The Perishers, created for the Daily Mirror by writer Maurice Dodd and artist Dennis Collins (originally written by Ben Witham, who moved quickly to “Useless Eustace”), was such a popular strip it span out into numerous merchandise, including jigsaw puzzles.
The strip, revolving largely around a group of four children, Wellington, Marlon, Masie and Baby Grumpling, and Wellington’s dog, Boot, began in the Daily Mirror on 19th October 1959, running until 10th June 2006, when the backlog of strips created by Dodd before his death some weeks previously ran out.
Famed for its marvellous use of polyptychs, a single continuous background image is divided into three or four panels, the characters moving across it from panel to panel, downthetubes readers may well remember the annual “Eyeballs in the Sky” sequence, in which Boot visits a seaside rock pool to observe the antics of a group of crabs… unaware his visitations have created an entire religion for the crazy crustaceans.
(Towards the end of its original run, “The Perishers” was drawn first by Dodd after Collins’s retirement in 1983, then by Doctor Who and TV comic artist Bill Mevin from 1992).
“The Perishers” has enjoyed plenty of reprints in the Mirror, international syndication, and, in 1979, span out into an animated series created by Bill Melendez Productions and FilmFair. The 20 five-minute animated shorts were made for the BBC,
In its heyday, the strip has also prompted plenty of tie-in merchandise, including a number of jigsaws, produced by Hestairs Jigsaws.
Hestairs released at least three 260-piece and three 80-piece The Perishers jigsaws in 1973.
There was also at least one 96-piece jigsaw, too – does anyone know of others?
The jigsaws, artist unidentified, regularly turn up on eBay at relatively low prices.
You’ll also find The Perishers annual collections, too, the first collection the most elusive and expensive, Robert Harrop figures and more, much of the strip’s merchandise outlined here on downthetubes, in our feature, “Comics Christmas Presents Past: The Perishers”.
The Perishers: The Animated Series
Directed by Dick Horn, the animated series features the voice talents of Peter Hawkins (who narrates the series and provides the voice of Wellington and the dog, BH), Judy Bennett as the voice of Wellington), Sheila Steafel (Maisie and Baby Grumpling), and Leonard Rossiter (Boot). It features music by Trevor Evan Jones.
The Episodes
1 – “Magic Mirror” (21st March 1979)
2 – “In the Cart” (22nd March 1979)
3 – “A Life from the Ocean Wave” (23rd March 1979)
4 – “A-Camping We Will Go” (28th March 1979)
5 – “A Fool and his Money Aren’t as Easily Parted as You Think” (29th March 1979)
6 – “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Bath?” (30th March 1979)
7 – “How to Train the Family Dog” (2nd April 1979)
8 – “The Ugly Duckling” (4th April 1979)
9 – “Look Before it Leaps” (6th April 1979)
10 – “Spring Fever” (9th April 1979)
11 – “The Skateboard Champion” (11th April 1979)
12 – “The Wheeling and Dealing” (18th April 1979)
13 – “She May or She May Not” (20th April 1979)
14 – “Noblesse Oblige” (23rd April 1979)
15 – “The War Games” (24th April 1979)
16 – “Well Blow Me Down” (25th April 1979)
17 – “Bone Champions” (27th April 1979)
18 – “The Rehabilitation of BH (Calcutta) Failed” (1st May 1979)
19 – “The Eye Balls in the Sky” (2nd May 1979)
20 – “The Inch-thick Ketchup Sandwich” (4th May 1979)
A tie-in record, entitled The Perishers Sing – well sort of, was also released by Response Records, featuring 10 songs with lyrics by Maurice Dodd, narrated by Bernard Cribbens, with music by Trevor Evan Jones.
Web Links
Official Site
• Daily Mirror – The Perishers Page
Creators
• Maurice Dodd – Lambiek Entry
• Maurice Dodd – Independent Obituary
• Dennis Collins – British Cartoon Archive
• Dennis Collins – Lambiek Entry
• Bill Mevin – downthetubes tribute
Reference
• downthetubes: Comics Christmas Presents Past: The Perishers
• Wikipedia – The Perishers TV Animated Series
• Maurice Dodd’s son Mike Dodds created a marvellous web site dedicated to The Perishers, published between 2003 and 2014. Although the URL has been hijacked, there are snapshots of the site in the Wayback Machine, the last of them here
Merchandise
• Buy The Perishers collections via AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• The Perishers collectibles on eBay
• The Perishers items offered on Etsy
• downthetubes contributor Richard Sheaf tracked down Perishers collectibles, documenting jigsaw releases here on his Boys Adventure Comics blog
• Tony’s Trading has a Gallery of The Perishers collections and other books
Fan Sites
• The Shadow Gallery: Eek! It’s the Perishers
• Little Gems: The Perishers TV Show
The Perishers © 2026 Daily Mirror/REACH
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Animation, Books, British Comics, British Comics - Newspaper Strips, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Merchandise, Other Worlds
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