Blunders, The

1 9 8 6 (UK)
30 x 5 minute episodes

This oddball accident-prone cartoon family comprised Ma and Pa Blunder, Baby, and Bobby Blunder and their zany pets Zebra the stripey-tailed cat, Patch the canary (who wore an eyepatch – hence the name – and told many stories that were not always altogether truthful) and Trouble the dog, who lived up to his name.

The family all lived in the town of Villa Shambles.

Central TV commissioned 30 five-minute episodes from SWPA Picture House based in Bristol, which they produced in partnership with Filmfare, who brought Paddington and The Wombles to the small screen.

Filmfare was responsible for the (very basic) animation, scripting and directing, while SWPA Picture House took on the tracing, painting, backgrounds and filming. The original artwork and direction were by Ian Sachs.

The project took over a year to complete, with each second of completed film requiring 24 individual frames and each five-minute episode taking two to three weeks to commit to celluloid.

The series was voiced by veteran funnyman Frankie Howerd.

Narrator
Frankie Howerd

Episodes

At the Circus | Looking After Doris | Central Heating | Dog Bath | House of Horror | Dogs Don’t Migrate | Ye Blunder and Ye Dragon | UFO Spotting | The Trouble with Trouble | At the Manor | On the Run | Lucky | Beau Blunder | The Invisible Blunder | Life of Spudnook | School Report | Bobby and the Prune Stone | An Aunt in Time | The Idle Idol | Stage Struck | Dog Diet | The Burglar | Never Kiss a Frog | The Double Act | The Blunder Family Tree | The Genie | The Bugs Meringue Gang | Ma Goes Ape | Invasion of the Burglar Snatchers | On the Landscape

Video