The Perishers started as a comic strip in the Daily Mirror
Newspaper in 1958. It was the brainchild of its cartoon
editor Bill Herbert. The Comic Strip wasn't an instant hit and
initially the scripts were produced by Ben Witham and the
characters were drawn by Dennis Collins.
Maurice Dodd was drafted in to help, who sketched his
scripts and the strip then went from strength to strength. It
is still shown in the newspaper today.
In 1978 FilmFair and Bill Melendez Productions
teamed up to bring The
Perishers to
life on the
small screen,
in a cartoon
series
consisting of 20 episodes.
The theme tune to this series (by Trevor Evan Jones)
was very catchy and ends with Boot saying 'Perishing
Kids!'.
Wellington, Marlon, Maisie & Baby Grumpling are 4 children who hang about with each other.
They like to go camping and to the seaside, but trouble is always around the corner when they
start squabbling with each other.
Wellington's dog, Boot, likes to come along and have fun, but always tries to stay away from
anything that could be hard work.
He is a very bossy little boy and always wants his own way and is an
orphan. He's always trying to get his dog, Boot, to do things, but Boot
has other ideas (they are always battling against each other). He wears
a deer stalker hat and a pair of Wellington Boots (hence his name).
His best friend is Marlon, but he is always using him to do something for
himself. He especially likes him when he is trying to sell one of his
wooden buggies (go-karts), as this is Wellington's little sideline to make
money.
He's a bit slow (in the head) and likes to be pulled around on his buggy
(he's easily lead). He likes buggies and does lots of Vroom!! Vroom!!
noises and gets Maisie to push/pull him around in it (if he can persuade
her to).
To go for the complete look, he wears some overalls that look like the
ones racing drivers wear (it even has a go fast stripe!).
He is the inventor of the 'Inch Thick Ketchup Sandwich'. I would recommend that you stand well
back when he bites into this, as people standing too close are covered in Tomato Ketchup.
Also he has very smelly feet.
Boot is an Old English Sheep Dog and always saying (or is it thinking to
himself) 'By the Lord Harry'. He has no tail and is not fond of water, he
especially hates baths. Sausages are a favourite of his.
He loves to talk to himself in the mirror and admires himself. He thinks
he's handsome and and has an ego the size of a planet.
He thinks he is more intelligent than Wellington and doesn't do what he is told, which gets poor Wellington really frustrated.
Boot even thinks he owns the house they live in, but Wellington is always trying to tell him otherwise.
Boot is interested about what lives underwater, and when they all go to the seaside, he heads straight to the rock pools.
Here he has become known as 'The Eyeballs in the Sky' by the crabs that live underwater, they are unsure what the Eyes are, maybe they're god? Its
a shame Boot doesn't know this, as he would relish the chance to become anyone's god.
She is the sister of Marlon and sounds a bit posh. She has become the self appointed girlfriend of Marlon, he never stood a
chance! Every once in a while, she has a go at ruling the World, but its a very difficult task!
Once she had a hat like a duck, and all the others kept going Quack, Quack, Quack (which really upset her). But the final
straw was when they all jumped in a duck pond to get away from a cow and some passing people threw bread for her to eat!
He is the baby brother of Maisie. He especially likes to go around on his Space Hopper, the trouble is he flattens anything in
his way, such as Wellington. Digging holes is one of his specialities too.
He especially upsets Maisie when he puts insects in her underwear draw. If he doesn't get his own way, then he resorts to
his final threat - "I'm going to tell my Mum!".
He is an Indian dog (from the Army) that has no sense of smell and he is Boot's best friend.