The Animals of Farthing Wood is possibly my favourite television programme. Ever. It started in January 1993, when I was four years old, and ran for three seasons. Season three was a big pile of poo (I believe they may well have been my actual words back in 1995), but the first two are sheer brilliance.
Based on a series of books by Colin Dann, the basic plot was that Farthing Wood was being destroyed by humans in order to build a housing estate. With nowhere to live, the animals travelled to the nature reserve White Deer Park, bound together by the Oath of mutual protection. Season one was about their journey, and seasons two and three dealt with life in the park.
It was so brilliant because they didn't treat young children like idiots - which was the major issue with season three. The series dealt with death, sometimes in quite horrific ways. The baby fieldmice, for example, were killed by a butcher bird and impaled on thorns:
I'm still amazed they got away with showing that at about half past three on a weekday afternoon. Perhaps the fact it's a cartoon and about animals negates the violence somewhat, but it's still an image that has stuck with me for seventeen years. I can't, for example, imagine a show where Mr & Mrs Jones come home and find their newborn baby has been stuck on a meathook being classified as 'Universal - suitable for all' by the BBFC.
In addition to that, the newt family got burned to death in a fire, the pheasants got shot by a farmer, Baby Rabbit got shot by a hunter, Fox and Vixen were both nearly killed by a fox hunt, and Mr and Mrs Hedgehog were run over trying to cross the motorway. And that's just in the first thirteen episodes.But this was why it was so popular. It wasn't condescending to children - instead it showed the realities of life and death for a group of wild animals. While it had an environmental concern, it was never overly preachy or moralistic. And it made me vehemently opposed to fox hunting at the age of four, which isn't necessarily a popular decision when growing up in Leicestershire. (As an aside, pointing out that I went to school in Quorn for four years usually shuts hunt supporters up when they try and tell me that as a 'city person' I know nothing about country life. Stuff like fox hunting is precisely what made me decide being a city person is the way forward).
And Bold. Oh, poor Bold. Nothing on television has ever broken my heart quite so much as Bold's death. Even when I rewatched it recently - I still have my grainy, off-air VHS copies - it still made me cry my eyes out. In brief (though it's somewhat convoluted), Fox was the leader of the animals on their journey from Farthing Wood. Bold was his oldest son, and always resented living in his father's shadow. Despite everyone's advice, he decided to make it out on his own in the 'real world' rather than being constantly under the protection of the nature reserve. Unsurprisingly, this didn't go particularly well, and he was lamed after being shot by a farmer. He then shacked up with Whisper, who got pregnant and insisted they go back to White Deer Park, saying that the only reason she was with him was so her cubs would be related to Fox. They then travelled to White Deer Park, Bold reconciled with his father, and promptly dropped dead.
This was a show supposedly aimed at the same audience as Chucklevision.
My one objection to the entire show (apart from season three, but in my own personal canon, that never existed) was the fact they inexplicably killed Badger off halfway through season two. In the books, I think he lasted right up until the end.
For reasons unknown, it's only available on DVD in German and French. Hopefully, an English language version will turn up soon. With lots of shiny extras. And commentaries. It'd make the nation's 20-something year-olds very happy. I have honestly never met anybody who didn't like it. There's not many shows you can say that about.
