Follyfoot
| Follyfoot | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Based on an idea by Monica Dickens |
| Starring |
Gillian Blake Steve Hodson Christian Rodska Desmond Llewelyn Arthur English |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom West Germany |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Yorkshire Television for ITV |
| Original release | 28 June 1971 – 15 September 1973 |
Follyfoot is 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. The series starred Gillian Blake in the lead role. Notable people connected with the series were actors Desmond Llewelyn and Arthur English and directors Jack Cardiff, Stephen Frears, Michael Apted and David Hemmings.
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.
The series, which was filmed on the Harewood family estate, was set at a home of rest for horses. Despite an apparent appeal limited to young girls with an equine interest, Follyfoot was actually aimed squarely at the teenage market 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.
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