The Adventures of Portland Bill

The Adventures of Portland Bill
Created by John Grace
FilmFair
Granada Television
Starring Norman Rossington
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 26
Production
Running time 5mins
Release
Original network ITV Network
Original release 4 October 1983

The Adventures of Portland Bill was a British stop motion animated children's television series made in 1983. It was set in a fictional lighthouse on the Guillemot Rock, just off the coast from the fictional village of McGuillycuddy. Norman Rossington provided the voice of all the characters, with Portland Bill acting as the narrator of each episode.

Characters

Most of its characters were named after British Sea Areas and coastal weather stations and other words that occur in shipping forecasts:

These live in the lighthouse:

The rest of the characters live elsewhere:

Places

Location

Whilst commonly believed to be based on the real Portland Bill Lighthouse and Isle of Portland, there is no evidence to back this up beyond the main character having the name Portland Bill. In fact, with the name of the nearest village, and the proximity of a Croft owned by Finisterre the Crofter, there is evidence to suggest it is actually based in Scotland.

Boats

Other animals

Trivia

Credits

Transmission guide

VHS releases

Snapdragon Video released a collection of 10 Portland Bill stories:

Title Catalogue number Release date Episodes
Portland Bill: 10 Stories from the Classic TV Series SD 9001 7 October 1991
  • Dogger to the Rescue
  • Gone Fishing
  • Kite Flying
  • Forty Winks
  • Bad Dogger
  • Last Jam Tart
  • Sky High
  • St. Bozo's Treasure
  • Penguins
  • The Phantom Piper

In the 1990s Castle Communications Plc released three videos with four episodes (or eight stories) each:

VHS Name Castle Vision Catalogue Number Playbox Catalogue Number Episodes
Portland Bill: 45 Minutes of Fun CVS 4040 PVC 145
  • A Jam Session / A Visit from Inspector Ronaldsway
  • The Wrong Semaphore Message / Cromarty's Treasure Hunt
  • A Weather Forcating Kit / Dogger Saves the Day
  • A Knot Tying Day / A Wind-Powered Vacuum Cleaner
Portland Bill: Four Original Episodes CVS 4041 PVC 146
  • A Slapstick Fun Painting Effort / A Memorable Day Trip
  • Staging a Fishing Contest / Telling the Time by Seaweed
  • A Day Off That Gets Busy / A Scary Night Watch
  • Cromarty Gets Hiccups / A Surprise for Eddie Stone
Portland Bill: Four Classic Adventures CVS 4042 PVC 147
  • The Storm That Does Chores / A Whistling Kettle for a Runaway Bull
  • Baking with the Wrong Flour / The Causing-Chaos Penguin
  • Valentia the Parrot
  • A Mermaid Trick / The Oil Rig Customer

See also

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