The Merman

Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. Later he taught at a village primary school. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978. He wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Hodgeheg, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995). At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children's Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.

June Whitfield has had a long, successful career that has included musical theatre, films and numerous radio and television performances. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has worked with most of the biggest names in comedy. She became a television double-act with Terry Scott on Happy Ever After (1974) and Terry and June (1979). She also appeared in three instalments of the popular Carry On film series, and in 1992 her appearance in Absolutely Fabulous put her back in the spotlight once again.