60 Watch With Mother : Mr Benn

First  watched  : 1971

Apart  from  some  Tony  Soper  wildlife  shorts ,  Mr  Benn  was  the  first  new  programme  in  the  Watch  With  Mother  slot  for  well  over  a  year. It  was  actually  the  only  one  for  which  I  remember  my  mother  evincing  any  enthusiasm.

Mr  Benn  was  nothing  to  do  with  the  controversial  politician  of  the  time   though  it  no  doubt  gave  rise  to  many  laboured   political  jokes  among  his  contemporaries. David  McKee's   Mr  Benn  was  seemingly  modelled  on  Michael  Palin's  accountant  in  Monty  Python  who  wants  to  be  a  lion  tamer.  The  bowler-hatted  commuter  went  into  a  fancy-dress  shop  to  be  served  by  its  presumably  Turkish  proprietor. Once  in  the  changing-room  with  his  chosen  costume  Mr  Benn  would  be  transported  to  an  appropriate  fantasy  world  where  he  would  have  an  adventure  before  the  appearance  of  the  shopkeeper  in  the  scene  heralded  his  return  to  reality and  he  went  back  home  with  some  sort  of  souvenir.

Only  13  episodes  of  this  classic  ( not  counting  a  special  new  episode  aired  on  a  channel  called  Noggin  in  2005 )  were  made  but  they  were  frequently  repeated  and  are  very  fondly  recalled, mainly  you  suspect  by  guys  who  have  found  themselves  in  Mr  Benn's  humdrum  existence  and  long  for  some  sort  of  temporary  escape. I'm  saying  nothing.