The Flockton Flyer
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''The Flockton Flyer'' was a
children's TV series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
made by
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
for the
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 ...
network. It was a popular programme, which ran to two series, and provided early screen appearances for upcoming actors such as Peter Duncan and
Gwyneth Strong Gwyneth Strong (born 2 December 1959) is an English actress. She has appeared in '' Shadows'' (1975), ''Angels'' (1976), ''Crown Court'' and ''Z-Cars'' (1977), ''Play for Today'' (1980-1984), ''Silent Witness'' (1996). However, she is best known f ...
, as well as some well-known 1970s classical and situation comedy actors.


Overview

The two series follow the adventures of the Carter family, as they struggle to re-open and run the old
Flockton Flockton is a village in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, halfway between Huddersfield, 7 miles (11 km) away and Wakefield, 8 miles (13 km) away. It is in the parish of Kirkburton and whilst it is in Kirklees, it has a Wakefield postcode. T ...
to Lane End branch railway, closed by
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
five years previously. At the time of production (1976) a large number of newly closed railway branch lines were being bought and preserved by local railway preservation societies, which has given rise to an extensive network of '
heritage railways A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
' in the United Kingdom. The railway is said to have very limited rolling stock – one locomotive (restoration of which was completed in episode 1), one passenger coach (restoration of which was completed in episode 3), a small number of freight vehicles (three are specifically mentioned and featured – an open wagon, a box van, and a tanker truck), and a hand-pumped inspection truck. Despite this plot line, large amounts of other rolling stock are regularly seen in the background of shots – multiple passenger coaches, various freight vehicles, a second steam tank locomotive (in steam) in the opening shots of episode 1, a diesel multiple unit in certain scenes, including the arrival of the Flockton Flyer to meet the road ambulance in episode 4, and a large GWR steam engine under tarpaulin sheeting at Flockton in episode 5. Although these other vehicles are not explained away in the script, there are various references to the nearby 'mainline railway' and it may perhaps be assumed that shots involving otherwise unexplained rolling stock are shots of the Flockton line meeting the mainline railway. The direct connection of the two is confirmed by the storyline of episode 5 in the first series.


Broadcast dates

There were two series, each of six episodes. Series 1 was first transmitted in spring 1977, and Series 2 followed in early 1978. Programmes were shown at 4.45 pm on Monday afternoons. Series 1 was repeated on ITV on Friday afternoons, commencing 8 September 1978; series 2 was repeated on Friday afternoons, commencing 7 December 1979, and running into January 1980. Both series were again repeated on The Children's Channel, on cable TV in Britain during the early 1990s. Dubbed versions of the programmes were shown on Dutch and German TV stations. In 2010, reruns of ''The Flockton Flyer'' were shown on the now-defunct British satellite television channel Film 24. In August & September 2015 reruns of the series were shown on UK satellite channel
Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 ho ...
.


Location

Location filming, during 1976 and 1977, was on the newly re-opened
West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...
, using its engines and rolling stock.


The locomotive

The star of the show was 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 ...
that gave the series its name. ''The Flockton Flyer'', was, in reality, an ex-
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
0-6-0PT ("pannier tank"): 1934-built, 6400 Class no. 6412. This class was fitted with equipment for working push-pull trains. No. 6412 was based at Gloucester loco shed and, aside from its many years of reliable operation on local branch lines, operated the last passenger train to
Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...
over the
Wye Valley Railway The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and ...
in 1959 and the final 'Chalford Shuttle'
autotrain The Autotrain was a type of passenger train used in the early 20th century, where the steam locomotive could be remotely controlled from the rear of the train. This meant that the engine would not have to run-around at the end of a journey bef ...
service between Gloucester and Chalford in 1962. After being sold into private ownership for preservation, this locomotive was one of the first on the
West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...
, arriving in 1976, and taking part in the opening ceremony a few days later. It was found useful for the lighter-loaded trains on the Minehead Branch line, and also visited a number of other preserved railways. Owned by the West Somerset Railway Association, No. 6412 remained on the
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
for 32 years. During that time, the success of the railway led to the use of longer and heavier trains – beyond the capability of a pannier tank – and Association members decided, reluctantly, to sell it. On 8 January 2009, part-dismantled for a major overhaul, 6412 was transferred by road to the South Devon Railway, the new owners. The on-screen title for series 1 was "The Flockton Flyer", but for series 2 it had become "Flockton Flyer" because railway enthusiasts had pointed out that locomotive names do not take "the" before them (e.g. "Mallard" and "Flying Scotsman", not "The Mallard" and "The Flying Scotsman").


