Home to a Classic Animated TV

As if by magic, the Shopkeeper appeared...

Location: Festing Road, Putney, SW15

Description: Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who appears in several children's books, and an animated television series of the same name transmitted by the BBC in 1971 and 1972.

So what's the deal with London?

Well Mr Benn lives in London at 52 Festive Road, which was inspired by this very spot, 'Festing Road' in Putney where David McKee used to live.

Whether in a book, or on television, Mr Benn's adventures take on a similar pattern. Mr Benn, a man wearing a black suit and bowler hat who never seems to go to work, leaves his house at 52 Festive Road and visits a fancy-dress costume shop where he is invited by the moustachioed, fez-wearing shopkeeper to try on a particular outfit.

He leaves the shop through a magic door at the back of the changing room and enters a world appropriate to his costume, where he has an adventure (which usually contains a moral) before the shopkeeper re-appears to lead him back to the changing room, and the story comes to an end. Mr Benn returns to his normal life, but is left with a small souvenir of his magical adventure.

Tours: Cartoonists and Illustrators

Themes: TV