Follyfoot
Encyclopedia
Follyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by the majority-partner British
television company Yorkshire Television
(for transmission on ITV
) and the independent West German
company TV Munich (for transmission on the ZDF
channel). It aired in the United Kingdom
between 1971 and 1973, repeated for two years after that and again in the late 1980s.
It was originally inspired by Monica Dickens
' 1963 novel "Cobbler's Dream" (republished in 1995 as "New Arrival at Follyfoot"); she later wrote four further books in conjunction with the series - "Follyfoot" in 1971, "Dora at Follyfoot" in 1972, "The Horses of Follyfoot" in 1975 and "Stranger at Follyfoot" in 1976.
family estate, was set at a home of rest for horses. What on the surface might have appeared to be a series with limited interest to young girls with an equine interest was actually aimed squarely at the teenage market (making Follyfoot the first show of its kind), and often had challenging things to say about the treatment of horses and animals generally in British society. The ethos of Follyfoot generally was to give another chance to both horses and people who had been rejected by the rest of society: the stance of the series was recognisably pro-animal, and characters who resembled the archetypes of the Pullein-Thompson sisters
et al. were overwhelmingly shown in a negative light. Continuity in the series was assured by the use of mostly one writer, Tony Essex (writing under the pen name Francis Stevens), but there were also contributions from Rosemary Anne Sisson
.
The series' theme song, "The Lightning Tree", written by Steven Francis (pen name of Francis Essex, the brother of Tony Essex) and sung by The Settlers
, is well-remembered, sometimes more so than the series itself. The song reached No.36 in the UK Charts. An album featuring music from the series was also released.
The main actors were Gillian Blake
as Dora, Steve Hodson
as Steve, Christian Rodska
as Ron Stryker, Desmond Llewelyn
as the Colonel and Arthur English
as Slugger.
Several other famous people had minor roles, one being Pam St Clement, the others being Gretchen Franklin
as the Colonel's housekeeper and Kathy Staff
in two separate bit parts. But what really characterised the series was its rotation of directors, many of whom have since become revered figures in the UK film industry, including Stephen Frears
, Michael Apted
and even Jack Cardiff
who took time out from working overseas with Kirk Douglas
to direct two episodes of the series. Also, in the third series, most notably, David Hemmings
took the time to appear in one episode, 'Uncle Joe' and also to direct two other episodes which took place before and after that episode: 'The Bridge Builder' and the final episode, 'Walk In The Wood'.
The series proved to be very popular and was sold to many countries at the time of the original UK transmission. The first series won the Harlequin award for best production at the 1972 BAFTA Awards, while the second series episode, "The Debt" reached No.19 in the weekly television ratings - a rarity for an afternoon-timeslot show. During production for the third series, it was intended that this would be the last, but a film version of Follyfoot was planned, but the idea was ultimately shelved. The Children's magazine, Look-in
featured a picture-strip of the series each week as well as regular features, while five annuals
were released in association with Yorkshire Television. These ran until 1976 - long after the series had finished.
Follifoot
(note the slightly different spelling), is a small village just 3 miles from Harrogate
, not far from the Yorkshire Television studios in Leeds
.
However, on DVD, Series 1 (episodes 1 to 13) was released in 2007. Series 2 was released on DVD in April 2008, with Series 3 following in October 2008. The DVDs are Region 2 encoded, and in PAL format. A complete boxset of the series was released in late 2008.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television company Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
(for transmission on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
) and the independent West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
company TV Munich (for transmission on the ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
channel). It aired in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
between 1971 and 1973, repeated for two years after that and again in the late 1980s.
It was originally inspired by Monica Dickens
Monica Dickens
Monica Enid Dickens, MBE was an English writer, the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens.-Biography:...
' 1963 novel "Cobbler's Dream" (republished in 1995 as "New Arrival at Follyfoot"); she later wrote four further books in conjunction with the series - "Follyfoot" in 1971, "Dora at Follyfoot" in 1972, "The Horses of Follyfoot" in 1975 and "Stranger at Follyfoot" in 1976.
Background and production
The series, which was filmed on the HarewoodHarewood House
Harewood House is a country house located in Harewood , near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for nine of the foremost stately homes in England...
family estate, was set at a home of rest for horses. What on the surface might have appeared to be a series with limited interest to young girls with an equine interest was actually aimed squarely at the teenage market (making Follyfoot the first show of its kind), and often had challenging things to say about the treatment of horses and animals generally in British society. The ethos of Follyfoot generally was to give another chance to both horses and people who had been rejected by the rest of society: the stance of the series was recognisably pro-animal, and characters who resembled the archetypes of the Pullein-Thompson sisters
Pullein-Thompson sisters
The Pullein-Thompson sisters – Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE , Diana Pullein-Thompson and Christine Pullein-Thompson – are British writers of many pony books, mostly fictional, aimed at children and mostly popular with girls...
et al. were overwhelmingly shown in a negative light. Continuity in the series was assured by the use of mostly one writer, Tony Essex (writing under the pen name Francis Stevens), but there were also contributions from Rosemary Anne Sisson
Rosemary Anne Sisson
Rosemary Anne Sisson is a British television dramatist and novelist. She is the daughter of the scholar of Elizabethan drama Charles Jasper Sisson ....
