Hector's House

Hector's House (French La Maison de Toutou) is a French children's television series using glove puppets. It was first broadcast in France on 1ère chaine on 27 October 1966 and ran over seven series and 78 episodes. It was re-voiced in English and broadcast on BBC1 on 9 September 1968 and repeated throughout the 1970s. Each episode lasted 5 minutes and it was regularly given the pre-six o'clock time slot that brought children's programmes to a close.

Hector's House
Genre	Puppets
Created by	George Croses
Country of origin	France
Original language	French
No. of series	7
No. of episodes	78
Production
Running time	5 minutes
Production company	Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française
Original release
Network	1ère chaine, BBC1
Release	27 October 1966 (27 October 1966) – 13 November 1970 (13 November 1970)

It was written and performed by Georges Croses with puppeteers Agnès Vannier and Georges Tournaire, using 60 cm (2') tall puppets on a garden set. The English version followed the French script faithfully with minor deviations.

Characters and setting

Affable, but sometimes pompous, Hector the dog (named Toutou, literally meaning "doggie", in the original French version) lives in a house with a beautiful garden. He is a proud gardener and handyman, never far from his tool shed. The motherly, but mischievous, Zsazsa the cat (named Zouzou in the original) lives with him. Kiki the frog is a neighbour who constantly visits the garden through a hole in the garden wall and claims to be a meteorologist.

Hector desires order and tranquillity, and is always thinking up ways to improve himself and his garden. He is willing to assist his two friends in their activities, but often finds them at odds with his own. Kiki and Zsazsa also often play tricks on him, but he always takes this in good humour and ends each episode breaking the fourth wall to address the camera with his catchphrase: "I'm a great big [whatever he was] old Hector."

Although named after the house, all stories occur in the garden and action within the house is only seen through the open windows.

The humour employed is indebted to the French film comedies of Jacques Tati who often portrayed a man strangely at odds with his surroundings.

Credits

The programme was broadcast entirely without credits, featuring only a short introductory theme tune, (with birdsong accompaniment) and, in the French broadcasts, a short static frame at the end (with the same bird).

French

Actor Jacques Morel voiced Toutou, Actress Lucie Dolène voiced Zouzou and puppeteer Agnes Vannier was Kiki.

English

Hector was voiced by Paul Bacon. Kiki was voiced by Denise Bryer, who also had roles in Noddy, Terrahawks and Labyrinth. An urban myth circulated for some time that ZsaZsa was voiced by Joanna Lumley, due to her similar voice and accent, but this has been denied by the actress.

Music

The theme music, of which two versions were aired, was composed by Francis Lai.

Video and DVD

A number of VHS and DVDs have since been released with a selection of episodes across the series in no particular order.

• VHS 1993 - 60min - Polygram Video "Pocket Money Video"
• DVD 2001 - 30 Episodes - Contender

Episodes

The BBC episodes were not shown in the same order as the original French series.

Series One

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	27 October 1966	La visite mystérieuse	9 September 1968	A Mysterious Visit
02	28 October 1966	Bonjour grenouille	10 September 1968	Good Morning Frog
03	29 October 1966	Les chardons	11 September 1968	The Thistle
04	30 October 1966	Le goûter	16 September 1968	The Snack
05	31 October 1966	La météo	12 September 1968	The Weather Forecaster
06	1 November 1966	Le puits	25 September 1968	The Well
07	2 November 1966	Le grand sommeil	23 September 1968	Deep Sleep
08	3 November 1966	La surprise	30 October 1968	The Surprise
09	4 November 1966	Vive l'ordre	5 November 1968	Keep This Garden Tidy
10	5 November 1966	Le jeu de la météo	11 November 1968	The Weather Game
11	6 November 1966	L'entonnoir	12 November 1969	The Funnel
12	7 November 1966	La niche	24 September 1968	The Kennel
13	8 November 1966	Jalousie	10 October 1968	Jealousy

Series Two

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	5 December 1966	Le collier	26 September 1968	The Lead
02	6 December 1966	Le pyjama	23 October 1968	The Pyjamas
03	7 December 1966	Cache cache	28 October 1968	Playing Tag
04	8 December 1966	La confiture	4 November 1968	Jam Making
05	9 December 1966	La chenille	16 October 1968	The Caterpillar
06	10 December 1966	La pêche	18 September 1968	Fishing
07	11 December 1966	L'accroc	19 September 1968	The Torn Coat
08	12 December 1966	Le tuba	3 October 1968	The Tuba
09	13 December 1966	Le parfum	17 November 1969	The Perfume
10	14 December 1966	La brouille	8 October 1968	The Disagreement
11	15 December 1966	Toutou malade	7 October 1968	Hector is ill
12	16 December 1966	Les bonnes manières	1 October 1968	Good Manners
13	17 December 1966	Fouette cocher	20 November 1968	The Coach

