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''Ivor the Engine'' is a British
cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ea ...
television series created by
Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008), generally known as Oliver Postgate, was an English animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television progra ...
and
Peter Firmin Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
's
Smallfilms Smallfilms is a British television production company that made animated TV programmes for children from 1959 until the 1980s. In 2014 the company began operating again, producing a new series of its most famous show, ''The Clangers'', however it ...
company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
" and works for ''The
Merioneth , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...
and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Limited''. His friends include Jones the Steam, Evans the Song and Dai Station, among many other characters.


Background

Having produced the live ''Alexander the Mouse'', and the
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animated ''The Journey of Master Ho'' for his employers
Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for Greater London, London and parts of Home counties, the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 an ...
/
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in partnership with Firmin, Oliver Postgate and his partner set up Smallfilms in a disused cow shed at Firmin's home in
Blean Blean is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The village, developed village within the parish is scattere ...
, near Canterbury, Kent. ''Ivor the Engine'' was Smallfilms' first production, and drew inspiration from Postgate's World War II encounter with Welshman Denzyl Ellis, a former railway locomotive fireman with the
Royal Scot Royal Scot may refer to: * Garde Écossaise, a regiment of the French army * Royal Scots, a regiment of the British Army * Royal Scots (Jacobite), a regiment of Scottish exiles in French service, in existence from 1744 to 1762 * ''Royal Scot'' (t ...
train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
, who described how
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
s came to life when you spent time steaming them up in the morning. Postgate decided to locate the story to
North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
, as it was more inspirational than the flat terrain of the English Midlands. The story lines drew heavily on, and were influenced by, the works of
South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
poet
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
.


Production

''Ivor the Engine'' used
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animation, of cardboard cut-outs painted with watercolours. The series was originally made for
black and white television Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
by Smallfilms for
Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for Greater London, London and parts of Home counties, the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 an ...
in 1958, but was later revived in 1975 when new episodes in colour were produced for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The series was written, animated and narrated by Oliver Postgate. Peter Firmin provided the artwork. The sound effects were endearingly low-tech, with the sound of Ivor's puffing made vocally by Postgate himself. The music was composed by
Vernon Elliott Vernon Pelling Elliott (27 July 1912 – 12 October 1996) was a British bassoonist, conductor and composer. Born into a musical family in 1912, Elliott took up the bassoon at a very early age. From then on he had an eventful, busy and very music ...
and predominantly featured a solo
bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
, to reflect the three notes of Ivor's whistle. Voices were performed by Oliver Postgate, Anthony Jackson and Olwen Griffiths. Anthony Jackson provided the voices for Dai Station, Evans the Song and Mr Dinwiddy.


Episodes

The original series was in black and white and comprised six episodes which told how Ivor wanted to sing in the choir, and how his
whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a larg ...
was replaced with steam organ pipes from the
fairground organ A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...
on Mr Morgan's roundabout. There then followed two thirteen-episode series, also in black and white. Black and white episodes were 10 minutes each. In the 1970s, the two longer black and white series were re-made in colour, with some alterations to the stories, but they did not revisit the original six. The colour series consisted of 40 five-minute films. These would often each form part of a longer story. Although the six original black and white episodes were subsequently released on video, the two longer black and white series (totaling 26 episodes) were not and for many years were thought to have been lost. In October 2010, however, film copies of all 26 episodes were discovered in a pig shed. When the colour series was subsequently released on DVD, some of the episodes whose content linked, were edited together, with the relevant closing and opening titles and credits removed. The colour series episodes were:-


Home releases

Throughout the 1980s and the early '90s, the BBC released a few videos of Ivor the Engine. In 1984 a single 57-minute compiled video called ''Ivor the Engine and the Dragons'' with 13 stories joined up together as an omnibus. In 1985 a single 58-minute compiled video called ''Ivor the Engine and the Elephants'' with 13 stories joined up together as an omnibus. In 1995 The video was re-released in different packaging. In the early 1990s a video with six black and white stories of the very first ''Ivor the Engine'' series in the late-1950s (previously broadcast on Associated-Rediffusion) and seven colour episodes of the 1970s BBC series of ''Ivor the Engine'', all shown as single episodes, was released. The video was introduced by Oliver Postgate. In 2000, a video called ''The Complete Ivor The Engine'' containing all 26 colour episodes was released by
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...


