Mr Benn has an idea to let out some of the gas, diverting it horizontally with the drain pipe to provide a form of jet propulsion. He also becomes a barrow boy in a pearly suit and meets Mr Grubbly and his animal friends in the African jungle. This was after the BBC – who screened the television series – felt that the story was too mature for a children's series. More Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

Five films for the Save the Children fund followed, then a series of films based on the King Rollo books, with two friends, Clive Juster and Leo Nielsen. The series was voted the sixth most popular children's television programme in the 2001 Channel 4 poll 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was UK nominee for the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.Benn was published in 1970 ( ISBN 0-234-77361-8) and tells the story of Mr Benn as a convict (hence the number) inspiring his jail-mates to brighten up their cells.

He declared it a "shock" but "fantastic", and said he'd "never been one for the spotlight or winning awards". The result was the development of a series about one of McKee's characters, the resulting series was Mr Benn, which ran for thirteen episodes first broadcast in 1971 and 1972 and was repeated regularly over the following two decades. But he has forgotten that prisoners are made to fight gladiators in the arena, and those who are not beaten will end up facing the lions. I think it was because in the first book I drew myself looking out of the window, and I thought it would be quite nice to have him next door", said McKee.The first six episodes of Mr Benn were broadcast Thursday afternoons on BBC1 at 1:30pm from 25 February to 1 April 1971. The Baron cheats again by having a man on a horse tow his balloon, but the animal becomes frightened and runs in the wrong direction. Originally four different designs, the 2017 Westminster Attack caused the decision to not produce the final image of Mr Benn facing his adversaries outside the Houses of Parliament and next to the bridge in question. They have been responsible for various films, including Tony Ross's Towser, Eric Hill's Spot the Dog, and Lucy Cousins's Maisy.