The casual British viewer might have tuned into the BBC anthology weekly A Series of Birds in hopes of seeing a delectable parade of females (or "birds," as they were nicknamed at the time). Instead, the series consisted of eight 30-minute playlets, all starring versatile young stage performer John Bird. Bird also wrote much of the material, together with John Fortune and a bright new team named Michael Palin and Terry Jones (who obviously had a future in the business). The program began its run on October 3, 1967, and ended on November 21 of that same year. John Bird went on to essay a wide variety of roles in a number of other TV projects, including several entries in BBC's ambitious anthology of Shakespeare's plays and the 2000 satirical special My Government and I.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