Characters


Ivor

Ivor is the
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited. Unlike real ones, he has a mind of his own. Ivor can drive himself and use his whistle to communicate. His fondest dream is to sing with the Grumbly and District Choral Society, a dream that is realised when his whistle is replaced with three pipes from an old fairground organ. He becomes the first bass of the choir, as well as providing them with a means of getting from place to place. Ivor enjoys doing all sorts of things that humans do. As well as singing in the choir, he likes visiting the seaside, making tea from his boiler and spending time with his friends. He is fond of animals, and has several of them among his friends. He can be wilful and disobedient at times, and it is not unknown for him to go and do his own thing when he should be working. He dislikes shunting and timetables.


Jones the Steam

Edwin Jones is Ivor's driver. He is a cheerful and kind-hearted man who perhaps sympathises more than most railway staff with Ivor's idiosyncrasies. Postgate and Firmin describe him as "an ordinary engine driver who is there to cope with whatever needs to be coped with". People who are new to the area find him rather eccentric for talking to his engine. When not driving Ivor or helping the engine with his latest flight of fancy, he enjoys fishing and day-dreaming.


Dai Station

The station master at Llaniog. He is a stickler for the regulations of the railway, but sometimes bends the rules to help his friends. His life is made a little difficult by the fact that Ivor really doesn't care much for regulations at all. Although he is often gloomy and overly strict, he is a good person at heart.


Owen the Signal

Owen the Signal inhabits a
signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
near Ivor's shed and makes an occasional appearance in the episodes.


Evans the Song

Evan Evans is the portly choirmaster of the ''Grumbly and District Choral Society''. He is also Jones the Steam's wife's uncle.


Mrs Porty

A rich and eccentric aristocratic lady who enjoys the occasional glass of port and has new hats sent from London every week. She is also technically the owner of the railway, having bought it when the line was threatened with nationalisation. However, she does not bother much with the day-to-day running and things remained much the same after she bought it.


Mr Dinwiddy

A very odd, possibly insane miner who lives in the hills and digs for gold. He enjoys explosions and mining. In fact, his mountain is full of gold, but as soon as he digs it up, he puts it back again. He often has need of new boots. He is something of an amateur scientist. He describes himself as "educated" and knows "something about rock". He has constructed a few odd devices, including a donkey carriage and a bubble-blowing machine.


Bani Moukerjee

An elephant keeper from India, who works for Charlie Banger's Circus. He is in charge of the elephants Alice, George, Margaret and Clarence, who all obey him without question.


Charlie Banger

The eponymous and larger-than-life owner of Charlie Banger's Circus, who arranges a free show for the town in order to thank Jones, Evans and Mr Hughes for their help in looking after Alice the Elephant following her injury.


Idris the Dragon

A small, red Welsh
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
who also sings in the choir for a time. Having been hatched from an egg in Ivor's fire, he lives with his wife Olwen and any of their twins, Daian and Blodwen, in the extinct volcano ''Smoke Hill''. As well as singing, he proves useful by cooking fish and chips for the choir using his fiery breath. Unfortunately, Idris runs into trouble when Smoke Hill goes cold and needs to be kept hot in order to survive. The gasboard provide a temporary furnace, but when that became too expensive (and decimalisation renders the slot-machine inoperable), the only other option for the dragons is a heated cage. Luckily, Mr Dinwiddy is able to provide a solution, and they now live in a geothermally-heated cave under the ground.


Alice the Elephant

A circus elephant with Charlie Banger's Circus. She is normally placid, but does not like taking medicine or being bathed by anyone except her owner, Bani Moukerjee. When Ivor met her, she had escaped and was asleep on the track with an injured foot. Since then they have become friends. She and her elephant friends were able to help Ivor when he got stuck in the snow.


Bluebell the Donkey

A donkey who lives at Mrs Porty's house. She cannot talk, but she and Ivor just enjoy sitting around together. As the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited has only one locomotive (apart from the short service of ''Juggernaut''), Bluebell is sometimes called upon to provide motive power. Examples include the towing by chain of the broken down locomotive ''Juggernaut'' and also the pulling of Mrs Porty's donkey cart when this was temporarily set on the railway tracks to pursue 'robbers' when Ivor had been 'stolen' in the episode ''The Lost Engine''; in this latter case, like a locomotive, Bluebell strictly observed the railway signals, halting the chase until Owen the Signal had raised the signal arm.


Morgan the Roundabout

Mr Morgan is the fairground owner. He gave Ivor some pipes from the steam organ on his roundabout, so that Ivor could sing in the choir. He only appeared in the very first black and white series.


Claude Gilbert

Claude Gilbert was the station master of Tan-y-Gylch station in the original black-and-white series, and would share a cup of tea with Jones whilst Ivor rested at the platform. It was he who directed Jones and Dai to Mr Jenkins the Builder when they were searching for organ pipes to replace Ivor's whistle. Like Mr Morgan, he only appeared in the first black and white series and was not seen again.


