The Amazing Adventures of Morph explained

Creator:Aardman Animations
Narrated:Tony Hart
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Episodes:26
Producer:Patrick Dowling
Runtime:5 minutes
Company:Aardman Animations (originally credited as Morph Ltd.)
Channel:BBC1

The Amazing Adventures of Morph is a British stop-motion clay animation television show created by Aardman Animations which ran from 1980 to 1981. It featured the character Morph and his cream-coloured best friend Chas.

Production

The character of Morph first appeared on the children's art-themed TV show Take Hart with Tony Hart in 1977.[1] This series served as a spin-off to Take Hart and a showcase for Morph.[2] The character had become so popular that the BBC commissioned 26 5-min episodes featuring the character.[3]

Characters

As well as Morph, his cream-coloured best friend Chas, and Tony Hart from previous appearances, the show incorporated various additional characters; Folly (a female tinfoil figure), Gillespie (large, blue and dim-witted), GrandMorph (an elderly grey-bearded version of Morph with a skateboard and a knack for inventing things), Delilah (a blonde female in a yellow dress and glasses who serves as a straight character) Nailbrush (a nailbrush dog), Gobbledygook (a green alien) and The Very Small Creatures. Early versions of Folly and Gillespie had previously made a brief appearance in Take Hart.[4] Tony Hart appears as himself narrating the book about their adventures happening at the same time and often interacts with the characters themselves.

Cast

Episodes

(Actual original episode titles and dates were sourced from Radio Times and BBC Genome)

Title Original airdate

Online re-release

From 20 March to 2 October 2015, HD restored versions of all 26 episodes of the series had appeared on YouTube.

Critical reception

MSN UK said "It would be fantastic to see this show back on terrestrial TV - it was entertaining and original."[2]

Awards and nominations

|-| 1981| Patrick Dowling| BAFTA TV Award for 'Harlequin' (Drama/Light Entertainment)| [5] |}

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sheridan . Simon . The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee . 2004 . Reynolds & Hearn Ltd . 1903111277 . 38–41.
  2. Web site: 1980s kids faves: The Amazing Adventures of Morph - Knightmare: ITV cult kids classic to be shown on YouTube . 2014-01-14 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20140116075851/http://tv.uk.msn.com/features/knightmare-itv-cult-kids-classic-to-be-shown-on-youtube?page=4 . 16 January 2014 .
  3. Book: Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. Lenburg, J.. 2006. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. 9781617746604. 14 January 2014.
  4. Web site: History.
  5. Web site: The Amazing Adventures of Morph - Awards - IMDb. imdb.com. 14 January 2014.