''Rocket Man'' is a BBC

television drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

series produced in 2005 by Philip Leach, about a recently widowed Welsh man who is struggling to build a rocket in which to launch his wife's ashes into space while raising his two children. It was created by Alison Hume, directed by Jon East (episodes 1 and 2),

Jane Prowse Jane Prowse writes and directs theatre and television. Her play, '' A Round-Heeled Woman'', is a stage adaptation of Jane Juska's book ''A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance''. The play starred multi-award winning ac ...

(episodes 3 and 4) and James Strong (episodes 5 and 6), and stars

Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series '' Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray Fusi ...

, Charles Dale, John Rhys Halliwell and Lucy Evans, with Alison Newman, Janine Wood, Kay Bridgeman,

Kai Owen Kai Owen (born 4 September 1975) is a Welsh actor of stage and screen, known to Welsh audiences for his numerous roles on Welsh language television and to worldwide audiences for his portrayal of Rhys Williams in ''Torchwood'' and Pete Buchan ...

, Dave Hill,

Philip Whitchurch Philip Whitchurch (born 30 January 1951) is an English stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for playing Captain William Frederickson in three episodes of the Sharpe series between 1994-1997 and the role of Chief Inspector Philip ...

and Marcus Smith in supporting roles, among others. The six hour-long episodes in the series were set in coastal

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, in a town devastated by the closure of the local carriage works though filmed in

Druridge Bay Druridge Bay is a long bay on the North Sea in Northumberland, England, stretching from Amble in the north to Cresswell in the south. Druridge Bay Country Park is situated on the bay, and part of the bay (the section near the farmstead of Dr ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

.Rocket Man entry
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

(IMDb) etrieved 2015-07-24 According to the sign on the local

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civil ...

bonbon factory appearing in Episode 1 where George, Barney, Diane et al. work, the exact location where the set is (fictional) Tonglas, in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

Cast

as George Stevenson, dyslexic widower and single parent * Charles Dale as Barney Scott, George's best buddy and co-worker at the chocolate factory * John Rhys Halliwell as Tom Stevenson, George's eight-year-old son * Lucy Evans as Angela Stevenson, George's teenage daughter *

as David 'Shiner' Owen, security guard and another of George's mates * Dave Hill as Huw Masters, another of George's friends * Alison Newman as Diane Scott, Barney's wife * Janine Wood as Mary Hughes,

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

officer, former designer at the carriage works and George's love interest *

as Lloyd Edwards, owner of the local scrapyard * Kay Bridgeman as Pam Tomlyn, special needs co-ordinator /

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

at Tom's school * Marcus Smith as Ed Fernandez, Angela's love interest * Maureen Bennett as Barbara Masters, Huw's wife

References

External links

*
''Rocket Man''
at BBC. 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings 2000s British comedy-drama television series 2000s British television miniseries BBC television dramas British comedy-drama television shows English-language television shows Television shows set in Wales Television series by Banijay {{BBC-tv-prog-stub