Mr Hughes The Gasworks

The gruff but kind-hearted proprietor of the local gasworks, he is well known for keeping pets, in particular budgerigars. He is asked to provide shelter for Alice the Elephant when she has an injured foot, and, despite his initial reluctance, he more than rises to the occasion.


Miss Ludgrove

The local vet, with a dry sense of humour, who comes to examine Alice's injured foot.


Mr Brangwyn

A robust and larger-than-life pigeon-fancier, who occupies a house by the railway, and is engaged to Miss Price from Llangubbin. It is Mr. Brangwyn who provides the elephant's boot for Alice: he obtained said boot during the time he once spent in India.


Mrs Williams

The local postmistress, who is a bit batty and a bit of a gossip. She occasionally interacts with Jones and Ivor.


Eli The Baker

The feisty but big-hearted and hard-working local baker.


Mrs Thomas

The local fish-and-chip shop owner. A plump woman with a big voice, she is kind and cheerful and serves the choir with food after their sessions.


Policeman Gregory

Mainly known as P.C. Gregory. The local and only village policeman. One of his most notable happenings is after Ivor went to keep the chickens warm on his boiler. Jones and Dai find 3 small eggs in Ivor's coal bunker, and after a small "finders-keepers" argument they are interrupted by P.C. Gregory, who then removes his helmet (which was padded on the inside) and takes the eggs, after he leaves Dai asks if the farmer will ever see those 3 eggs again, as P.C. Gregory "Dai* likes a good egg in the mornin' "


Professor Longfellow

This seemingly batty professor was only seen in a few episodes. He was famously known for ordering a telescope cover; however, as it was one of Ivor's deliveries, Mrs. Porty believes it is her newest hat, and wears it to a meeting later in the episode. He was also notable for telling Jones, Idris, and Dai, that the closest active volcano to the now extinct "Smoke Hill" is in southern Italy.


Mr Mervin

The local bank manager. He only appears in a few episodes; his most notable appearance is his and Jones's adventure to find more half-crowns for the gas meter powering "Smoke-Hill" (half-crowns are a pre-decimalisation form of currency, worth then 30 old pennies or two shillings and sixpence. Now with inflation and so-forth estimated at around 60-75 pence,) But as this episode takes place when decimalisation occurs, Jones must inform Idris and Co. that there are no more half-crowns in Wales and that "you have had the lot". But shortly they go and find in a small shop, an old tin teapot full to the brim with half-crowns. And so "Smoke-Hill" is gas fired for the final time until the dragons go to Mr. Dinwiddy and his geothermal heated cave


Mrs Griffiths

Mrs Griffiths is a member of the Welsh Antiquariums Society and a passionate believer in Dragons. She first came to seeking Jones the Steam in hopes of finding Idris the dragon, after hearing that dragons had been sighted in Llannyog. Idris had already run away by thus point after learning that people were looking for him so Jones mislead Mrs Griffith into giving up the search by pretending to be a Delirious-engine-driver who pretended to speak to railway engines (Ivor enhanced Jones' performance by not blowing his own whistle). When smoke hill, Idris' home, lost its heat; Jones and Ivor took Idris to see Mrs Griffith in her shop in Llanmadd. After seeing Idris and hus brethren, and Ivor's self-whistling, Mrs Griffith apologises to Jones for thinking him a nutter and agrees to help the dragons. Mrs Griffith and her fellows at the Antiquariums Society hire Mr Hughes the Gasworks to fit out smoke hill with gas heating and in the series one finale; smoke hill, now a gas-fired volcano, is reignited and all the characters sing in gladness. Unfortunately, the gas-heating includes a gas meter that only takes half-crowns, which are no longer "legal tender". On a few occasions, the gas meter runs out and Jones and Ivor have search high 'n' low for more half crowns. Eventually, they use up all the half crown in their part of Wales so they return to Mrs Griffith for help but Jones leaves Ivor alone in a siding while he speaks to Mrs Grittiths, two of the dragons, who were in Ivor's firebox at the time, decide the fly about the town. They come across a statue of St George famously slaying a dragon. The dragons, being quite young and knieve, attack the St George with jets of fire in hooes of saving the dragon. Mrs Griffith and Jones the Steam arrived; Mrs Griffith, horrifed by the sight of two dragons attacking the statues, tells Jones to take them away, accusing them of vandalism.