Series Three

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	19 March 1967	La sieste	17 September 1968	The Siesta
02	20 March 1967	Le bon gardien	30 September 1968	The Watchdog
03	21 March 1967	La peinture	19 November 1968	Painting
04	22 March 1967	Le cochon	31 October 1968	Pig
05	23 March 1967	Le petit canard	12 November 1968	The Little Duck
06	24 March 1967	La gymnastique	13 November 1968	Exercises
07	25 March 1967	Toutou se concentre	29 October 1968	Hector Thinks Hard
08	26 March 1967	La circulation	13 November 1969	Traffic Regulations
09	27 March 1967	Zouzou s'en va	6 November 1968	Zaza Goes Away
10	28 March 1967	Soleil couchant	7 November 1968	The Setting Sun
11	29 March 1967	Chien méchant	2 October 1968	Naughty Dog
12	30 March 1967	L'arrosage	22 October 1968	The Hosepipe
13	31 March 1967	La musique	9 October 1968	Music

Series Four

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	18 June 1967	Plus vite toujours plus vite	21 November 1968	Faster, Faster
02	19 June 1967	Basket pommes	25 November 1968	The Basket
03	20 June 1967	L'herbier	26 November 1968	The Botanist
04	21 June 1967	Aubade a Kiki	27 November 1968	Wake Up Kiki
05	22 June 1967	La tirelire	28 November 1968	The Piggy Bank
06	23 June 1967	L'epouvantail	2 December 1968	Scarecrow
07	24 June 1967	La photographie	3 December 1968	Photography
08	26 June 1967	Le pique nique	4 December 1968	The Picnic
09	26 June 1967	Le savon	5 December 1968	The Soap
10	28 June 1967	Le secret de toutou	18 November 1969	Hector's Secret
11	29 June 1967	Et pourtant elle roule	19 November 1969	It Works, What's More
12	27 July 1967	On soigne Kiki	14 November 1968	Looking After Kiki

Series Five

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	11 October 1967	Le joyeux retour	18 November 1968	Happy Returns
02	12 October 1967	Le silence est d'or	24 November 1969	Silence Is Golden
03	13 October 1967	Colin maillard	25 November 1969	Blind Man's Buff
04	14 October 1967	La citrouille	26 November 1969	The Pumpkin
05	15 October 1967	La chasse aux papillons	24 October 1968	Chasing Butterflies
06	16 October 1967	Les boites	27 November 1969	The Boxes
07	17 October 1967	Le piege	1 December 1969	The Trap
08	18 October 1967	Le beau chandail rouge	29 December 1969	The Sweater
09	19 October 1967	La potiche	3 December 1969	The Porcelain Vase
10	21 October 1967	Aïe ma patte	8 December 1969	Ouch My Paw
11	22 October 1967	Les 24 heures du mans	9 December 1969	The Le Mans Race
12	23 October 1967	Les leçons	10 December 1969	Lessons

Series Six

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	2 December 1967	La querelle	11 December 1969	The Quarrel
02	3 December 1967	Un bon remède	2 December 1969	A Good Remedy
03	4 December 1967	La boîte aux lettres	16 December 1969	The Letterbox
04	5 December 1967	Opération survie	17 December 1969	Operation Survival
05	6 December 1967	Chanson de la nuit	18 December 1969	A Song At Night
06	7 December 1967	La cloche	7 January 1970	The Bell
07	8 December 1967	Un valeureux pompier	28 December 1969	Hector The Brave Fireman
08	9 December 1967	Trop tard Toutou	30 December 1969	Hector Is Too Late
09	10 December 1967	Un etrange etranger	8 January 1970	A Strange Stranger
10	11 December 1967	Kiki perche	6 January 1970	Treetop Kiki
11	12 December 1967	Le pense toutou	5 January 1970	Hector Never Forgets
12	13 December 1967	Une merveilleuse invention	1 January 1970	The Marvellous Invention
13	14 December 1967	Trois petits sapins de noel	23 December 1969	The Three Christmas Trees

Series Seven

Episode	French Transmission	French Title	UK Transmission	English Title
01	27 August 1970	Bonne route Toutou	20 November 1969	Good Journey
02	13 November 1970	L'oeuvre d'art	4 December 1969	The Work Of Art