.
The series' theme song, "The Lightning Tree", written by Steven Francis (pen name of Francis Essex, the brother of Tony Essex) and sung by The Settlers
The Settlers (band)
The Settlers were a folk-oriented group from the English West Midlands , who formed in the mid 1960s. They started out as a trio comprising Cindy Kent , Mike Jones and John Fyffe , but added a bassist, Mansel Davies.-Formation...
, is well-remembered, sometimes more so than the series itself. The song reached No.36 in the UK Charts. An album featuring music from the series was also released.
The main actors were Gillian Blake
Gillian Blake
Gillian Blake is a retired British actress who became well known in the early 1970s as Dora in Follyfoot.Blake studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began her professional career in the late 1960s. She appeared in the 1969 film, Goodbye Mr. Chips and some other television...
as Dora, Steve Hodson
Steve Hodson
Steve Hodson is a British actor who played the role of Steve Ross in Follyfoot.Hodson was working as a Civil Servant in Bradford when he won a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London...
as Steve, Christian Rodska
Christian Rodska
Christian Rodska is an English actor who has appeared in many television and radio series and narrated a number of audiobooks...
as Ron Stryker, Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
as the Colonel and Arthur English
Arthur English
Arthur Leslie Norman English was an English actor and comedian from the music hall tradition.English was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. After serving in the army in World War II, reaching the rank of sergeant, English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town...
as Slugger.
Several other famous people had minor roles, one being Pam St Clement, the others being Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin was an English actress with a career in showbusiness that spanned over eighty years.She was born in Covent Garden, west London, a cousin of the actor Clive Dunn. She was best known for playing the character of Ethel Skinner in the long running BBC One, soap opera, EastEnders...
as the Colonel's housekeeper and Kathy Staff
Kathy Staff
Kathy Staff was an English actress, well known for her work on British television...
in two separate bit parts. But what really characterised the series was its rotation of directors, many of whom have since become revered figures in the UK film industry, including Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
, Michael Apted
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
and even Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff, OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer, director and photographer.His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor to filmmaking in the 21st century...
who took time out from working overseas with Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
to direct two episodes of the series. Also, in the third series, most notably, David Hemmings
David Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
took the time to appear in one episode, 'Uncle Joe' and also to direct two other episodes which took place before and after that episode: 'The Bridge Builder' and the final episode, 'Walk In The Wood'.
The series proved to be very popular and was sold to many countries at the time of the original UK transmission. The first series won the Harlequin award for best production at the 1972 BAFTA Awards, while the second series episode, "The Debt" reached No.19 in the weekly television ratings - a rarity for an afternoon-timeslot show. During production for the third series, it was intended that this would be the last, but a film version of Follyfoot was planned, but the idea was ultimately shelved. The Children's magazine, Look-in
Look-in
Look-in was a long running children's magazine centred around ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior TVTimes". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994...
featured a picture-strip of the series each week as well as regular features, while five annuals
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
were released in association with Yorkshire Television. These ran until 1976 - long after the series had finished.
Follifoot
Follifoot
Follifoot is a large village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A658 road and south east from the town centre of Harrogate.-History:...
(note the slightly different spelling), is a small village just 3 miles from Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
, not far from the Yorkshire Television studios in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
.
Main Characters
- Dora Maddocks (Gillian BlakeGillian BlakeGillian Blake is a retired British actress who became well known in the early 1970s as Dora in Follyfoot.Blake studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began her professional career in the late 1960s. She appeared in the 1969 film, Goodbye Mr. Chips and some other television...
) - the series' central character and niece of The Colonel. The daughter of a bigwig ambassador, she has spent a miserable childhood because her parents have never understood her and being showered with material possessions was no compensation. In Series 2 ep 4, she recalls the pain of her 10th birthday where, instead of getting the pony she wanted, she instead got the most expensive dresses available. The story begins when Dora is sent to live with the Colonel when her parents leave for a government commission in South America - when she discovers Follyfoot farm, Dora finds her idyll. Dora is an idealist and a dreamer; she cannot cope with change and tries to shut out the fact the world is full of bad people. When the Colonel signs Follyfoot over to her, Dora desperately tries to keep the farm running as it always has done, despite this becoming increasingly impractical and the resulting tension with her love interest, Steve. Her disillusionment with the elite world she was brought up in is redolent of Monica Dickens's own feelings in the 1930s (she had been a debutante, but abandoned that privileged life to go into domestic service).
- Steve Ross (Steve HodsonSteve HodsonSteve Hodson is a British actor who played the role of Steve Ross in Follyfoot.Hodson was working as a Civil Servant in Bradford when he won a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London...
) - Miner's son and former reform school pupil who served time in prison for lashing out at a man he found whipping a horse. A very competent horseman, he comes to work at Follyfoot after his previous employer, the Squire, refuses to believe he wasn't involved in an attack on his horses. Steve believes in the same values as Dora but through life experiences has a more realistic view of the world and this causes increasing tension with Dora throughout the second and especially the third series. He has an emotional attachment with Dora and wishes he could be more idealist like her.
