The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Land of Faerie Tales

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Starring Eric Idle

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"My words no doubt seem strange to you, but please remember that they're true."

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Yellow Spinning 5 Point Star

This is not one of my favorite Faerie Tale Theatres. Based on the poem by Robert Browning, Monty Python star Eric Idle portrays the mysterious piper as well as Browning himself. Idle is a wonderful actor (and by the way, a very charming man) but even he can't save this on his own.

The costumes and sets are drab. It was done probably to contrast with the rich reds of the Piper's arrival, but it doesn't quite work. Instead they all come across as kind of blah. The whole script is done in rhyme, taking all of the dialogue from the original poem.

Browning's poem is wonderful, but an hour of listening to rhyming can get on your nerves. It's also a more serious tale (this is not one where everyone lives happily ever after) and I always found it to be something of a downer. It certainly is unique in the series, and I recommend watching it for that.