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Mr Benn

Mr Benn
Genre Family
Created by David McKee
Written by David McKee
Directed by Pat Kirby
Narrated by Ray Brooks
Theme music composer Don Warren
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 14
Production
Producer(s) David McKee
Running time 15 minutes
Production company(s) Zephyr Films

Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who appears in several children's books, and an animated television series of the same name originally transmitted by the BBC in 1971 and 1972.

Whether in a book, or on television, Mr Benn's adventures take on a similar pattern. Mr Benn, a man wearing a black suit and bowler hat, leaves his house at 52 Festive Road and visits a fancy-dress costume shop where he is invited by the moustache, fez-wearing shopkeeper to try on a particular outfit. He leaves the shop through a magic door at the back of the changing room and enters a world appropriate to his costume, where he has an adventure (which usually contains a moral) before the shopkeeper reappears to lead him back to the changing room, and the story comes to an end. Mr Benn returns to his normal life, but is left with a small souvenir of his magical adventure. Additionally, scenes before and after his adventure usually have some connection to it, such as the games the children are playing in the street as he passes.

Several of Mr Benn's adventures are available to buy in book-form: four were published originally, and further books in the 1990s were based on the television series. The original four books were: Mr Benn - Red Knight, Big Game Benn, 123456789 Benn, and Big Top Benn. There were six original books planned, but the fifth and sixth were never published. The fifth was called Mr Benn Rides Again, the story of which was used to make the television episode The Cowboy. The sixth, never completed, was Superbenn, in which the superhero Mr Benn sets out on an environmental adventure.

There is one book for which no corresponding television episode has (yet) been made. 123456789 Benn was published in 1970 () and tells the story of Mr Benn as a convict (hence the number) inspiring his jail-mates to brighten up their cells. This was after the BBC – who screened the television series – felt that the story was too mature for a children's series.

A new story was published in 2001, the first Mr Benn story that David McKee had written in thirty years, and is called Mr Benn - Gladiator (). McKee has indicated that he may write more Mr Benn stories in the future.


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