The Biff and Chip books were stone cold classics of the school curriculum. In a world of painfully unfunny revision guides, French textbooks with cocks drawn on them and world atlases that still include the Soviet Union, Biff and Chip were a respite from the classroom literary dirge.
Like so many things from the 1980s, however, a little seedy light has been turned into this corner of the childhood experience. One London schoolteacher has spotted some seriously sketchy scenes in the background of these primary school favourites, which may raise a question or two about the goings on in the previously mundane lives of the Robinson family.
Ed Brody, aka @chiefbrody1984, spotted the background scenes and posted some of them to Twitter, with other users digging out their own copies to find similarly unbecoming escapades. One, which has been retweeted nearly five thousand times, includes the character Wilma playing in a field, while in the bushes behind him, a group of middle-aged men are congregating.
The next panel shows an old lady having appeared where the men were, sporting a decidedly shocked expression. Ed Brody captions his tweet "Somewhat dubious scenes spotted in the background of a friend's 4yo's school book."
Another, posted by Twitter user @lellabells, shows a girl's changing room after a PE session, with a female teacher and plenty of schoolgirls. All very wholesome, except for one creepy, smiling bloke in the corner, sporting a reverend's collar. "Always found this one dodge," says the caption. Yeah...
A third image, posted by @danhigham is even more blatant. This one has kids playing with building blocks and generally having a sweet time. Again, more wholesome it does not get. Look closely, however, and the blocks seem to spell out "hepatitis".
"That series of books had an illustrator who like to put stuff like that in them. I found this one a long time ago... See it?" wrote Mr Higham, and indeed, we did see it.
It's not quite a weird priest or people fumbling in the bushes, but it probably still pitches a little bit above the head of the expected four to six age group of Biff and Chip books.
Featured Image Credit: Biff and Chip / chiefbrody1984Topics: UK
