The Adventures of Portland Bill

Last updated

The Adventures of Portland Bill
The Adventures of Portland Bill title card.png
Title card
Created byJohn Grace
Starring Norman Rossington
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes25 (2 stories per episode)
Production
Running time5 mins
Production company FilmFair London
Original release
Network ITV (CITV)
Release4 October 1983 (1983-10-04) –
25 June 1986 (1986-06-25)

The Adventures of Portland Bill is a British stop motion animated children's television series made in 1983. It is set in a fictional lighthouse on the Guillemot Rock, just off the coast from the fictional village of McGuillycuddy. Norman Rossington provides the voice of all the characters, with Portland Bill the principal keeper acting as the narrator of each episode.

Contents

Characters

Most of its characters were named after British Sea Areas and coastal weather stations and other words that occur in shipping forecasts:

These live in the lighthouse:

The rest of the characters live elsewhere:


Places

Location

The idea was originated by John Grace and submitted to the competition 'Maritime England'. Most of the characters are named after the areas of the UK Shipping Forecast. Grandma Tiree and Inspector Ronaldsway are named after automatic weather stations and “Gail” is named after the high winds frequently forecast. Portland Bill is likely based on the Dorset lighthouse of the same name. The submission won the prize and was picked up by Graham Clutterbuck at FilmFair who went on to commission two series for ITV. At the time, John Grace and Mik Parsons were colleagues teaching in the Graphic Design Department at Leicester Polytechnic (now DeMontfort University). They collaborated on the music and song content with Mik Parsons recording all the songs on his 4-track cassette based Tascam Portastudio.

Boats

Animals

Credits

Series 1

John Grace/FilmFair Ltd MCMLXXXIII

Series 2

John Grace/FilmFair Ltd MCMLXXXVI

Transmission guide

Series 1

13 editions from 4 October 1983 – 3 January 1984 (aired on Tuesdays)

Series 2

12 editions from 9 April 1986 – 25 June 1986 (aired on Wednesdays)

Trivia

VHS releases

FilmFair Fun had released one single video containing five double-length stories from the first series on it:

TitleCatalogue numberRelease dateEpisodes
The Adventures of Portland Bill401001986
  • "Changeable Weather"
  • "The Tourists"
  • "The Fishing Match"

  • "The Seaweed Clock"
  • "Portland Bill's Busy Day"
  • "The Sea Monster"

  • "Bedtime for Cromarty"
  • "The Birthday Surprise"
  • "The Jam Session"

  • "An Inspector Calls"

Sometime during 1988, FilmFair Fun had also released an extended single video with six double-length stories from the first series on it:

TitleCatalogue numberRelease dateEpisodes
The Adventures of Portland Bill IFF11111988
  • "Changeable Weather"
  • "The Tourists"
  • "The Fishing Match"

  • "The Seaweed Clock"
  • "Portland Bill's Busy Day"
  • "The Sea Monster"

  • "Bedtime for Cromarty"
  • "The Birthday Surprise"
  • "The Jam Session"

  • "An Inspector Calls"
  • "An Important Message"
  • "The Treasure Hunt"

Snapdragon Video released a collection of 10 Portland Bill stories from the second series:

TitleCatalogue numberRelease dateEpisodes
Portland Bill: 10 Stories from
the Classic TV Series		SD 90017 October 1991
  • "Dogger to the Rescue"
  • "Gone Fishing"
  • "Kite Flying"
  • "Forty Winks"

  • "Bad Dogger"
  • "Last Jam Tart
  • "Sky High"
  • "St. Bozo's Treasure"
  • "Penguins"

  • "The Phantom Piper"

On 17 July 1995, Castle Communications Plc released three videos with four double-length episodes each:

VHS NameCastle Vision Catalogue NumberPlaybox Catalogue NumberEpisodes
Portland Bill:
45 Minutes of Fun		CVS 4040PVC 145
  • "The Jam Session"
  • "An Inspector Calls"
  • "An Important Message"

  • "The Treasure Hunt"
  • "Atmospheric Interference"
  • "Dogger's Best Trick"

  • "A Knot for Everything"
  • "The Wind-Powered Vacuum Cleaner"
Portland Bill:
Four Original Episodes		CVS 4041PVC 146
  • "Changeable Weather"
  • "The Tourists"
  • "The Fishing Match"
  • "The Seaweed Clock"

  • "Portland Bill's Busy Day"
  • "The Sea Monster"
  • "Bedtime for Cromarty"

  • "The Birthday Surprise"
Portland Bill:
Four Classic Adventures		CVS 4042PVC 147
  • "The Good News Storm"
  • "A Whistling Kettle"
  • "Baking Day"
  • "Bird Watching"

  • "The Lost Key"
  • "Sick as a Parrot"
  • "Portland Bill and the Mermaid"

  • "The Big Shopping List"

DVD releases

Abbey Home Media released two DVDs containing twenty four episodes from the first season. The episodes are presented in single bill format and do not include the songs that were originally featured between two episodes each.

TitleRelease dateEpisodes
The Adventures Of Portland Bill:
Changeable Weather
(AHEDVD 3160)		12 June 2006
  • "Changeable Weather"
  • "The Tourists"
  • "The Fishing Match"

  • "The Seaweed Clock"
  • "Portland Bill's Busy Day"
  • "The Sea Monster"

  • "Bedtime for Cromarty"
  • "The Birthday Surprise"
  • "The Jam Session"

  • "An Inspector Calls"
  • "Important Message"
  • "Buried Treasure"
The Adventures Of Portland Bill:
Atmospheric Interference
(AHEDVD 3219)		26 March 2007
  • "Atmospheric Interference"
  • "Dogger's Best Trick"
  • "A Knot for Everything"

  • "The Wind Powered Vacuum Cleaner"
  • "The Good News Storm"

  • "The Whistling Kettle"
  • "Baking Day"
  • "Bird Watching"
  • "The Lost Key"

  • "Sick As A Parrot"
  • "Portland Bill and the Mermaid"
  • "The Big Shopping List"
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