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         "Herbidacious!"
 

     ...That was the secret word you used to open the magic door to the garden
     of The Herbs. It was actually owned by Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary and
     was styled after a walled manor house-type garden, with lots of bedding plants
     and a great glass greenhouse-come-conservatory at its heart. Everyone surely
     knows The Herbs' main character, droll Parsley The Lion and his excitable best
     friend Dill The Dog. The other animated creations were a mixture of animals and
     humans - Constable Knapweed, Sage The Owl, Pashana Bedi, Bella Donna
     The Witch, Tarragon The Dragon and more. Each episode began outside the
     garden door with a short introduction, like this one for "Parsley's Birthday Party":

       "Parsley is a herb. A very useful kind of herb. I don't know
        what we'd do without Parsley. Of course, it's like a lot of
        other things, it gets taken for granted. But I suspect we
        would miss it soon enough if it wasn't there one day..."

     Beyond the garden wall, each character would be introduced via a short song
     - well, more of a musical couplet than a song, as such. These were witty little
     ditties were revised from episode-to-episode reflecting the mood of the singer
     at the time. Parsley's were variations on a humble theme, like this:

       "I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley, I am always very glad
        to see you wave. But please don't shout or speak to me too
        harshly, because I'm not particularly brave..."

     "The Herbs" were created by Michael "Paddington" Bond and brought to our tv
     screens by genius animator Ivor Wood and FilmFair. The show was first
     broadcast in the BBC's "Watch With Mother" slot and was one of the first wave
     of productions made and in colour. Starting in 1968 three series of "The Herbs"
     were produced and they spawned innumerable licensed products and, in time,
     a spin-off series called The Adventures Of Parsley. Both series hold up
     splendidly alongside today's productions. Ivor Wood's models are beautifully
     realized, and their stop-motion actions not bettered even by modern techniques.
     Principally, though, there is the wit and repartee of its lead character to hold our
     attention. Parsley is a star in the Hancock mould. Ironic, droll, deadpan and offset
     by his ever-keen, exhausting companion Dill....

     Trivia Hounds will note that, in "The Herbs" Parsley doesn't actually speak.
     Instead, he simply reacts to the characters and events around him, with
     Gordon Rollings speaking his thoughts in narrative form...