Come one, come all, and listen to the tales of Sir Prancelot - brave, but
     eccentric, Sir Prancelot and his courtiers - who did travel to the Holy Land in
     search of heroics and adventures!

     Prancelot had a head for invention, not that it was always screwed on properly.
     He invented oversized siege equipment, a weather-forecaster, air balloons and
     more, but his ideas and notions were cockeyed and inevitably caused more
     damage than they sought to prevent. Caught up in the muddle were Sir Prancelot's
     better half, Lady Hysteria, her pet piggy Pigwig and hers and Prancelot's two
     conniving children Sim and Sue. Soldiers and serfs Bert and Harry were regularly
     charged with carrying out Prancelot's schemes, but alas, crusading is an
     expensive game, and those schemes caused tight-fisted Master Gurth much
     chagrin. Not so Count Otto the Blot who revelled in Prancelot's muddles and
     misfortune, seeking to attack and undermine the royal when e'er he could.

           

     Here was another fabulous "caption" creation from John Ryan. Stories were
     introduced by The Minstrel and came in bite-sized episodes which proceeded
     in a lineal narrative, from episode to episode. We began at Sir Prancelot's
     home, Crumblecreek Castle, before proceeding to adventures onboard his
     ship and on, to Europe and beyond with Otto the Blot in dogged pursuit.
     And each twist and turn of the tale was accompanied by a big burst of
     electric lute playing on the soundtrack, courtesy of Alan Parker (well,
     alright, he was playing guitar, but you get the gist).

     The series actually has its origins in one of John Ryan's early comic
     strips."Sir Boldasbrass" was published each week in Swift, back in 1954.
     The strip starred a blustering knight and his young nephew and neice,
     Cedric and Cynthia, and it detailed their exploits and endeavours in
     and around the island fortress of Blockhead Castle. Prancelot, Sim
     and Sue were surely modelled on Uncle Brassy and those youngsters.

     You know, Sir Prancelot isn't quite so well recalled as Captain Pugwash 
     and Mary Mungo and Midge, but it surely deserves to be. The captions
     are beautiful, with their gay medieval scenery, bright pennants, shields
     and flags. The quality continues in the associated tie-in books and
     publications - all sumptuously illustrated by our series creator...
      
 

      Episode titles

    1. Crumblecreek Crusade             17. Behind the Times
    2. The Lady Hysteria                  18. Not Cricket
    3. A Few Items of Baggage          19. Balloon Blitz
    4. A Weighty Problem                  20. Ships of the Desert
    5. A Load of Hot Air                    21. A Nice Cup of Tea
    6. On the Rocks                         22. Common Market
    7. Count Blotto                          23. Flying Carpet
    8. Thunderstruck                        24. Open Sesame
    9. Land Fall                               25. High Treason
    10. Kidnapped                           26. Homeward Bound
    11. Hostile Enemy Intentions        27. Hurry to the Rescue
    12. The Haunted Watch Tower     28. Gold for Otto
    13. The Flight                            29. Mystery in the Tower
    14. Flying Crusade                      30. Blast Off
    15. Count Uglio                          31. Splash Down
    16. An Ugly Affair1                     32. Comman Performance

 

      Broadcast info

      The series premiered on BBC1, thursday 13th January 1972
      and continued in one straight run, monday-to-friday, through
      to 25th February...

 

 
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