Mr Benn (1971)

Original title

Mr. Benn

Genre

fantasy television program

Country

United Kingdom

Length

1 season, 14 episodes

Rated

U

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 13 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man in a suit and bowler hat visits a costume shop and tries on an outfit. He steps through a magic door into a world where he has an adventure related to the outfit, then returns home with a small souvenir.

whimsicalnostalgicgentlecalmcurioussimplereassuringmagical

What happens

Mr Benn is a character, created by David McKee, who originally appeared in several children's books. The first, Mr Benn Red Knight, was published in 1967, followed by three more; these became the basis for an animated television series of the same name originally transmitted by the BBC from 1971 to 1972. In both the books and the television series, Mr Benn's adventures take on a similar pattern. Mr Benn, a man wearing a dark suit and bowler hat, leaves his house at 52 Festive Road, London, and visits a fancy-dress costume shop where he is invited by the moustachioed, 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. At the end of each story, 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. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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