Agaton Sax

Agaton Sax is the protagonist of a series of Swedish-language humorous detective novels written for children by Swedish author Nils-Olof Franzén and illustrated by Åke Lewerth.

Franzén was also inspired by another children's books detective in Sweden, Ture Sventon by Åke Holmberg[citation needed].

Translated by Kenton Hall, and with new illustrations, the series will include the 11th Agaton Sax book, never before published in an English language version.

Three of the novels were adapted for television in the UK between 1972 and 1981, broadcast as segments of the BBC children's series Jackanory, with Kenneth Williams as the storyteller.

[7] Also in 1972, a four part animated television series was produced in Sweden, again based on the book Agaton Sax and the Max Brothers.

All of these changes—namely, the 4-year delay in transmission, the removal of the original title, and the substitution of Peter Hawkins for Kenneth Williams—were designed to conceal as best as possible the fact that the production was simply a remake of the 1972 Jackanory serial which had been based on the same book.

An English-language version was broadcast in the UK by the BBC in August 1978, adapted by Daphne Jones, under the title Agaton Sax and The Feast at Bykoping, and once again featured Kenneth Williams voicing all the characters.

Adapted in 3 parts of 25 minutes each, it aired just six months after the transmission of Williams' second Jackanory serial, The League of Silent Exploders,[9] and was repeated in August 1979.

This coincided with the character's surge in popularity in the UK, due to the publication of the English translations in book form, both paperback and hardback, between 1965 and 1978.