A historical serial, told through song and drama, chronicling the pioneering days of steam power in Britain.
Through a series of two-part stories, this serial recounts key moments in the early development of steam locomotion. A Singer and Storyteller (Ian Paterson) introduces and narrates the dramatised vignettes. The first story follows the efforts of Cornish engineer Dick Trevithick (Tim Goodman) to create a self-propelled steam engine in “The Iron Horse.” The second, “The Fortune Seeker,” centres on the life of another inventor, Will Furley (Michael Deacon). A final tale, “The Runaway,” completes the series, which depicts the engineering breakthroughs and financial struggles of the men who built Britain’s first railways, including George Stephenson (Philip Hinton).
Produced by Thames Television, this six-part serial was a distinctive piece of educational television. It eschewed a conventional dramatic structure in favour of a folk ballad framework, using a narrator with a guitar to link the historical episodes. This presentational style gave the production a didactic but accessible tone, grounding the technical achievements of the Industrial Revolution in human stories of ambition and perseverance. The programme aimed for historical accuracy, with scripts by Miles Tomalin that focused on the practical challenges faced by the engineers who laid the groundwork for the railway age.
Broadcast: ITV – Thames, 6 Episodes, 5 May 1971 – 9 June 1971
Written by: Miles Tomalin
Script Editor: Lester Clark
Producer: Charles Warren
Directors: Richard Gilbert, Robert Stead
Main Cast: Ian Paterson (Singer and Storyteller), Michael Spice (Beighton), Michael Deacon (Will Furley), William Abney (Overton), Tim Goodman (Dick Trevithick), Richard Ireson (Steel), Philip Hinton (George Stephenson)