Juggernaut

The Juggernaut is a
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
rail lorry made out of bits, bobs and flanged wheels, which appears towards the end of the series. Due to its inadequate brakes, it runs down a hill and falls into the lake soon after starting service, nearly killing Idris, whom it was carrying on a chestnut barrow.


Books

Ivor the Engine published by Abelard Schuman in 1962. Six story books, based upon the TV series were published in the 1970s and were reprinted in 2006/07: *''Ivor the Engine: The first story'' *''Ivor the Engine: Snowdrifts'' *''Ivor the Engine: The dragon'' *''Ivor the Engine: The elephant'' *''Ivor the Engine: The Foxes'' *''Ivor the Engine: Ivor's Birthday'' *also ''The Ivor the Engine Annual'' c.1978 As the books were published in the early days of
political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
, London Borough of Hackney Public Libraries banned the entire series because of the Indian elephant keeper, called Bani. They thought
ethnic minorities The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
might be offended by him.


Influences and future appearances

*Postgate and Firmin created a map of their fictional railway which was adhered to rigidly during filming. *
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
include a character named 'Ivor The Engine Driver' in their song " A Quick One, While He's Away", which appears on their 1966 album 'A Quick One'. * British ska band
Bad Manners Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981). They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...
also name check Ivor, on their 1980 album ''
Loonee Tunes! ''Loonee Tunes!'' is the second album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners, from the year 1980. In keeping with the format of their first album, the first track is an instrumental. It reached number 36 on the UK album chart. The album op ...
'' with a track called "The Undersea Adventures of Ivor the Engine". * In ''
The Amazing Adventures of Morph ''The Amazing Adventures of Morph'' is a British stop-motion clay animation television show created by Aardman Animations which ran from 1980 to 1981. It featured the character Morph and his cream-coloured best friend Chas. Production The cha ...
'' episode "The Magic Wand", when Gobbledygook the alien is trying to change Chas back into a dog, Ivor, painted in
navy blue Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color n ...
with his name "Ivor" in black, makes a cameo appearance. * In 2007 'All Aboard with Ivor' events were held at various heritage railways around the UK following the modification of a small
Peckett Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Locomotive Works on Deep Pit Road between Fishponds and St. George, Bristol, England. Fox, Walker and Company The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George, ...
industrial locomotive to resemble Ivor. Railways hosting the event include the Battlefield Line Railway in Leicestershire, the
Watercress Line The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days w ...
in Hampshire and the
Cholsey and Wallingford Railway The Cholsey and Wallingford Railway is a long standard gauge heritage railway in the English county of Oxfordshire. It operates along most of the length of the former Wallingford branch of the Great Western Railway (GWR), from Cholsey stat ...
in Oxfordshire. * BBC2 Wales revived Ivor for a series of promotional spots advertising their new
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...
channel " 2W" for Wales. Oliver Postgate and Anthony Jackson provided new dialogue for these spots. * Some of the artwork from production is on display at the Rupert the Bear Museum, along with several other items from Smallfilm's history. The Rupert Bear Museum is now part of the
Canterbury Heritage Museum The Canterbury Heritage Museum (formerly the Museum of Canterbury) was a museum in Stour Street, Canterbury, South East England, telling the history of the city. It was housed in the 12th-century Poor Priests' Hospital next to the River Stour, K ...
in Stour Street, Canterbury. * In April 2011, Smallfilms collaborated with mobile gaming company Dreadnought Design to launch an Ivor the Engine game under the newly created Smallworlds brand. * In June 2014, Smallfilms collaborated with board game company Surprised Stare Games to launch an Ivor the Engine boardgame *
Gideon Coe Gideon Jon Quantrill Coe (born 22 September 1967 in Canterbury, Kent) is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist. Early career He began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a child presenter on the BBC One TV program ...
uses Ivor's Cruising Theme as the musical bed over his last song leading up to midnight on
BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
to say nighty night. * The
Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway The Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway in Kent is a narrow gauge heritage railway that operates from Sittingbourne to the banks of The Swale. The line was developed as an industrial railway by paper maker Frank Lloyd in 1904, to transport ...
hold an annual Ivor the Engine Weekend in August. * Functional programming language Idris was named after the dragon in the show.


References

*


External links


Smallfilms – ''Ivor''
last updated 2007
BBC Wales Arts – ''Ivor the Engine''
* *

{{Smallfilms Television series by Smallfilms British children's animated adventure television series BBC children's television shows British stop-motion animated television series English-language television shows Fictional locomotives ITV children's television shows Television series about rail transport 1959 British television series debuts 1959 British television series endings 1975 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1950s British children's television series 1970s British children's television series 1950s animated television series 1970s animated television series Welsh short stories Television shows set in Wales