The Adventures of Black Beauty facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Adventures of Black Beauty |
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| Genre | Adventure, family drama |
| Written by | Ted Willis (head writer) Richard Carpenter David Butler |
| Directed by | Charles Crichton Peter Duffell John Reardon |
| Starring | Judi Bowker William Lucas Stacy Dorning Roderick Shaw Charlotte Mitchell Michael Culver |
| Theme music composer | Denis King |
| Opening theme | Galloping Home |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Paul Knight |
| Producer(s) | Sidney Cole |
| Production location(s) | Hertfordshire, England |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | The Fremantle Corporation London Weekend Television |
| Distributor | ITV Studios Global Entertainment London Weekend International The Fremantle Corporation (1972-1978) Peter Rodgers Organization |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | Colour |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | 17 September 1972 – 10 March 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The New Adventures of Black Beauty |
The Adventures of Black Beauty is a British adventure family television series produced by London Weekend Television and shown by ITV in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974. It was distributed internationally by London Weekend International.
The New Adventures of Black Beauty (1990–91) was a continuation of the 1970s series, and was set at the beginning of the 20th century, twenty years after the original series.
Plot
The series was not an adaptation of the 1877 book by Anna Sewell, but rather a "continuation" featuring new characters created by Ted Willis, most prominently Dr James Gordon, played by William Lucas, and his children Vicky, played by Judi Bowker (who became Jenny, played by Stacy Dorning, in the second series) and Kevin, played by Roderick Shaw (at the beginning of the New Adventures it is mentioned that Kevin had gone to sea and become a midshipman). Supporting characters included Dr. Gordon's loyal housekeeper Amy Winthrop, played by Charlotte Mitchell, and a local boy, Albert Clifton, portrayed by Tony Maiden. Other writers for the series included David Butler and Richard Carpenter, while directors included Charles Crichton and Peter Duffell. The series, which was filmed mainly at Stockers Farm, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, was widely acclaimed for its high production values and quality of writing and acting, and at times had remarkable English gothic overtones for a children's series.
Main cast
- Dr. James Gordon – William Lucas (52 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Amy Winthrop – Charlotte Mitchell (52 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Kevin Gordon – Roderick Shaw (51 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Squire Armstrong – Michael Culver (31 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Vicky Gordon – Judi Bowker (26 episodes, 1972–1973)
- Jenny Gordon – Stacy Dorning (25 episodes, 1973–1974)
- Police Constable Dickins – Kenneth Thornett (16 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Albert Clifton – Tony Maiden (14 episodes, 1972–1974)
- Ned Lewis – Stephen Garlick (11 episodes, 1973–1974)
Episodes
Transmission dates given are for the network; they varied in London.
Series 1: 1972–73
| Nº | Ep | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Fugitive" | 17 September 1972 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Hostage" | 24 September 1972 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Pit Pony" | 1 October 1972 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Horse Thieves" | 8 October 1972 |
| 5 | 5 | "Runaway" | 15 October 1972 |
| 6 | 6 | "Warhorse" | 22 October 1972 |
| 7 | 7 | "The Horsemen" | 29 October 1972 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Duel" | 5 November 1972 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Viking Helmet: Part 1" | 12 November 1972 |
| 10 | 10 | "The Viking Helmet: Part 2" | 19 November 1972 |
| 11 | 11 | "Day of Reckoning" | 26 November 1972 |
| 12 | 12 | "Man Trap" | 3 December 1972 |
| 13 | 13 | "Clown on Horseback" | 10 December 1972 |
| 14 | 14 | "Three Locks to Fortune" | 17 December 1972 |
| 15 | 15 | "The Recruiting Sergeant" | 31 December 1972 |
| 16 | 16 | "The Debt" | 7 January 1973 |
| 17 | 17 | "The Horse Healer" | 14 January 1973 |
| 18 | 18 | "The Witch" | 21 January 1973 |
| 19 | 19 | "The Ponies" | 28 January 1973 |
| 20 | 20 | "The Ruffians" | 4 February 1973 |
| 21 | 21 | "Two of a Kind" | 11 February 1973 |
| 22 | 22 | "Foul Play" | 18 February 1973 |
| 23 | 23 | "Sailor on a Horse" | 25 February 1973 |
| 24 | 24 | "Wild Justice" | 4 March 1973 |
| 25 | 25 | "The Barge" | 11 March 1973 |
| 26 | 26 | "Father and Son" | 18 March 1973 |
Series 2: 1973–74
| Nº | Ep | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "A Member of the Family: Part 1" | 23 September 1973 |
| 28 | 2 | "A Member of the Family: Part 2" | 30 September 1973 |
| 29 | 3 | "The Outcast" | 7 October 1973 |
| 30 | 4 | "Good Neighbours" | 14 October 1973 |
| 31 | 5 | "Mission of Mercy" | 21 October 1973 |
| 32 | 6 | "Battle of Wills" | 28 October 1973 |
| 33 | 7 | "The Medicine Man" | 4 November 1973 |
| 34 | 8 | "Out of the Night" | 11 November 1973 |
| 35 | 9 | "Panic" | 18 November 1973 |
| 36 | 10 | "The Challenge" | 25 November 1973 |
| 37 | 11 | "Pocket Money" | 2 December 1973 |
| 38 | 12 | "The Quarry" | 9 December 1973 |
| 39 | 13 | "Secret of Fear" | 16 December 1973 |
| 40 | 14 | "Lost: Part 1" | 23 December 1973 |
| 41 | 15 | "Lost: Part 2" | 23 December 1973 |
| 42 | 16 | "Lost Goddess" | 30 December 1973 |
| 43 | 17 | "Where's Jonah?" | 6 January 1974 |
| 44 | 18 | "A Long Hard Run" | 13 January 1974 |
| 45 | 19 | "The Horse Breaker" | 20 January 1974 |
| 46 | 20 | "The Last Round-Up" | 27 January 1974 |
| 47 | 21 | "Goodbye Beauty" | 3 February 1974 |
| 48 | 22 | "The Escape" | 10 February 1974 |
| 49 | 23 | "A Ribbon for Beauty" | 17 February 1974 |
| 50 | 24 | "The Last Charge" | 24 February 1974 |
| 51 | 25 | "Race Against Time" | 3 March 1974 |
| 52 | 26 | "Game of Chance" | 10 March 1974 |
Theme tune
The theme tune, "Galloping Home", was written by Denis King and performed by the London String Chorale. In 1973 it won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Theme Tune and was voted no. 2 (after Hawaii Five-O) in the Greatest TV Theme Tunes of All Time poll. It was also released as a single and peaked at number 31 in the UK charts in the week of 2 February 1974.
It was later used at the climax of the first series of Absolutely Fabulous, with Edina Monsoon dreaming of running through a field as Black Beauty does in the series' title sequence. The theme tune was also featured in the series Brainiac: Science Abuse. It actually has lyrics by Dick Vosburgh as revealed by Denis King at a memorial concert for Vosburgh in July 2007.
The theme was also used in 1975, in an episode of The Goodies called 'Scatty Safari', when the team release the main attraction of their Star Safari Park, Tony Blackburn, into the wild. It was also used in the final episode of the first series of BBC TV comedy I'm Alan Partridge. Alan exclaims "It's brilliant" upon hearing the piece when his PA Lynn puts it on the stereo; they then listen to it again when clearing up after Alan's unsuccessful leaving party. On disc 2 of the I'm Alan Partridge Series 1 DVD release, the theme music also plays on a loop over the menu, the background of which is a picture of Alan Partridge running through a field. The tune was also used as the opening theme of Finnish comedy series Studio Julmahuvi.