Episodes (from film and novel)

Script writer
Peter Whitbread Peter Bruce Pauling Whitbread (25 October 1928 – 26 October 2004) was an English actor and screenwriter. He was born in Norfolk, England and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He had a long career in the theatre, including ...
wrote a total of 17 episodes, of which 12 were filmed (6 in series one, and 6 in series two). Whitbread, who died following a road traffic accident in 2004, is best remembered as a scriptwriter, though he also acted and directed; he was not a novelist. The publication in the summer of 1977 of a ''Flockton Flyer'' children's novel appears to have been merely the adaptation of 6 storylines intended for filming, including a script with all the hallmarks of a Christmas Special edition. The novel was published by Arrow Books and Look-in Books, the latter being a trading name of a subsidiary of
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 ...
. The novel's first and second chapters were essentially the script of filmed episode 1.1, whilst the seventh and final chapter was the script of episode 1.6; however, the other four chapters (numbered 3, 4, 5, and 6) were self-contained storylines which could have formed the basis of additional filmed episodes, but were never actually recorded. The total of 17 episodes written includes the 12 filmed, the additional 4 from the novel, and one other episode which was written in detail, with scripts and production notes issued to cast and crew, but subsequently abandoned; see below (episode 2.X) for details.


Series 1 (1977)


Series 2 (1978)


Unfilmed episodes


Characters


Regular cast

*Bob Carter – David Neal *Kathy Carter –
Sheila Fearn Sheila Fearn (born 3 October 1940 in Leicester) is an English retired actress best known for playing Audrey, the sister of Terry Collier in BBC situation comedies ''The Likely Lads'' and ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', and also lat ...
*Commander Frost – Anthony Sharp *Jimmy Carter – Peter Duncan *Jan Carter –
Gwyneth Strong Gwyneth Strong (born 2 December 1959) is an English actress. She has appeared in '' Shadows'' (1975), ''Angels'' (1976), ''Crown Court'' and ''Z-Cars'' (1977), ''Play for Today'' (1980-1984), ''Silent Witness'' (1996). However, she is best known f ...
*Jessica Carter –
Annabelle Lanyon Annabel or Annabelle may refer to: Arts and media * ''Annabel'' (Baum novel), a 1906 novel by L. Frank Baum * ''Annabel'' (Winter novel), a 2010 novel by Kathleen Winter * "Annabel", a song by Maria Dimitriadi from the film '' Girls in the Su ...
(Series 1); Catlin Strong (Series 2) *Bill Jelly – Geoffrey Russell *Althea Frost – Margaret Wedlake


