Characters

Alias

Alias is a cheerful little bloke/alien/midget who disguises himself as a jester, but is really a flying superhero from outer space. Neat, eh? He landed one day in Houghton Bottoms after his time machine's carburettor packed up, and promptly rescued Princess Amaranth from a dragon (although technically she didn't need rescuing; she was just helping the dragon with the washing-up).

Meredith, thinking that Alias is the "Red Knight from the Heavens" that he's been trying to summon with his magic, persuades him to take the newly-available jester's job. So, Alias becomes the protector of King Arthur's, er, kingdom – when he's not jesting for him, of course. Sadly, he's much better at guarding the land than being a jester, and his "jokes" usually lead to him getting fired at the end of every episode (see below).

Did you know?

• Alias comes from the planet Zogma.
• His true name is next to impossible to transcribe, but sounds like this: A-Leeas-A-Wazra-MaZogma Baridi-Baridi-De-Gloop-Zow. Phew!
• Alias was voiced by professional affable man Richard "The Good Life" Briers.

Boswell

Alias' pet, as shown in the picture above; a small, green dog-like thing, with ears that look like wings. He uses these to communicate with Alias from far away (Alias seems to have similar "wings" on his superhero costume, although the pilot episode indicates they might be attached to his head, the way Boswell's are). Boswell makes a noise which is kind of a cross between a squeak and a honk, and is basically just very cute.

Meredith

Ancient and befuddled court wizard, and the only one who knows about Alias' secret identity. He's pretty handy with magic spells, but is terribly absent-minded. More often than not, King Arthur fires him along with Alias at the end of each episode. It would usually go something like this... ARTHUR: Meredith.. MEREDITH: Yes, your Majesty? ARTHUR: Jester.. ALIAS: Yes, your Majesty? ARTHUR: YER FIRED!! MEREDITH & ALIAS: Yes, your Majesty. Thank you, your Majesty. ...and it's terribly funny! I'll try to put a .wav file of it up sometime.

Did you know? Meredith was voiced by Brian Wilde, AKA Foggy in moribund Britcom "Last of the Summer Wine".

King Arthur and Queen Edith

Ruler of Houghton Bottoms (and presumably the rest of the country too), King Arthur is a short-arsed, short-tempered Northern bloke who just wants a bit of peace from the ridiculous events that always take place around him. Unfortunately, his lardy lady wife Queen Edith is always around to remind him of his kingly duties, or basically just to nag him about this and that.

Other characters

Princess Amaranth - Arthur and Edith's slightly dopey blue-haired daughter.

Sir Pinkly Percival - The wettest knight in Houghton Bottoms.

The Black Najjer (Broadcasting Standards were obviously asleep that day) - A suave devil-like character, who ends his every appearance in the show as a small slimy thing.

– Other characters who have appeared at various points include an enchanted prince, a leprechaun, a family of giants, and a whole bunch of vikings. Well, of course.

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