"This is 29 Acacier Road. And this is Eric - the schoolboy who leads an exciting double life. For when Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs!

Eric...is...BANANAMAN, ever alert for the call to action!"

In 1983, the BBC made a cartoon series which included a catchy theme tune and featured the voices of The Goodies. It was produced by Flicks Films for Chatsworth TV and in association with Tellytales Enterprises. Parts of the character were changed for the series: he was now called Eric Twinge, voiced by Simon Tweed and had a distinctive banana-shaped hairstyle rather than punk stubble, and had a love interest (only when transformed) in the form of Fiona, a newsreader based on Selina Scott.

Graeme Garden voiced the characters of Bananaman, General Blight and Maurice of The Heavy Mob, Bill Oddie voiced the characters of Crow, Chief O'Reilly, Doctor Gloom and the Weatherman, and Tim Brooke-Taylor voiced the characters of Eric, King Zorg of the Nurks, Eddie the Gent, Auntie and Appleman, as well as narrating the episodes. Jill Shilling voiced Fiona and any additional female characters, including Eric's cousin Samantha (but not Auntie). It lasted for forty episodes between 3 October 1983 and 15 April 1986.

Bananaman was aired in the United States by the Nickelodeon cable network as a companion piece to Dangermouse, but Bananaman never came close to reaching that series' American popularity. The show also aired during the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) after school timeslot and is considered one of the Classic ABC shows.

Bananaman initially faced a different pastiche supervillain each week, who were often lampoons of the kind of single-issue, uncreatively-named villains that heroes fought during the Silver Age, or tips-of-the-hat to famous supervillains.

Enemies include:

• Syndney aka Toymaster 10 year old parody of Toyman
• Witchy Woman parody of Scarlet Witch
• Doctor Gloom, a Doctor Doom homage, Blight's sidekick
• Appleman, Bananaman's arch-enemy in the early strip, parody of Bizarro, created by Dr Gloom. In later comics, he becomes an ally to Bananaman
• General Blight Banaman's current arch enemy, parody of Adolf Hitler
• Weatherman works for General Blight
• Clayman parody of Clayface
• The Heavy Mob, a group of thieves led by Eddie the Gent
• Auntie, a nanny with remote control-led balls of knitting wool as weapons; possibly a parody of Granny Goodness
• Impossible Man, complete with a quiff who performs impossible things such as hopping at 100mph
• Foul Five parody of Famous Five
• Scotsman, who controls haggis with a set of bagpipes
• The Nerks, an alien race bent on conquering Earth, led by King Zorg
• Bubblegum Bert
• Skunk Woman, an homage to Catwoman
• Captain Cream
• Mouseman, a gigantic mouse

EPISODES

• Bananaman Meets Dr Gloom
• The Big Breakout
• Ice Station Zero
• Alien Planet
• Oct 83 The Kidnap Caper
• on Hangman's Hill
• Destination Danger
• Wall of Death
• Jaws of Steel
• Banana Kid
• Auntie's Back in Town
• Tunnel of Terror 2nd Series 1984
• Mystery at the Old Mine
• Lost Tribe of the Tapiocas
• Trouble at the Mill
• The Web of Evil
• The Mummy's Curse
• The Night Patrol
• Fog of Fear
• A Tank Full of Trouble
• Double Trouble
• The Last Banana
• Ingergalactic Olympics
• The Night Patrol
• The Final Orbit 3rd Series 1986
• Disaster at Devil's Cove
• Night of the Nerks
• The Snowman Cometh
• Pirate TV Station
• Battle of the Bridge
• Harbour of Lost Ships
• Visibility Zero
• Battle of the Century
• The Perils of Ping Pong
• The Great Air Race
• Cavern of the Lost
• Clown Capers
• Banana Junction
• The Crown Jewel Caper
• Operation Total