The Darling Buds of May (TV series) and 2.1, respectively. Although a male character, John Blenheim was played by Daisy-May Bates, granddaughter of the author of the books. Various other actors appeared in more than one storyline, i.e. in more than one double episode. Having been sold to MGM films in 1959, it wasn't until 1989 that Richard Bates, son of the author of the original books H. E. Bates, was able to purchase the rights to the novels. At the same time, Yorkshire Television were looking for a new project for David Jason, having starred for them in "A Bit of a Do". Richard Bates went
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids the villagers, with the exception of the narrator. At the close of the novel, he is chased into the forest by the villagers to an unknown fate. Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids ( ; also known as "Pluck the Bud and Destroy the Offspring") is a 1958 novel by Japanese author Kenzaburō Ōe. It is Ōe's first novel, written when he was 23 years old. It was originally published in 1958. The English version was translated in 1995. The novel deals with fifteen adolescent boys from a reformatory in World War II Japan.