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Fireman Sam

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Fireman Sam (original title: Sam Tân) is a stop-motion animation Welsh children's television programme about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the Welsh town of Pontypandy. The original idea for Fireman Sam came from two ex-firemen from Kent, Dave Gingell and Dave Jones. They took their idea to S4C who saw the potential in the series and commissioned it.

Fireman Sam first aired on the BBC and S4C in 1986 and remains popular to this day. Fireman Sam has been sold to over 40 countries, from Australia to Poland and is used across the UK to promote fire safety.

Original series

The series comprised 32 10-minute episodes and a 20-minute Christmas special. The narration and character voices were done by John Alderton

The main characters in the series are:

  • Fireman Sam, the hero next door, as he is referred to in the theme song. Sam is always cool and calm in an emergency, and will help out anyone in trouble. Outside of his job, he also loves spending time with his nephew and niece, Sarah and James. Sam also has a passion for inventing things; unfortunately, he's not always too successful!
  • Elvis Cridlington, who likes a bit of rock 'n' roll as his name and haircut suggest. His cooking skills leave quite a bit to be desired.
  • Station Officer Steele, who is the chief of Pontypandy Fire Station and insists that everything be spick and span and running like clockwork.
  • Penny Morris, the female firefighter from Newtown who occasionally joins the men from Pontypandy
  • Trevor Evans, the town bus driver and auxiliary fireman. He can be rather clumsy at times, but he is always willing to help anyone out, particularly Dilys.
  • Dilys Price is the mother of town mischief maker Norman, who wants everyone to think that her son is a little angel. She also runs town grocery store and is on for a good gossip, especially with Trevor, whom she has strong afections for.
  • Norman Price is the town mischief maker who loves playing practical jokes on everyone, although these jokes can sometimes lead to trouble.He Also once Palayed A Bad joke On Sam Steele And Elvis.
  • Sarah and James are the relatively well behaved niece and nephew of Fireman Sam.
  • Bella Lasagne, the absent-minded town cafe owner from Italy.
  • Rosa, Bella's temperamental cat. She Once Got Stuck In A Tree.

The men attend to emergencies in their fire truck Jupiter and Penny drives Venus, the red rescue tender.

New series

A new series of Fireman Sam was produced in 2003 by Siriol Productions, comprising of 26x10 min episodes, using up to date puppet-making and stop-motion animation techniques. It features all the original characters, but adds some new characters:

  • Tom Thomas, the Australian pilot of Wallaby One, the rescue helicopter
  • The Flood Family: Mike Flood (Pontypandy's odd job man), Nurse Flood (a nurse of Jamaican origin) and their daughter Mandy (a bit of a mischief maker, like Norman Price)
  • Dusty, a stray dog

Instead of having all of the voices done by one person, there were 3 voice artists now. Unfortunately, John Alderton was not one of them. The voice of Sam was provided by John Sparkes

The new series has been broadcast and translated into several different languages, and is available on DVD.

Theme Tune

The series had a particularly catchy theme tune. The lyrics were written by Robin Lyons, and sung by Maldwyn Pope. A full length version was also released. 

When he hears the firebell chime, 
Fireman Sam is there on time. 
Putting on his coat and hat,
in less then seven seconds flat.
He's always on the scene,
Fireman Sam,
and his engine's bright and clean.
Fireman Sam,
you cannot ignore;
Sam is the hero next door:
Driving down the busy streets,
greeting people that he meets.
Someone could be in a jam,
so hurry, hurry, Fireman Sam. 
He's always on the scene,
Fireman Sam,
and his engine's bright and clean.
Fireman Sam,
you cannot ignore;
Sam is the hero next door!

Ending Tune

When he hears the fire bell chime,
Fireman Sam is there on time.
Someone might be in a jam,
So hurry, hurry, Fireman Sam.
He's always on the scene,
Fireman Sam,
And his engine's bright and clean.
Fireman Sam,
you cannot ignore;
Sam is the hero next door!

The new series theme tune followed a similar tune but slightly more funky, although the lyrics differed greatly, and it was sung by someone else. Some of the lyrics were originally used in the full length version of the original theme tune. 

When he hears that fire alarm,
Sam is always cool and calm.
If you're stuck, give him a shout,
he'll be there to help you out.
So move aside, make way,
Fireman Sam,
cause he's gonna save the day.
Fireman Sam, cause he's brave to the core,
Sam is the hero next door.
If there's trouble, he'll be there,
underground or in the air.
Fireman Sam and all the crew, 
they'll be there to rescue you.
So move aside, make way,
Fireman Sam,
cause he's gonna save the day.
Fireman Sam, cause he's brave to the core,
Sam is the hero next door!

External links

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