jeffries are hens with wings,
   defying the Old Wive's Tale that 'chickens can't fly' and always alert to that
   not-so fantastic Mr Fox and friends. When e'er the enemy is spied they are soon
   driven off by a volley of grit pellets, egg bombs and more!...

           

   The Foxbusters was adapted from the best-selling children's book by author
   Dick King-Smith. He remains perhaps most familiar as the author of Babe,
   but his other works are myriad and much-loved too. The series itself was
   written by the Peafur-fect partnership of David Freedman and Alan Gilbey,
   who have since brought us the red-hot Mr Hell Show and the interstellar
   delights of Bounty Hamster. Foxbusters shares many similarities with
   Aardman Animation's first full-length feature film Chicken Run. There's the
   regimental nature of the hens, like they've stepped out of a WW2 film.
   There's the 'flying' connection as well as the Hollywood voice in the
   lead role. In Foxbusters' case it's comediene and actress Whoopi Goldberg.
   Chicken Run and Foxbusters also share a voice in the form of Jane Horrocks,
   who plays Babs in the former and Jeffries in this show. What's more, both
   characters are of the rather nutty variety. Then there's Sims, the hen with
   the Big Ideas, rather like Mac in Chicken Run, isn't she? - That's not to
   knock either production, though. Foxbusters stands on its own two
   chicken feet as a snappy, funny show, with bright characters and plots.
   The series collected a British Animation Award for Best Animation 2000 and,
   even better, went to pick up a BAFTA for Best Childrens Animated series.
   Bally-good stuff, eh?

   • Note the slight change between the title of the book and that of the series.
      The novel is called "The Fox Busters", with the words written separately.
      Here with the series, the words are run together, so it's "The Foxbusters"...

 

     Awards

     2000 British Animation Award - Best Children's Series
     2000 BAFTA - Best Animated Children's Series

 

    First season episodes

    Hen Night                          The Trojan Chicken           
    Where Ego's Dare                Going Underground             
    Winging It                          See the Dog Run
    Icky's Sticky Situation          The Long Walk Home 
    A Fete Worse than Death      Three Hens and a Baby
    Follow my Leader                 Passing the Buck      
    The Ring Cycle

 

      Further reading

      "The Fox Busters" was first published in the UK by Gollanz, in 1978.
      Since then, numerous editions have surfaced, including a 1999 tie-in
      edition from Puffin Books, illustrated by Jon Miller...