In March 2002 the BCC announced plans to turn Raymond Briggs' Fungus the
Bogeyman into a three-part tv series, thus putting to bed years of speculation
concerning the character (see: Bogeys Past).

Though the project was announced back in 2002, it didn't actually reach the
production stage until March 2003. It was originally intended to air in Autumn 2003,
before being rescheduled for December (together with a tie-in video release). But the
complex effects work pushed back the production schedule. In the end, the
production hit our screens on 28th November 2004.

The new mini-series is a Gala Films production for the BBC, featuring
live-action humans and animated Bogeys. Fungus and friends are being
brought to life through a combination of live-action and motion-capture animation.
The production stars Martin Clunes and Fay Ripley as the parents of a young girl
who finds herself whisked away to bogeydom. The screenplay is by author
Mark Haddon, who is currently being lauded for his hugely successful novel
'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time'.

And what of the finished creation? - Well, it's an intriguing production,
teeming with CGI bogeys. It was always going to be a challenge to draw
a full-blooded storyline from Briggs' snapshot of Bogeydom, and to bring
such fantastic festering characters to life. But on the whole it succeeds
admirably. Drycleaners will note, however, that the Bogeys' umbilicals
have been removed for Tea-Time viewing...

If you've missed the original broadcast, don't panic, because Fungus is
now available to own on a great green BBC DVD...

Bogeys past

Previously, Fungus fan Sir Paul McCartney was rumoured to be interested in
working on a feature film of the book. Certainly, he alluded to Fungus in his
track 'Bogey Music' composed back in 1980.

The next candidate for an adaptation was Terry Gilliam. Terry was supposedly
going to be working directly with Raymond Briggs on the film version, along with
Terry Jones, Neil Innes, David Leland and Charles McKeown. Costume designer
Val Charlton apparently even produced a full-size Fungus suit for the project.
But again, this may be simply speculation...

I still can't confirm this, but theatre designer David Burrows says he wrote a
Fungus adaptation and screenplay in 1996 - for the same project, maybe?

In time, Terry Gilliam's Fungus feature was scaled down and the notion of a tv
production was mooted. Terry would direct, with George Ayoub producing.
But again, nothing came to fruition...

See also: Fungus The Bogeyman
                Fungus The Bogeyman Plop-Up Book
                The End - foreword by Fungus


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