Bill the Minder
Bill the Minder is a book and television series that tells of the adventures of a 15-year-old boy and his cousins Boadicea and Chad. In the process of their adventures they meet many strange people and help solve their unique problems with the use of fantastic machines which Bill is capable of crafting in a short time.
The original book was written and illustrated by W. Heath Robinson and published in 1912. The televised series contains a large number of the fantastic machines that Robinson is famed for. The short series was produced at Bevanfield Films for Central Independent Television and shown on ITV. All 15 episodes were released on one VHS tape by Channel 5 Video.
Bill the Minder was awarded with the London Film Festival, Outstanding Film of the Year.
Episode synopses
After the brief title sequence with title music the narrator introduces the characters, his introduction goes like this:At the end of the episode the same basic title page is displayed but with more credits and the same title music is played. The theme music is the "Triumphal March" from Verdi's opera Aida.
- Episode 1 – "Old Crispin"
- Episode 2 – "The King"
- Episode 3 – "The Navigator"
- Episode 4 – "Aunt Galladia"
- Episode 5 – "The Respectable Gentleman"
- Episode 6 – "Chloe"
- Episode 7 – "The Doctor"
- Episode 8 – "The Sicilian Cleaning Lady"
- Episode 9 – "The Button Crane of Baraboo"
- Episode 10 – "The Waiter"
- Episode 11 – "Bosworth"
- Episode 12 – "The Musician"
- Episode 13 – "The Real Soldier"
- Episode 14 – "Basil Herbert"
- Episode 15 – "The Pilot"
Cast and crew
- Written by: Timothy Forder
- Narrated by: Peter Chelsom
- Produced by: Mary Swindale
- Directed by: Timothy Forder
- Edited by: Mike Murray
- Production co-ordinator: Steve Flack
- Assistant producer: Lorrie Horde-Brown
- Animation: Mike Davies
- Backgrounds: Denny Sutton
- Artwork: Hierographics
- Painting & tracing: Martin Dray
- Rostrum camera: Julian Hollaway & Bob Skeggs
- Sound: Trevor Barber
- Music: Barrie Guard