They don't make cartoons like this anymore this is yet another classic of those geniuses behind "Danger Mouse" and "Count Duckula" the pure brilliance that is Cosgrove Hall in my opinion the greatest cartoon studio ever. "Alias the jester" stands up against other CH cartoons and is itself a very amusing cartoon with excellent voice talent. It ran for only 13 episodes, which is just not long enough. And is the only reason I haven't given this superb show ten stars as I think that it should have had a second series but for whatever reason it didn't, which is for me and other fans of this program a great shame. The key to this cartoon is its voice talent two clearly stick out: the excellent Richard Briers who is always good value and Brian Wilde who you may know from such comedy classics as "Porridge" and "Last of the Summer Wine" both give great performances and of course posses masterful comic timing which makes this cartoon feel a little like a sitcom at times. Its script is written by CH regular Brian Trueman and as you'd expect is a very witty one an example is:
Meredith is stirring a large pot, in walks King Arthur. King Arthur: Well? Meredith: A touch of Lumbago. King Arthur: I mean have you finished the potion.
The clear quality of this program was not lost on the critics and in 1986 it won a BAFTA for Best Animation. The show revolves around Alias who as the titles say "is a time traveller bold, by sheer bad luck his ship got caught in the earth's magnetic hold" he crash lands into the kingdom of Houghton Bottoms that just happens to be the land of King Arthur "from the middle of space, to the, middle ages" as the titles muse. He disguises himself as a Jester and with the help of Meredith, the courts magician (of sorts) and the only person who knows that Alias crash-landed in a space ship, he becomes court jester. Then we join him and a host of other characters on a fun filled journey through 13 episodes of hilarious adventures. The episode titles are:
Alias the Jester
The Ring
The Amazing Dancing Bear
The Viking Airship
Ready when you are, King Arthur!
The Giant's Visit
The Walking Island
Monster of the Lake
Magic Metal
The Lost Ark
Revenge of the Najjer
Fiery Fred
Amaranth and the Beast
This is a must see and if you haven't seen it go out and buy the DVD (Amazon price is £5.99 and you get all 13 episodes) you won't be disappointed even if you're not a fan of Cosgrove Hall, although how anyone could not be a fan of Cosgrove Hall is beyond me.
Meredith is stirring a large pot, in walks King Arthur. King Arthur: Well? Meredith: A touch of Lumbago. King Arthur: I mean have you finished the potion.
The clear quality of this program was not lost on the critics and in 1986 it won a BAFTA for Best Animation. The show revolves around Alias who as the titles say "is a time traveller bold, by sheer bad luck his ship got caught in the earth's magnetic hold" he crash lands into the kingdom of Houghton Bottoms that just happens to be the land of King Arthur "from the middle of space, to the, middle ages" as the titles muse. He disguises himself as a Jester and with the help of Meredith, the courts magician (of sorts) and the only person who knows that Alias crash-landed in a space ship, he becomes court jester. Then we join him and a host of other characters on a fun filled journey through 13 episodes of hilarious adventures. The episode titles are:
Alias the Jester
The Ring
The Amazing Dancing Bear
The Viking Airship
Ready when you are, King Arthur!
The Giant's Visit
The Walking Island
Monster of the Lake
Magic Metal
The Lost Ark
Revenge of the Najjer
Fiery Fred
Amaranth and the Beast
This is a must see and if you haven't seen it go out and buy the DVD (Amazon price is £5.99 and you get all 13 episodes) you won't be disappointed even if you're not a fan of Cosgrove Hall, although how anyone could not be a fan of Cosgrove Hall is beyond me.