''The Adventures of Black Beauty'' is a British

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series produced by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

and shown by

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 the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974. It was distributed internationally by London Weekend International. ''

The New Adventures of Black Beauty ''The New Adventures of Black Beauty'' was a television drama series produced in the early 1990s. The show was produced first in New Zealand, then in Australia. The two different productions had different characters and plotlines, un-related e ...

'' (1990–91) was a continuation of the 1970s series, and was set at the beginning of the 20th century, twenty years after the original series.

Broadcast history

Two series were produced, the first airing from September 1972 to March 1973 and the second from September 1973 to March 1974. Although it was mainly aimed at children, it was shown in the Sunday teatime family timeslot and gained a wide audience, becoming popular enough to make the general Top 20 ratings. It was repeated regularly, although often on a regional basis, for many years, its last full repeat run being on Sunday mornings from 1986 to 1988 (a further repeat run was planned for the summer of 1990, but cancelled because of objections by

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

after repeat fees had not been re-negotiated). Having been shown in several major US markets when it was initially produced, it also aired in the United States on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

in the 1980s. In July 2009,

Retro Television Network Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through th ...

picked up all 104 episodes of ''The Adventures of Black Beauty'' and ''

'', and affiliates began airing the show, listing both shows as simply ''Black Beauty''.

Plot

The series was not an adaptation of the 1877 book by

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford guide to British women writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist. She is known as the author of the 1877 novel ''Black Beauty'', her ...

, but rather a "continuation" featuring new characters created by

Ted Willis Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914 – 22 December 1992) was an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. In 1941 he became the General Secretary of the Young Co ...

, most prominently Dr James Gordon, played by William Lucas, and his children Vicky, played by

Judi Bowker Judi Bowker (born 6 April 1954) is an English film and television actress. Biography Bowker was born in Shawford, Hampshire, England, the daughter of Alfred J. Bowker and Ann Fairweather, who had married in 1947. The family moved to the Britis ...

(who became Jenny, played by

Stacy Dorning Stacy Dorning (born 11 May 1958) is an English actress, best known for appearing in the second series of ''The Adventures of Black Beauty'' (1973–74). She also appeared in ''Just William'' (1977–78) and '' Keep It in the Family'' (1980–83) ...

, in the second series) and Kevin, played by Roderick Shaw (at the beginning of the ''New Adventures'' it is mentioned that Kevin had gone to sea and become a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

). Supporting characters included Dr. Gordon's loyal housekeeper Amy Winthrop, played by

Charlotte Mitchell Charlotte Mitchell (born Edna Winifred Mitchell; 23 July 1926 – 2 May 2012) was an English actress and poet. Biography In the 1950s she provided lyrics, sketches, and occasionally acted in revues on London's West End. She was especially ...

, and a local boy, Albert Clifton, portrayed by Tony Maiden. Other writers for the series included David Butler and Richard Carpenter, while directors included

Charles Crichton Charles Ainslie Crichton (6 August 1910 – 14 September 1999) was an English film director and editor. Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he became best known for directing many comedies produced at Ealing Studios and had a 40-year career ...

and

Peter Duffell Peter Duffell (10 July 1922 − 12 December 2017) was a British film and television director and screenwriter, born in Canterbury, England. The British actor Christopher Lee called Duffell Britain's "most under-rated director." Biography Duffel ...

. The series, which was filmed mainly at Stockers Farm,

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and t ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

Main cast

*Dr. James Gordon – William Lucas (52 episodes, 1972–1974) *Amy Winthrop –

(52 episodes, 1972–1974) *Kevin Gordon – Roderick Shaw (51 episodes, 1972–1974) *Squire Armstrong –

Michael Culver Michael Culver (born 16 June 1938) is an English actor. He was born in Hampstead, London, the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye. He was educated at Gresham's School. Actor Culver's aunt, father, mother and brother a ...

(31 episodes, 1972–1974) *Vicky Gordon –

(26 episodes, 1972–1973) *Jenny Gordon –

(25 episodes, 1973–1974) *Police Constable Dickins – Kenneth Thornett (16 episodes, 1972–1974) *Albert Clifton –

Tony Maiden Tony Maiden (died 17 February 2004 in Torrevieja, Alicante, Spain) was an English actor, who is best known for playing “Albert Clifton” in all episodes in the first series of the British television series ''The Adventures of Black Beauty' ...

(14 episodes, 1972–1974) *Ned Lewis –

Stephen Garlick Stephen Garlick (born 7 July 1959) is a British actor best known as the voice of Jen in '' Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal''. His career has centered on film, television and radio. At the age of five he attended the famous Corona Academy stage s ...

(11 episodes, 1973–1974)

Episodes

Transmission dates given are for the network; they varied in London.

