The Herbs is a British Stop Motion children's television series that ran during 1968. The show was written by Michael Bond, directed by Ivor Wood and narrated/voiced by Gordon Rollings.
Set inside a walled garden on a fancy country estate, the show follows the antics of a series of characters named after or personifying different kinds of herb. At the beginning the narrator (Gordon Rollings) would introduce the topic of each episode, before speaking the magic word "Herbidacious!" to open the garden gate and allow the viewers to "enter" the garden. Also notable was the fact that each character had a short "I Am" Song that varied from episode to episode, establishing the character's personality and current mood/predicament. While Parsley the lion was the main focus character, various episodes would be dedicated to other individuals in the garden.
As with The Magic Roundabout, the sophisticated writing style and narrative delivery of The Herbs meant that the appeal was somewhat broader than was originally intended, and much of the humour undoubtedly went over the heads of the age group that was its main target. Consequently, it still retains a following among those who watched it when it was first broadcast.
The show proved enough to gain a spinoff, The Adventures of Parsley the Lion, that ran from 1970 to 1971 with the same narrator, director and writer. That show focused primarily on Parsley the Lion and Dill the Dog in a new location, eerily similar to that of The Magic Roundabout. Unlike in The Herbs, the animal characters could talk, and a typical episode would feature a dialogue between the overenthusiastic Dill and the more laid back, deadpan Parsley. Other characters from the original show made occasional appearances.
This show provides examples of:
- Animal Talk: Outside of their respective songs, Parsley and the other animal characters can only communicate in animal sounds. Other characters, the narrator included, have to guess what they're saying by tone of voice and body language.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Sir Basil almost never has the safety of his rifle on, leading to it going off at inappropriate moments. He also keeps brandishing it in ways where he ignorantly points the barrel at others. This is mostly Played for Laughs, as it highlights what an absent-minded buffoon Basil is, but it has led to accidents, such as when he shot off Parsley's tail after being startled.
- Beanstalk Parody: "Tarragon and the Eggs" has Bayleaf accidentally spill too much plant food on a tarragon plant, causing it to grow so tall it reaches beyond the cloud layer. Sir Basil even mentions the fairy tale when he first sees it. When Parsley is sent up to see what's at the top, however, its not a giant's castle he finds, but a nest with an egg in it... a dragon egg.
- Chekhov's Gun: Belladonna's broom is left behind after she is driven off, with Parsley using the broom's magic at least twice to stop Tarragon and help transform a shed into a carriage.
- Cowardly Lion: Literally! Parsley, by his own admission, is "not particularly brave"; he's very shy around new people and will run at the first sign of actual trouble. But when the other Herbs are in actual trouble, he displays not only bravery, but a fair bit of cunning, too.
- Healing Herb: The medicinal or folkloric properties of certain herbs is often brought up. In "The Chives Catch Colds", Parsley takes on the role of a doctor and recommends various herbs as relief for certain ills - specifically, chamomile for colds and toothache and marigolds for itchy skin.
- "I Am" Song: Every character gets a short, four-line song to themselves that describes their personality. Parsley gets the lion's share of these (pun not intended) due to him being the focus character, with many variations depending on his current situation.
- Identical Stranger: "Parsley and the Circus Lion" has a fierce lion, identical to Parsley in appearance, causing trouble in the garden.
- Idle Rich: Sir Basil spends more time indulging his pastimes of "huntin' and shootin' and fishin'" than doing anything useful.
- Interactive Narrator: Downplayed. Parsley seems to be the only character who can see the viewers and respond to the narrator. The other characters, who can't, get confused whenever he waves to the viewers.
- Lawful Stupid: Constable Knapweed is more often a hindrance than a help due to being a stickler for nonsensical laws and procedures.
- Magic Realism: Despite the fairly realistic look of the garden, it's shown that magic is real in this setting. The garden itself is said to be magical in nature - all the plants growing there have the curative properties they are said to have in folklore. Then there's a lion, a dog and an owl as Planimals running around, a witch who brews potions and casts spells, and a baby dragon, among other unusual sights.
- Man of Kryptonite: When the witch Belladonna comes to the garden, Dill turns out to be key to driving her off, as in real life the herb was believed to keep witches away.
- Meaningful Name: All of the characters are named after herbs - Parsley the Lion, Dill the Dog, Bayleaf the gardener, Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary etc.
- Tarragon's name is a double-meaning, as his plant's name comes from the Middle French targon, meaning "dragon", and the plant's species name dranunculus means "little dragon". Which is what he is.
- Neat Freak: Miss Jessop insists on everything being neat and tidy and drives the other Herbs up the wall with her obsession.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Tarragon the dragon is born from an egg found at the top of a massive tarragon plant, hence his name. He's a Planimal like the others and has no wings, but can breathe white smoke from his nose that burns up anything. However, after he fails to burn up Belladonna's broom, his subsequent tears apparently burn out his own fire, so Tarragon is no longer a threat to the garden.
- Planimal: The animal characters all have features modelled after the herb they're named after. Thus, Parsley has parsley leaves for a mane, Dill has a sprig of dill on his tail, Tarragon has spines formed from leaves of tarragon etc.
- Police Are Useless: Despite being a constable, Knapweed never really seems to enforce any proper law and order and mostly just writes things down in his notebook.
- Snake Charmer: Pashana Bedhi’s main gimmick is his snake charming. His debut episode shows him doing this - unfortunately, he falls asleep in the middle of it and the snake escapes, leading to chaos around the garden.
- Stereotypical South Asian English: Pashana Bedhi, as an Indian herb, speaks this way.
- Villain Song: Belladonna's song succinctly describes her plan to take over the garden and and put all the other Herbs under her control.
- Tarragon gets one where he warns the viewer that things 'seem to disappear' when he's around, as he mischievously burns up anything he can get his paws on.
- Women Are Wiser: Lady Rosemary proves far more sensible than her bungling husband Sir Basil.
- Worf Had the Flu: Belladonna was only able to do as much damage to the garden as she did because Dill, the one character who could drive her away, was initially asleep when she arrived and had to be woken up by Parsley.
