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Alfie Atkins

SWEDISH ADVENTURES of a bald cartoon boy and his bald cartoon dad. Had moral dilemmas about waiting for chicken pox to clear up or “hitting a chap smaller than himself”. Odd clarinet theme. No relation to MARMALADE ATKINS.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Ken Shinn

    May 19, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    In the earlier episodes, I think that the Scaffold sang lyrics to the theme tune, though all I can recall is the refrain “Alfie Atkins rules okay”. The “hitting a smaller chap than yourself” story was a real morbid nightmare, though – especially for Alfie, who spent a guilt-wracked night troubled by images of a significant drop of blood from the other kid’s nose plummeting through blackness rather like the similar splash of claret that dives through part of the opening titles of Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life. I do recall that it ended happily, though, with Alfie apologising to the other kid and becoming his friend.

  2. Phil of the Past

    October 7, 2009 at 6:10 am

    This was still on around the wee hours of the morning during the beginning of the New Millennium, just before “Sesame Street” came on. Presumably to taunt people recovering from hangovers, no doubt. Even sober people such as myself come out of it wondering what the Hell was going on! Apparently, these are all based on Swedish children’s books, which started around 1972.

    Also, it seems that Alfie’s father is a positive role model to him. Did we ever see his Mum at all?

  3. LovelyCocktail

    March 2, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    I will always remember the spectral episode where Alfie was compelled to recite “Ghostie, ghostie go away. You’re not real anyway” whilst standing on a chair waggling various limbs.

  4. Lee James Turnock

    April 30, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    Alfie’s father was indeed a positive role model, I seem to remember there were plenty of father and son hugs. Quite a rare sight in a children’s programme, even today!

  5. Tom Ronson

    March 7, 2023 at 2:28 am

    Originally Alfons Aberg, and the first book was published (in Sweden, anyway) in 1972. Between Alfie Atkins, Ziggy, and Charlie Brown, eighties kids like me were spoilt for bald underdog characters. (Caillou doesn’t count, little shit that he was.)

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