Fireman Sam, The Original TV Series, 1987
Kids favourite Fireman Sam was broadcast for the first time in November 1987 on Welsh TV channel S4C and has since been shown in more than 155 countries across the world.
This post deals with the original stop-animated series that first appeared on S4C and the BBC. That series clocked up 33 episodes over 4 series between 1987 and 1994.
The original idea came about after two ex-firemen from London – Dave Gingell and Dave Jones purchased a stop-motion animation book by artist Anthony Miller.
They approached Mike Young who had created SuperTed asking him to further develop their concept.
The idea was then brought to S4C’s Director of Animation, Chris Grace, who had previously commissioned SuperTed, he saw potential in the idea and commissioned a full series.
The characters and the storylines were created by Rob Lee, an illustrator from Cardiff, and the programme was made using stop-motion. It could take up to four days to produce one minute of this form of puppet animation.
Summary
Fireman Sam is an animated Kids’ TV series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters and other residents in the fictional Welsh village of Pontypandy.
Clips
Voices
John Alderton
Details
Channel: BBC1, S4C
Created By: Dave Gingell, Dave Jones and Rob Lee
Original Series Transmission Dates: 17th November 1987 – 17th November 1994