After the opening credit, the shift worker is greeted by an ungainly puppet, a sarcastic loaf of bread who informs him in a downbeat baritone that life is hell and that this programme is, well 'rubbish'2 - that he, the talking loaf of bread, is tired of television and wants to leave, and that he, the worker, should have better things to do and should turn off the set. 'Go home! Go to bed!' The worker laughs uproariously, and the curmudgeonly children's character has won over another adult fan.
Thus spreads the cult of Bernd das Brot, the subversive entertainer who only performs at breadknife-point ('read this, or we'll have you for lunch!'), whose dour humour belligerently asserts the right of everyone in Germany - child or adult - to be grumpy.
Who is this award-winning troublemaker? Why has he won so many fans in the heart of Europe? Why was he kidnapped? Did he really develop Stockholm Syndrome while in captivity?
