Little Gems - The Adventures of Sir Prancelot

Click above left image for introductory music and above right image for ending (zipped mp3s)

The Adventures of Sir Prancelot follows the exploits of the heroic but somewhat eccentric Sir Prancelot and his household as they set off for the Crusades to the Holy Land. This animated tale originated from the same stable that produced "Captain Pugwash" which is evident from the pictures shown below. This five minute adventure ran for only nineteen episodes and was first aired in 1972. The ever talented John Ryan both designed and created the series and even adapted the scripts for a stereo record production. John has worn many hats throughout his career in film and television in terms of having written, produced, and directed programs.

Below is a picture of John Ryan and his daughter Isabel at a Captain Pugwash book signing around 1997 (many thanks to Isabel for the image)

Peter Hawkins supplied the voices for all of the characters to be found in the series. Several books were produced about the adventures of our gallant knight and the front cover of four of these can be seen below.

I recently was sent a few scans of a prototype Corgi toy Sir Prancelot (Many thanks to Mark Austin for the images and information.). The pics can be found here. These are from what is probably the only example of a Sir Prancelot toy which was abandoned when the series came to an end in the 1970s

In addition to the many books, there were also three jigsaw puzzles - two of these are shown below and was produced by Arrow Games Ltd. in 1972.

The second one was called "A Present for Prancelot" (shown below), and "The Pop Concert" were also released in 1972.

We initially saw this program on Granada Television in the late 1970's-early 1980's, just before Granada Reports at 18:25 week days. Other people may have seen Sir Prancelot on BBC1 before the 17:45pm news.

Phil has just supplied the following information. Sir Prancelot was first shown on Thursday 13th January 1972 at 17.44pm and continued five nights a week until Friday 25th February.

If you look at the episode listing below you will note, as we did, that there are twenty episodes, but only 19 are described. Episode 5 "A load of Hot Air" does not appear to have been made, as the series runs from 1 through to 4 and 6 through to 20. (There was no Part 5 as apparently it was John Ryan's "unlucky number"). There were a total of 32 episodes although only 19 are presented in the actual episode guide - the remaining are presented on page 3 of the Sir Prancelot pages). After Episode 20 - Ships of the Desert the following episodes were transmitted:

Many thanks to Phil for doing the research and for kindly supplying me with the information.

A list of characters and rogues gallery, an episode list, summary and credits are presented below. For the more questing viewer, a complete synopsis and lots more pictures are also available, reached from the Episodes Table, by clicking on the appropriate title.

Even though nearly thirty years old, Sir Prancelot still remains one of the classics of our time.

Remember to see the final episodes details click below on the Sir Prancelot - Extras

Rogues Gallery	List of Characters
	Sir Prancelot, our hero and the guardian of Sim and Sue. He is concerned with "crazy notions, inventions and what have you's".
	The Lady Hysteria, wife of Sir Prancelot who believes that "there is nothing like steel wool next to the skin".
	Sim and Sue, the children, "a proper pair of little demons".
	Master Girth, introduced as the Major Domo, the "mean old so and so" who administers the castle accounts.
	The Minstrel who happily narrates to us the enfolding adventures.
	Serf Albert (Bert) and Serf Harold (Harry), two soldiers who are sent to carry out many plans.
	Other soldiers from Sir Prancelot's Household.
	Pig William (or Pigwig), the Lady Hysteria's pet pig.
	Count Otto the Blot, (or Blotto) "a nasty piece of work".
	Duke Uglio, "proper mean, real nasty".

Episode No.	Title	Summary
One	Crumblecreek Crusade	Sir Prancelot and his soldiers prepare for the Crusades, although he has many problems to overcome.

Two	The Lady Hysteria	Sir Prancelot's wife, "The Lady Hysteria" wants to go along on the voyage unaware the her husband does not want her there.

Three	A Few Items of Baggage	Some of Sir Prancelot's seige equipment is too big to get out of the castle, only by demolishing walls can it be brought outside.

