22 Hector's House

First  watched : Uncertain

Hector's  adventures  replaced  Babar   in  the  pre -news  slot  from  12th  November  1969  although  it  had  been  on  before. Like  its  predecessors  it  was  a  French  programme  re-voiced  for  English  consumption but  the  three  characters  were  glove  puppets  rather  than  stop  motion  figures.  Despite  the  title,  most  of  the  action  takes  place  in  Hector's  garden

Hector  the  hound  lives  with  Miss   Zsa  Zsa  the  cat   ( who  I  wrongly  presumed  to  be   his  wife  )  and  they  are  constantly  visited  by  noisy  neighbour  Kiki  the  Frog.  The  two  females  regularly  team  up  to  play  tricks  on  Hector  and  prick  his  pomposity  which  he  always  accepts  with  good  grace  at  the  end.  Hector  is  wonderfully  voiced  by  Paul  Bacon, his  fruity  tones  inflating  a  bubble  of  male  pride  just  asking  to  be  popped  though  you  do  sometimes  wish  he'd  turn  the  tables  on  them. It's  impressive  that  they  managed  to  squeeze  nearly  80  episodes  from  this  simple  formula.

I  only  found  it  mildly  diverting  but  I  seem  to  recall  my  mum  finding  it  funny.