Series 1: 1972–73

Series 2: 1973–74

Theme tune

The theme tune, "Galloping Home", was written by

Denis King Denis Andrew King (born 25 July 1939) is an English composer and singer. He is best remembered as a member of a family ensemble, The King Brothers. Early career: the King Brothers King was born in Hornchurch, Essex, England. He began his musi ...

and performed by the London String Chorale. In 1973 it won the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

for Best Theme Tune. It was also released as a single and peaked at number 31 in the UK charts in the week of 2 February 1974. It was later used at the climax of the first series of ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

'', with Edina Monsoon dreaming of running through a field as Black Beauty does in the series' title sequence. The theme tune was also featured in the series '' Brainiac: Science Abuse''. It actually has lyrics by

Dick Vosburgh Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his f ...

as revealed by Denis King at a memorial concert for Vosburgh in July 2007. The theme was also used in 1975, in an episode of ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

'' called 'Scatty Safari', when the team release the main attraction of their Star Safari Park,

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC L ...

, into the wild. It was also used in the final episode of the first series of BBC TV comedy ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the BB ...

''. Alan exclaims "It's brilliant" upon hearing the piece when his PA Lynn puts it on the stereo; they then listen to it again when clearing up after Alan's unsuccessful leaving party. On disc 2 of the ''I'm Alan Partridge'' Series 1 DVD release, the theme music also plays on a loop over the menu, the background of which is a picture of Alan Partridge running through a field. The tune was also used as the opening theme of Finnish comedy series ''

Studio Julmahuvi Julmahuvi (julma = cruel; huvi = fun) is the name of a group of comedic actors which created several comical TV-series and mockumentaries for the Finnish TV-channels Yle TV1 and MTV3. Julmahuvi collectively are Tommi Korpela, Jukka Rasila, Jann ...

''.

Video releases

Over the years there have been a number of VHS video releases of episodes (both single episode and 2 episode volumes and both PAL and NTSC format) by The Fremantle Corporation (with

/Talbot TV), VCI, Video Gems., and WH Smith Video.

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

is often cited as the producer of videos released by The Fremantle Corporation, but it appears that the name Sony, the manufacturer of the cassette, was retained on the slip cases. In 2001, Network entered the series tentatively into the DVD market with two "best of" DVDs, one for each season. A few days later, these DVDs were available as a two disc set. The DVDs were released as region 0, but being PAL format were not suitable for the North American market. (Note: They released "The Best of Series One" on VHS first on 11 Jun 2001. "The Best of Series Two" followed in VHS on 13 Aug 2001.) In 2007, Network offered the complete Season 1 as a 4 disc set in region 2. A few months later in 2008, Season 2 was released, also 4 discs and region 2. In 2009, these were combined and released as the complete series. In 2008, Network released an anomalous offering of a DVD that included "The Recruiting Sergeant" (Season 1) and both parts of "Member of the Family" (Season 2), all of which had been part of their earlier "Best Of" DVDs. These were region 2 only. In 2009

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

released first Season 1 and then Season 2 in Region 1. Each season was three discs. In 2012

Madacy Entertainment Madacy Lifestyle Marketing (formerly Madacy Entertainment) was a company based in Mount Royal, Quebec, that published DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes. Most of the products were frequently seen in many discount stores in the United States and Canada, ofte ...

and

released ''The Best of Black Beauty'' a 10 disc Region 1 box set containing 42 episodes of ''The Adventures of Black Beauty'' and 44 episodes of ''

''. ''The Adventures of Black Beauty'' episodes included in ''The Best of Black Beauty'' are: Season 1 - 1 episode omitted
Disc 1: The Fugitive, The Pit Pony, Man Trap, The Hostage, The Horse Thieves, Warhorse, Clown on Horseback
Disc 2: The Duel, The Viking Helmet (Part 1), The Viking Helmet (Part 2), The Barge, Day of Reckoning, The Horse Dealer, The Debt, Runaway, Three Lock to Fortune
Disc 3: Recruiting Sergeant, The Ruffians, The Witch, Two of a Kind, The Ponies, Father and Son, Wild Justice, Foul Play, Sailor on a Horse Season 2 - 9 episodes omitted
Disc 4: A Member of the Family (Part 1), A Member of the Family (Part 2), The Outcast, Good Neighbours, Mission of Mercy, Battle of Wills, The Medicine Man, Out of the Night
Disc 5: A Long Hard Run, The Horse Breaker, The Last Roundup, Goodbye Beauty, The Escape, A Ribbon for Beauty, The Last Charge, Race against Time, Game of Chance For the rest of the episodes in this box set, see ''

''.

References

External links

*
Screenonline entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Black Beauty, The 1972 British television series debuts 1974 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series ITV television dramas ITV children's television shows British television shows based on children's books Period family drama television series Television series by Fremantle (company) Black Beauty Television series about horses Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows London Weekend Television shows 1970s British children's television series