| Creator: | John Ryan |
| Narrated: | Peter Hawkins |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Num Episodes: | 31 |
| Runtime: | 5 minutes per episode |
| Network: | BBC1 |
The Adventures of Sir Prancelot is a British children's animated television programme written and produced by John Ryan. It followed the adventures of Sir Prancelot, an eccentric inventor-knight who heads for the Crusades in the Holy Land. It was first transmitted on BBC 1 on Thursday, 13 January 1972.
To escape both his bank manager and his overbearing wife Lady Histeria, Prancelot decides to join the crusades. He is dismayed when he learns that Histeria intends to accompany him and eventually the entire household – including the children Sim and Sue, the miserly majordomo Girth, a cockney minstrel (who is also the show's narrator) and several serfs – set sail for adventure. They repeatedly fall foul of the dastardly Count Otto "The Blot" but always escape by some contrivance of Sir Prancelot himself. After many unlikely adventures they arrive in the Holy Land to discover they are 50 years too late. After a final showdown with Count Otto they return to England in a rocket ship also invented by Sir Prancelot.
The Sir Prancelot animation came from the same stable as Captain Pugwash and was in a similar style. All voices were performed by Peter Hawkins. The music was composed by Alan Parker. Episode 5 was never made due to being John Ryan’s unlucky number. Only the first nineteen episodes were released on VHS, but the remaining episodes were adapted into vinyl form.
The show was initially successful, spawning annuals from 1973 to 1976, tie-in books written by Jane Morey, jigsaws and books bundled with popouts not unlike those used in the series itself. Action Art rubbings were also produced.
Corgi Toys produced a prototype for a Sir Prancelot toy, but after a second series was never commissioned, the idea was dropped.