Professor Branestawm

Professor Branestawm is a series of thirteen children's books written by the English author Norman Hunter.

The liquid turns out to be the Professor's elixir of life, which was in the bottle because cough medicine is the only thing that can stop the stuff dead without actually destroying it.

", the Professor invents an automatic burglar catcher, but forgets his house key, tries to get in the window and is grabbed and trussed up by his own machine so thoroughly that even Mrs Flittersnoop fails to recognise him and bashes him over the head for good measure.

Heath Robinson was famous for his rickety contraptions, and the illustrations were a perfect foil to the outlandish plots of these short stories, each picture typically featuring the professor's unfeasibly large forehead.

The original book contained a section called seventy-six illustrations by W. Heath Robinson, each with evocative titles such as A telescope of his own invention or With nothing on at all but a big smile (referring to a picture of an extra specially young professor).

[1] The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm with Adamson's illustrations was reissued by Red Fox Classics (Random House) in 2003.

[2] Professor Branestawm books have been translated into several languages, among them French, German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Swedish, Thai, and Persian.

[3] In 2014, a BBC hour-long television film adaptation of Hunter's books, written by Charlie Higson and starring Harry Hill as Professor Branestawm, was broadcast on Christmas Eve.