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Biggles: Difference between revisions
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James Bigglesworth, [[Only Known by Their Nickname|universally known as "Biggles"]], is a character in a long-running series of books originally written by "Captain" W.E. Johns (the rank was self-awarded; Johns retired from the RAF as a Flying Officer, equivalent to a Lieutenant in the army) between the 1930s and the 1960s.
''[[Biggles]]'' originated in a series of short stories that Johns (himself a former airman) wrote for ''Popular Flying'' magazine, and the original intention was to provide the fighter pilots of the future with an entertaining way to remember the "tricks of the trade" learned the hard way during [[World War I]].
The stories became very popular with children, particularly young boys, and Johns began to write more to this audience. The story was advanced to the inter-war period, with Biggles and his friends acting as freelance adventurers, sometimes working for the British Secret Service.
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The books continued after the war, with Biggles now a member of the Special Air Police, and Johns continued writing until his death in 1968, though the later books are not as highly regarded.
Although originally written as a realistic Great War
Biggles has in many ways dated very badly. Very much a product of its time, Biggles embodies the British values of Decency, Fair Play and Courage, and the casual racism of British society in the 1930s, though Biggles himself is shown to have been born and raised in India and speak fluent Hindi. The books are now generally considered [[Fair for Its Day|fair for their day]].
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''Biggles'' holds a place in British popular culture comparable to ''[[Flash Gordon]]'' in the US, and it's probably not too much of a stretch to suggest that, if ''Biggles'' had been an American series, there would have been numerous screen adaptations by now. As it is, only a short-lived 1960s TV series and the [[So Bad It's Good]] 1986 ''[[Biggles: Adventures in Time]]'' movie (in which Biggles is joined by a time-travelling American salesman) have been made.
''Biggles'' was referenced multiple times on ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' (thus paying homage both to Biggles' importance as British pop hero and to underline/mock the show's supposed "aviatorial" nature); he was also featured as "cardinal" in the infamous "Spanish Inquisition" sketch. It's been heavily deconstructed and
''Biggles'' is spoofed by blogger Reed dé Buch in ''[http://reeddebuch.blogspot.com/search/label/biggles Biggles Over Baghdad]'', an ongoing series of short stories, setting Biggles in contemporary Iraq and Iran - definitively not part of the Biggles canon.
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[[Category:Children's Literature]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
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[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
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