''Swallows and Amazons Forever!'' is a 1984

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's television series based on two children's novels from the ''

Swallows and Amazons series The ''Swallows and Amazons'' series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in E ...

'' by

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

: '' Coot Club'' (1934) (four episodes), and '' The Big Six'' (1940) (four episodes). Despite the title, the Swallows and the Amazons children from Ransome's other books do not appear. The setting is the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

in the 1930s, partly near the village of Horning. The main characters are visitors Dick and Dorothea (Dot) Callum and locals Tom Dudgeon, the twins Nell and Bess, three boatbuilders’ sons, Joe, Bill and Pete – the Death and Glories – and adults Mrs Barrable, Dr Dudgeon (father of Tom) and Frank Farland (father of the twins). ''Coot Club'' sees Dick and Dot learning to sail, whilst dealing with five obnoxious adults in the ''Margoletta'' motor cruiser, who are called the Hullabaloos by the children. ''The Big Six'' is a detective story in which the Death and Glories are accused of setting boats adrift. A Puffin paperback with the same title was published in 1983; it is a condensation of ''Coot Club'' (omitting the postscript) and ''The Big Six'' (omitting 7 chapters). It was reissued as a Red Fox paperback in 1993 with the title ''Swallows and Amazons for Ever!'' It was intended that ''Swallows and Amazons Forever!'' should have continued with adaptions of all the books in the series, and '' Swallowdale'' and '' The Picts and the Martyrs'' were to have been next. Casting and scouting for locations began, but the cost of filming on National Trust property in the Lake District was too expensive, so the series was cancelled.

Episodes

The series was first broadcast on BBC Two on Wednesdays in 1984.
It was repeated as two compilations on Friday 28 March and Sunday 30 March 1986.

Characters

:Richard Walton as Dick Callum :Caroline Downer as Dorothea Callum : Henry Dimbleby as Tom Dudgeon :Claire Matthews as Bess Farland :Sarah Matthews as Nell Farland :Nicholas Walpole as Joe :Mark Page as Bill :Jake Coppard as Pete : Rosemary Leach as Mrs Barrable : John Woodvine as Mr Tedder the Policeman :

Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

as Dr Dudgeon :

Andrew Burt Andrew Thomas Hutchison Burt (23 May 1945 – 16 November 2018) was a British actor, voiceover artist, and counsellor. Early life and education Andrew Burt was born on 23 May 1945 in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Hutchison B ...

as Frank Farland :Simon Hawes as George Owden ::some minor characters :

Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford (born 17 August 1949), known professionally as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, writer, producer, film director, and Conservative peer. He has received nume ...

as Jerry a Hullabaloo :

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

as Harry Bangate the Eel Man :

Sam Kelly Roger Michael Kelly (19 December 1943 – 14 June 2014), known by the stage name Sam Kelly, was an English actor who appeared in film, television, radio and theatre. He is best known for his roles as Captain Hans Geering in Allo 'Allo!'', ...

as the Owner of the Cachalot

References

* (''Coot Club'') * (''The Big Six'')

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

Television shows set in Norfolk BBC children's television shows 1984 British television series debuts 1984 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series {{BBC-children-tv-prog-stub