- Ron Stryker (Christian RodskaChristian RodskaChristian Rodska is an English actor who has appeared in many television and radio series and narrated a number of audiobooks...
) - the third of the trio of young workers at Follyfoot but also the shadiest. He is known to the police and one of his friends is Lewis Hammond, member of local miscreant gang the Night Riders. His father persuaded the Colonel to give him a job at Follyfoot to help keep him out of trouble, yet Ron is workshy and ignores constant warnings not to burst through the main gate at Follyfoot with his distinctive Triumph Tiger motorbike. Despite the rough exterior, Ron is essentially warm-hearted and loves the horses as much as everyone else. Ron is already working at Follyfoot when Dora, then Steve, arrive.
- Slugger Jones (Arthur EnglishArthur EnglishArthur Leslie Norman English was an English actor and comedian from the music hall tradition.English was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. After serving in the army in World War II, reaching the rank of sergeant, English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town...
) - ex-boxer and "housekeeper" at Follyfoot Farm who has been working for the Colonel for over 20 years. He proves to be an emotional rock for Dora but will readily tell her to "snap out of it" where necessary. Slugger is gruff yet cuddly at the same time and is rather fond of Ron despite their love-hate facade. His cookery is notorious for its lack of variety - bacon and eggs or stew!
- Colonel Geoffrey Maddocks (Desmond LlewelynDesmond LlewelynDesmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
) - Dora's uncle and the original owner of Follyfoot farm. He started Follyfoot years ago as his response to all the cruelty in the world and his attempt to do something about it. The Colonel has a reputation as a kindly eccentric and is the first person most people call on when they've got a horse in need of rehoming. He thinks the world of Dora and proves to be more of a father to her than her actual father, but an illness weakens him in Series 2 and when he signs Follyfoot over to Dora, she must increasingly have to manage under her own steam. He comes over, broadly, as a One Nation ToryOne Nation ConservatismOne nation, one nation conservatism, and Tory democracy are terms used in political debate in the United Kingdom to refer to a certain wing of the Conservative Party...
, very much of the centre ground.
Minor Characters
- Lewis Hammond (Paul Guess) - known locally as "The Louse", Ron's friend and leader of motorcycle thugs the Night Riders. He is complicit in the death of two of the Squire's horses which leads to Steve being wrongly implicated and sacked.
- Callie Holmes (Gillian BaileyGillian BaileyGillian Bailey or Gilli Bush-Bailey is a British academic and former actress.She was mainly known as a child actor. Her best known role was Billie in Here Come the Double Deckers...
) - teenage schoolgirl who occasionally helps out at Follyfoot. In the episode Moonstone, Callie coerces Steve into helping her hide a horse she's stolen from the circus, believing the animal to be unhappy. Steve is naturally twitchy because of his criminal past. Callie has a crush on Steve.
- Gip Willens (Bryan Sweeney) - young boy who loves horses but has little idea how to look after them. After Ron spins him a line about Follyfoot being a place where horses are tortured, Steve has his work cut out trying to convince him otherwise and it takes the near-death of Gip's horse to win him round.
- Wendy Bendiger (Elaine DonnellyElaine DonnellyElaine Donnelly is a British actress, born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.-Career:Donnelly started her career in 1969 and appeared in several small British dramas...
) - a brief love-interest for Steve, which causes much upset for Dora. She eventually breaks up with him, which Steve puts down to their class difference.
- Sam Lockwood (Frederick TrevesFrederick Treves (actor)Frederick William Treves BEM, is an English character actor with an extensive repertoire, specialising in avuncular military and titled types....
) - unscrupulous horse trader who's in it only for the money and doesn't care whether his animals are going to good homes. He proves the main series villain in Series 3, with Follyfoot having to take in two of his animals. His son Chip (Nigel Crewe) briefly dates Dora but he's too loyal to his father for the relationship to progress.
- Hazel Donnelly (Veronica Quilligan) - 14-year old reform school delinquent sent to Follyfoot by the probation service. Dora takes an initial dislike to her, especially when she almost attacks her favourite horse Copper and forms a bond with Steve, but Hazel is essentially a younger version of Dora with the same background and strained relationship with her parents. After a volatile start she takes to working at Follyfoot and it is widely thought among the show's fans Hazel would have become a regular character had the series continued.
- Another recurring (but very minor) character is the Vet (unnamed), played by Geoffrey Morris, who appears in several episodes during series 2 and 3. A second vet, played by Colin RixColin Rix-Selected filmography:* Strongroom * Panic * The Body Stealers * The Triple Echo * Aces High * The Medusa Touch * Porridge * Eye of the Needle * Dance with a Stranger...
, appeared in the first and last episodes of series 1 and in both cases was seen putting a sick horse out of its misery.
VHS/DVD releases
The first three episodes were released on video in 1995. No further releases ever came to light, and this video has long been deleted.However, on DVD, Series 1 (episodes 1 to 13) was released in 2007. Series 2 was released on DVD in April 2008, with Series 3 following in October 2008. The DVDs are Region 2 encoded, and in PAL format. A complete boxset of the series was released in late 2008.