Bod
Bod, the eponymous character
Genre	children's cartoon
Running time
Creator(s)	Joanna and Michael Cole
Starring	John le Mesurier, Derek Griffiths
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original network/channel	BBC
Original run	1975 –
No. of episodes	13

Bod was a BBC children's television programme first shown in 1975, comprised of thirteen episodes, based on four original Bod books by Joanna and Michael Cole. It was an animated cartoon series narrated by John Le Mesurier with music by Derek Griffiths and produced by David Yates. The four books were published in 1966 in the United Kingdom and later in the United States and France. They were: Bod’s Apple, Bod’s Present, Bod’s Dream and Bod and the Cherry Tree. The French version of Bod's Apple was called La Pomme de Gus. John Le Mesurier (5th April 1912 – 15th November, 1983), born John Charles Elton Le Mesurier De Somerys Halliley, was a British actor. ... Derek Griffiths (born Woking, July 15, 1946) was a star of numerous childrens television programmes in the 1960s to 1980s. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... John Le Mesurier (5th April 1912 – 15th November, 1983), born John Charles Elton Le Mesurier De Somerys Halliley, was a British actor. ... Derek Griffiths (born Woking, July 15, 1946) was a star of numerous childrens television programmes in the 1960s to 1980s. ... David Yates is an English-born film director. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

Before the animated series was commissioned, the four books had been read on another BBC children's programme — Playschool. In 1974, thirteen five-minute episodes were created for transmission on the BBC, and were also sold to Australia's ABC channel. Soon thereafter, it was shown in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland and Israel. In the United States, Bod aired on Nickelodeon as a segment on the Pinwheel program. Play School is an educational television programme for pre-school aged children. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australias national non-commercial public broadcaster. ... Nickelodeon (Nick for short, launched April 1, 1979) is a cable TV network primarily for children and pre-teens, but also features shows for teenagers in TEENick. ... The Pinwheel Logo. ...

The character of Bod is a boy who lives in a town with Aunt Flo, PC Copper, Frank the Postman and Farmer Barleymow. Each of the characters have their own theme music performed by Griffiths which is heard when they appear. Regular features are animal identification and Bod Snap.

There is also another set of characters who appear in each episode called Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band. This section featured short extracts from famous pieces of classical music as part of the story, and always ended with Alberto choosing a different flavour of milkshake as his reward for solving a problem. This article is about the genre of classical music in the Western musical tradition. ... Milkshake is a song by Kelis released in 2003 on her album, Tasty. ...

Bod has appeared in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows and 100 Greatest Cartoons, and the creators of Homestar Runner have cited it as one of their inspirations. Bod is a fictional deity in the BBC Radio 4 science fiction comedy Nebulous, and the Bod theme music is heard in one episode. Channel 4 is a public service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... The 100 Greatest Kids TV shows was a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4 in 2001. ... The 100 Greatest Cartoons was a documentary which featured a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4 in 2004. ... Homestar Runner (often abbreviated HR, HSR or H*R) is a Flash cartoon series. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Nebulous is a science fiction comedy set in the year 2099 that premiered on BBC Radio 4 on 6 January till the end of the first series on 10 February 2005, written by Graham Duff and directed by Nicholas Briggs. ...

Episode titles

Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band

1. Bod's Present
2. Bod and the Dog
3. Bod and the Apple
4. Bod and the Kite
5. Bod and the Cherry Tree
6. Bod and the Rain
7. Bod's Dream
8. Bod on the Beach
9. Bod and the Birds
10. Bod and the Cake
11. Bod and the Grasshopper
12. Bod in the Park
13. Bod and Breakfast

All thirteen Bod episodes are available on DVD.

The Alberto Frog segments were produced separately by the BBC and were originally shown alongside the Bod episodes; only five out of thirteen of these segments survive in the BBC archives, all these are present on the Bod DVD.

Tie-ins

As well as books for each of the televised episodes, there have been two other tie-in books based on Bod, by Alison and Lo Cole, the children of creators Joanna and Michael Cole. Bod's Way: The Meaning of Life was being worked on by Michael Cole before he died in 2001, and was completed by Alison. A tie-in is a novel or other work that often is released and marketed to accompany some other release such as a movie or video. ...

• Bod's Way: The Meaning of Life by Alison Cole, 2002, ISBN 1843570297
• Bod's New Leaf: Making a Fresh Start by Alison and Lo Cole, 2003, ISBN 1843570769

External links

• Here Comes Bod - Official site.
• Bod at The Internet Movie Database
• The Big Cartoon Database Bod on BCDB
• Bod page at "Toonhound"