Hector's House
This French series (known in its country of origin as La
Maison de Toutou) featured Hector the dog, Zsa Zsa the cat,
and Mrs Kiki the frog.
Hector and Zsa Zsa lived in a house in the centre of a lovely
garden full of flowers. Kiki the frog was their next-door neighbour
who seemed to spend most of her time spying on them over the
garden wall or squeezing through her sneaky access hole in the
wall for some excitement.
Hector was inevitably called upon to help the two ladies in
some way or other, and being a courteous 'old world' gentlemanly
dog, he would willingly oblige.
In return, Kiki and Zsa Zsa would often play tricks on Hector
to teach him a lesson, leading him to say his catchphrase at the
end of every episode; "I'm a great big <whatever he was in
that episode> old Hector".
Relationships were very traditional, with Hector dressed in
dungarees, Zsa Zsa (dressed in a red apron) showing off her sewing
skills and chiding Hector for his bad manners, and Kiki (whose
main talent seemed to be forecasting the weather) wearing a pink
gingham frock and hat, while coyly asserting "Mr Hector's
such a gentleman".
Occasionally Hector tried to better himself, like when he took
a correspondence course in guard-dogging. Ultimately though, it
was all to no avail, and deep down Hector was more than happy with
his lot in life . . .
Hector's House filled the BBC's 5.40pm weekday timeslot
after it was vacated by The Magic Roundabout (which was
also a French import). Filling the prime pre-news slot, it aimed
to appeal across the generations, and it succeeded. Children and
adults alike voted its dog star 'a big old lovable Hector' and
made sure they tuned in.
|
