Alias the Jester

ALIAS THE JESTER
Made by: Cosgrove Hall
Shown on: ITV
Year shown: 1986
Theme tune: "Alias the Jester was a time-traveller bold/By pure bad luck his ship got caught in the earth's magnetic hold..." (doesn't sound like it scans very well, but kids aren't fussy about that sort of thing.)

Smack bang in the middle of Children’s ITV’s mid-80s slump, which mainly consisted of rubbish sketch shows (Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It and Stop That Laughing at the Back) and cheap American cartoons, came this offering from the makers of Dangermouse. Richard Briers provided the voice of Alias, an intergalactic tourist who crash-lands his spacecraft in medieval England, in a place called Houghton Bottoms. He is befriended by Meredith the Magician, who persuades Alias to become the court jester to the diminutive King Arthur and his queen, Edith. The series began life as a short animated film which won a BAFTA in 1986, and was entertaining enough to the undiscerning child, but try as it might, Alias could never come close to the witty adventures of DM and the trusty Penfold. Still, there was a sinister character called The Black Najjer, and I think that deserves a mention.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 5/10

(Thanks to 'Cosgrove Hall Ate My Brain' for the borrowed pic)