Fireman Sam

Original series (1987–1994)

The original series comprised 32 ten-minute episodes and a 20-minute Christmas special. The narration and all the character voices were done by John Alderton. Sam is the main character in the show, and interacts with both colleagues at the fire station and fellow villagers. He is seen as somewhat of a hero in the village. Despite being so small, and with so little activity, the village sees its fair share of fires, which Sam and his team can easily handle. The vehicles at the fire station include a four-wheeled Bedford TK fire engine called Jupiter, a six-wheeled 1982 Range Rover Rescue Tender named Venus, and Trevor's Bus, a 1985 Ford Transit Dormobile. Fireman Sam's colleagues are Elvis Cridlington, Station Officer Basil Steele (renamed Norris Steele in the new CGI series) and later Penny Morris (who hailed from Newtown with the firetender). The villagers are bus driver/auxiliary firefighter Trevor Evans, Italian café owner Bella Lasagne, Norman Price, Norman's mother Dilys Price, and the twins Sarah and James Jones. The objects include Bentley the Robot, M.O.P., and Mechanical Master Chef.

The original series aired on BBC One, CBBC and CBeebies since it was launched in 1987, most commonly airing on CBeebies on a daily basis with repeats showing until 28 December 2007. In the original series produced by Bumper Films from 1987 to 1994, the firefighters had yellow and black uniforms, whereas in 2003 series produced by S4C and the BBC and the CGI series produced by HIT Entertainment and Hibbert Ralph, the firefighters now have yellow and blue uniforms.

In 1988, the original series was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Animated Film. The potential recipients were Ian Frampton and John Walker.^[3]

2005 series

In 2005, a new Fireman Sam series was produced by Hot Animation, comprising twenty-six episodes, each ten minutes in length. These episodes used more modern techniques of stop-motion animation including mouths that move with the dialogue. This series featured all the original characters, but also introduced some new faces, such as Tom Thomas, the Australian pilot of the rescue helicopter Wallaby One and the Mountain Rescue 4×4 Jeep, an unnamed photographer/news reporter, and the Flood family; consisting of Mike The Plumber, his wife Helen The Nurse, and their daughter Mandy. The updated Jupiter has six wheels, loosely based on a Bedford 6×4, and Venus is loosely based on a heavily modified 4x4 Mini Cooper. The characters in this series were voiced by John Sparkes, Joanna Ruiz and Sarah Hadland. The series also premiered on CBeebies in 2003 and repeats were shown until 2007.

The show's production companies were Hit Entertainment and Hot Animation, and its distributors were S4C and BBC.^[4]

2008–2018 series

The series was revamped in 2008 which saw the show convert to CGI. Pontypandy is now a seaside fishing village instead of a village set deep in the hills as in the early series, though most of the locations have retained their appearances. Another change in this series is that the twins' parents appear for the first time; their new-age mother Bronwen, and fisherman father Charlie, Sam's brother, who runs a café/fish-and-chip shop called 'Whole Fish Café'. The series is produced by Hibbert Ralph Animation in association with HIT Entertainment.

Jupiter was updated again, now loosely based on a Volvo FL6. A yellow stripe, as well as a grille, were added to the front of the fire engine. Minor changes were made to Venus which included a water nozzle added to the top of its roof. Trevor's bus was updated to a more modern look with angled headlights. New vehicles introduced included Mike Flood's Van in the sixth season onwards, as well as Mercury, Saturn, Pontypandy Flyer, and Bessie which were introduced from the eighth season onwards.

The outfits were updated throughout the series (except for Norman Price). This included an update to the firefighter's outfits which added reflective stripes and extra badges to their tunics. Dilys Price received a large makeover which saw her getting makeup, glasses, black hair, a necklace and an updated outfit. The rest of the characters also received minor updates to their clothing.

Many characters also had aspects of their personalities made more apparent. Norman Price is far more mischievous and inconsiderate than in the 2003 series where his pranks were often planned out and his accidents were due to badly planned ideas rather than outrageous schemes. For example, in the episode "Pontypandy Extreme", Norman gets trapped down a wishing well after attempting to climb down in order to retrieve the coins from the bottom. Other examples are Station Officer Steele's strictness and maturity and Elvis's decrease in general competence. For example, in one episode where a first aid training exercise is taking place, Elvis is told off by Steele for dancing with the dummy that is being used. At the same time, Steele is not afraid to unleash the child within him, showing an interest in kite flying and paper planes. He also occasionally causes emergencies himself and often gasps when an emergency comes in. Also, Station Officer Steele's name has changed to Station Officer Norris Steele.

Other changes include the removal of Bella, although her café can still be seen opposite Dilys' shop, now a 7-Eleven-esque convenience store called the "Cut Price Supermarket". It seems the Whole Fish Café and Bronwyn and Charlie have replaced them. Bella made her first appearance in CGI in the tenth season, where the reason behind her absence was revealed as her moving to Newtown. Penny also now has another string to her bow, as she is a trained lifeguard and the helmsman of Neptune (the village's lifeboat). Also, Rosa and Dusty have been replaced by Lion, Nipper, and Radar.

Since 2012, additional characters were introduced: a firefighter named Chief Fire Officer Boyce, one animal called Norris the Guinea Pig, five new villagers named Derek Price (originally introduced in season 6 as a minor character but then recurring as of The Great Fire of Pontypandy), Moose Roberts, Gareth Griffiths, Lily, and Mrs Chen, and two new objects were the ukulele named Marjorie, AKA Marjorie Stays With Me, and a thermal heating tracking device named Saturn.

In 2014, other characters were introduced: a lifeguard named Ben Hooper, a mechanic named Joe Sparkes with his wife Lizzie Sparkes, and their daughter Hannah Sparkes. Also, new vehicles were introduced: a jet ski named Juno and a fire boat named Titan. Also in "Heroes of the Storm", there is Ellie Phillips and Arnold McKinley, new firefighter members. There is Hydrus (previously Catfish or Wildcat) the six-wheeled vehicle boat, and an unnamed Mobile Command Unit too.

The characters in this series are voiced by Steven Kynman, Tegwen Tucker, David Carling, and Su Douglas. Also in 2012, John Hasler, Ifan Huw Dafydd and Nigel Whitmey joined the cast. Alex Lowe (actor) and Jo Wyatt joined the cast in 2014.

CBeebies last aired Fireman Sam on 28 December 2007, before Turner Broadcasting and Channel 5 started airing it from 11 February 2008.