Guest appearances

*1.1 Ted Phillips (
Denis Gilmore Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402– ...
) *1.2 Joe Pratt ( John Barrett) *1.3 Don Davis (
Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in ''Th ...
); Reverend Walker (
Stacy Davies Stacy or Stacey may refer to: Places In the United States: * Stacy, California, an unincorporated community * Stacy, Kentucky * Stacy, Minnesota, a city * Stacy, Virginia, a village People * Stacy (given name) * Stacy (singer) (born 199 ...
) *1.4 Samantha Peters ( Peggyann Clifford) *1.5 Toff (
Michael Ripper Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor. He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...
); Eric (
Ben Howard Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...
); Diesel Driver ( Steve Kelly) *1.6 Mr Jenkins ( Dudley Jones) *2.1 The Duke of Flockton (
Patrick Mower Patrick Mower (born Patrick Archibald Shaw; 12 September 1938) is an English actor who has portrayed the role of Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' since 2000. As well as portraying Rodney, Mower has appeared in various films ...
) *2.2 Christopher Bell (
John Moulder-Brown John Moulder-Brown (born 3 June 1953) is an English actor of television and film, known for his appearances in the films '' Deep End'', ''First Love'', '' Ludwig'' and '' The House That Screamed''. Biography Moulder-Brown was born in London an ...
); Nolan Cutley (
Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lamb ...
); Felicity (
Penny Irving Penny Irving is a former actress and a page 3 model in '' The Sun'' “newspaper”. Career Irving is best remembered for her roles in the 1970s sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' (as Miss Bakewell, Young Mr Grace's secretary), appearing between ...
) *2.3 C.P.O. Potts ( Colin Douglas); Farmer (
Thomas Heathcote Thomas Heathcote (9 September 1917 – 5 January 1986) was a British character actor, a former protégé of Laurence Olivier. He was educated at Bradfield College in Bradfield, near Reading in Berkshire, England. His films included '' A Night ...
) *2.4 Master of Foxhounds (
Gerald Harper Gerald Harper (born 15 February 1931) is an English actor, best known for his work on television, having played the title roles in ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' (1966–67) and '' Hadleigh'' (1969–76). He then returned to his main love, the theatre. ...
); Vet (
Edward Underdown Charles Edward Underdown (3 December 190815 December 1989) was an English theatre, cinema and television actor. He was born in London and educated at Eton College in Berkshire. Notable work Early theatre credits include: Noël Coward's '' Words ...
) *2.5 Young Man ( Christoper Douglas) *2.6 Sylvia ( Illona Linthwaite)


Production notes

*Written by: –
Peter Whitbread Peter Bruce Pauling Whitbread (25 October 1928 – 26 October 2004) was an English actor and screenwriter. He was born in Norfolk, England and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He had a long career in the theatre, including ...
*Theme Music: – Jugg Music *Film Camera: – Joe Hardy and Peter Greenhalgh (Series 1); Roy Page (Series 2) *Film Sound: – Stan Phipps *Dubbing Mixer: – Ron Hussey *Film Editor: – Christopher Wentzell (Series 1); Michael Hunt (Series 2) *Design: – John Dilly (Series 1); Gregory Lawson (Series 2) *Executive Producer: –
Lewis Rudd Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohea ...
*Producer (Series 1) and Producer/Director (Series 2): –
Colin Nutley Colin James Nutley (born 28 February 1944) is an English director successful in the Swedish film industry. Career Nutley went to Portsmouth Art College and began his career in British television as a graphic designer. He then turned to drama and ...


DVD release

The rights to "The Flockton Flyer" are now held by Renown Pictures Ltd www.renownfilms.co.uk, who also hold the rights to several other Southern TV productions, including "
Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
", "
Freewheelers ''Freewheelers'' is a British television series made by Southern Television between 1968 and 1973 for the ITV network. It was created by the television producer Chris McMaster, who was aware of the popularity of adult action series such as '' ...
" and "
The Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures ...
". The series was cleared for DVD release in the UK (by Simply Home Entertainment) in early 2009, and pre-orders of the two-DVD set, containing the complete Series One and Series Two, arrived with customers on the release date, 16 March 2009.Flockton Flyer DVD at Play.com
including useful Plot Summary (in customer review!) ccessed – 2009-01-30/ref>


References


External links


Flockton Flyer at Renown Pictures
– "includes comprehensive plot summary (same as the one at Play.com")
IMDB entry
– "much more detail but appears to be the same plot summary again..."
BFI Film & TV Database entry
– "not a lot of information here yet!" (Jan 2009)
DVD on Amazon
– ''better picture of sleeve!''
TV-Ark – download of title sequenceBBFC Classification for DVD release (PG)
– ''includes full list of episode titles'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Flockton Flyer, The ITV children's television shows 1977 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British children's television series British children's television series Television series about rail transport Fictional locomotives Television shows produced by Southern Television English-language television shows