Four	A Weighty Problem	Sir Prancelot is busy loading up the ship with his special equipment, unaware that the ship is slowly sinking under the increasing weight.

Five

Six	On the Rocks	The ship is underway but later that night it runs onto rocks. The next morning the crew are met by a very familiar site.

Seven	Count Otto	Count Otto, sworn mortal enemy of Sir Prancelot attacks with his men and ship. Which piece of equipment will Sir Prancelot use to defeat the Count?

Eight	Thunderstruck	Sir Prancelot is showing off his new invention - a weather forecasting machine which does not do its job particularly well. This bodes ill for Bert and Harry.

Nine	Landfall	The ship reaches a foreign port which Sir Prancelot which he claims for the King. He is surprised when a Frenchman from customs demands to see the entire contents of the ship.

Ten	Kidnapped	Lady H is the centre of a kidnap plot, but Sir Prancelot would have paid the kidnappers just to keep her.

Eleven	Hostile Enemy Intentions	Bert and Harry are in charge of scouting the countryside as the Household and Sir Prancelot advance. What is the rustling they hear in the bushes?

Twelve	The Haunted Watch-tower	An old ruin of a Watch-tower is used as a resting place by Sir Prancelot and is Household. But is it haunted by the ghost of a former Baron?

Thirteen	The Flight	Count Otto advances at dawn with men and machinery. Sir Prancelot must use his most special invention to get his Household out of danger.

Fourteen	Flying Crusade	Sir Prancelot's balloon takes them over the Alps and into Italy where they encounter the Tower of Pisa. So how does the lean appear?

Fifteen	Duke Uglio	At the Court of Duke Uglio, Sir Prancelot and his Household must make the Duke smile in order to escape from the dungeons.

Sixteen	An Ugly Affair	Duke Uglio plans to kill all of Sir Prancelot's Household using poison. He secretly wants to steal Sir Prancelot's inventions and use them as his own.

Seventeen	Behind the Times	Sir Prancelot arrives at Crusader's Castle only to find that he is some fifty years too late.

Eighteen	Not Cricket	While enjoying a quiet game of cricket Count Otto appears again as he has been pursuing Sir Prancelot over land and sea.

Nineteen	Balloon Blitz	Count Otto and his men escape from Sir Prancelot's dungeon and steal the balloon. They then attack Sir Prancelot.

Twenty	Ships of the Desert	Sir Prancelot and the Household are now trying to make their way back to England and have to get the local travel agent to organise transport.

Are you really sure you don't want more information? Without reading the synopsis you will never find many facts, including:

And of course, you'll miss out on loads of delightful pictures, a small sample of which is shown below.

This series thoroughly deserves its place in our "Little Gems" pages as it remains a true children's classic of our time.

Episode Title	Date Shown
21:A NICE CUP OF TEA	10th February 1972
22:COMMON MARKET	11th February 1972
23:FLYING CARPET	14th February 1972
24:OPEN SESAME	15th February 1972
25:HIGH TREASON	16th February 1972
26:HOMEWARD BOUND	17th February 1972
27:HURRY TO THE RESCUE	18th February 1972
28:GOLD FOR OTTO	21st February 1972
29:MYSTERY IN THE TOWER	22nd February 1972
30:BLAST OFF	23rd February 1972
31:SPLASH DOWN	24th February 1972
32:COMMAND PERFORMANCE	25th February 1972


The adventures of Sir Prancelot - Main Page	Sir Prancelot - Episode Guide	Sir Prancelot - Extras	Sir Prancelot - Books / Popouts	Sir Prancelot - Toys	Sir Prancelot - Action Art	Sir Prancelot - Little Book Series


The adventures of Sir Prancelot - Main Page	Sir Prancelot - Episode Guide	Sir Prancelot - Extras	Sir Prancelot - Books / Popouts	Sir Prancelot - Toys	Sir Prancelot - Action Art	Sir Prancelot - Little Book Series