''Sam'' is a television drama series written by John Finch and produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

between 1973 and 1975 for broadcast on ITV. Finch also created and wrote '' A Family at War'' for Granada. The series is based on fact, with Sam as a boy growing up in

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

. It was initially set in the coalfields of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in the inter-war period but eventually progressed to the modern (then) era. Interior scenes were recorded at Granada's studios in Manchester, while many of the exterior scenes were filmed in Lancashire. For example, the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

used for filming was Garswood, near

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. Local dialect is used, e.g. top-at-knob referring to North Featherstone. The series was made in a video/film hybrid format, which was common at the time.

Episodes

Series 1 (1973)

Series 2 (1974)

Series 3 (1975)

Video and DVD release

All three series were issued by Acorn Media UK in 2003.

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0159204, Sam 1970s British drama television series 1973 British television series debuts 1975 British television series endings ITV television dramas Television shows produced by Granada Television British English-language television shows