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Portland Bill (cartoon)
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Portland Bill is a British
stop motion
animated children's television series
made in 1983. It was set in a fictional lighthouse
called Guillemot
Rock on the south coast of England
. The setting is a copy of the real Portland Bill
lighthouse and Isle of Portland
with placenames changed.
:
These live in the lighthouse:
The rest of the characters live elsewhere:
.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animated children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
made in 1983. It was set in a fictional lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
called Guillemot
Guillemot
Guillemots is the common name for several species of seabird in the auk family . In British use, the term comprises two genera: Uria and Cepphus. In North America the Uria species are called "murres" and only the Cepphus species are called "guillemots"...
Rock on the south coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The setting is a copy of the real Portland Bill
Portland Bill
Portland Bill is a narrow promontory of Portland stone, which forms the most southerly part of Isle of Portland, and therefore also the county of Dorset, England....
lighthouse and Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
with placenames changed.
Characters
Most of its characters were named after British Sea Areas and coastal weather stations and other words that occur in shipping forecastsShipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex...
:
These live in the lighthouse:
- Portland BillPortland BillPortland Bill is a narrow promontory of Portland stone, which forms the most southerly part of Isle of Portland, and therefore also the county of Dorset, England....
: lighthouse keeper - Ross and CromartyRoss and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
: his assistants - DoggerDogger BankDogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
: his dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
The rest of the characters live elsewhere:
- FastnetFastnet RockFastnet Rock is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean and the most southerly point of Ireland. It lies southwest of Cape Clear Island and from County Cork on the Irish mainland...
: fisherman, lives on the island - Mrs. LundyLundyLundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, lying off the coast of Devon, England, approximately one third of the distance across the channel between England and Wales. It measures about at its widest. Lundy gives its name to a British sea area and is one of the islands of England.As of...
: owns cottage on mainland - Grandma TireeTiree-History:Tiree is known for the 1st century BC Dùn Mòr broch, for the prehistoric carved Ringing Stone and for the birds of the Ceann a' Mhara headland....
: makes oatcakeOatcakeAn oatcake is a type of cracker or pancake, made from oatmeal, and sometimes flour as well. Oatcakes are cooked on a griddle or baked in an oven.- Scottish oatcakes :...
s for the lighthousemen - Inspector RonaldswayRonaldswayRonaldsway is a place in Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown. It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and historically RNAS Ronaldsway, together with the adjoining customs free zone and industrial estate.Ronaldsway is the...
: belongs to the lighthouse service, not a police officerPolice officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force... - FinisterreCape Finisterreright|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
: owns a croftCroft (land)A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer.- Etymology :... - Eddy Stone: owns the village shop, has various jobs: named after Eddystone.
- Young Gail: lives in McGuillycuddy, perhaps on a farmFarmA farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
: named after "galeGaleA gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
"
Places
- McGuillycuddy: a village on the mainland overlooking the lighthouse island: named after the real Macgillycuddy's ReeksMacgillycuddy's ReeksMacGillycuddy's Reeks is a mountain range in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. Stretching slightly over , it includes the highest peaks in Ireland and the only peaks on the island that are over . The highest of these is Corrán Tuathail or Carrauntoohil , followed by Binn Chaorach and Cathair na...
in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Boats
- The PuffinPuffinPuffins are any of three small species of auk in the bird genus Fratercula with a brightly coloured beak during the breeding season. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among...
: rowboat, belongs to Portland Bill. - The KipperKipperA kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split from tail to head, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked.In the United Kingdom, in Japan, and in some North American regions they are often eaten for breakfast...
: used by Eddy Stone & Inspector Rolandsway.
Trivia
The series was narrated by actor of Spooner's Patch and Big Jim and the Figaro Club, Norman RossingtonNorman Rossington
Norman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night.-Early life:...
.
Credits
- Originated by: John Grace
- Director of Animation: Barry Leith
- Designed by: John Grace, Barry Leith
- Assistant Animators: Humphrey Leadbitter, Heather Boucher
- Model Makers: Martin Cheek, Gordon Tait, Linda Thodesen
- Music by: John Grace, Mik Parsons
- Editor: Robert Dunbar
- Assistant Editor: Andi Sloss
- Production Coordinator: Barrie Edwards
- Stories Adapted for TV by: Ian Sachs
- Executive Producer: Graham Clutterbuck
Transmission guide
- Series 1: 13 editions from 4 October 1983 - 3 January 1984
- Series 2: 13 editions from 9 April 1986 - 25 June 1986
External links
- The Adventures of Portland Bill at the Big Cartoon DataBaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....
- The Adventures of Portland Bill at ClassicKidsTV.co.uk
- The Adventures of Portland Bill at Little Gems
- The Adventures of Portland Bill at Toonhound