London's Burning (TV series)
| London's Burning | |
|---|---|
Title card used in Series 11
|
|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Jack Rosenthal |
| Starring |
James Hazeldine Glen Murphy James Marcus Sean Blowers Richard Walsh Katharine Rogers Samantha Beckinsale Ross Boatman Gerard Horan Mark Arden Michael Garner Zoe Heyes Steven Houghton Heather Peace Anthony Green Andrew Kazamia Treva Etienne Stephen North Rupert Baker Jim Alexander Ben Onwukwe Vanessa Pett Yvonne Edgell Ian Burfield |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 170 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Linda Agran (Pilot, Series 1-2) Nick Elliott (Series 3-5) Sarah Wilson (Series 6-7) Sally Head (Series 8-10) Laura Mackie (Series 11-12) David Newcombe (Series 13) Michelle Buck and Damien Timmer (Series 14) |
| Producer(s) | Paul Knight (Pilot, Series 1-10) David Shanks (Series 11) Angus Towler (Series 13) David Newcombe (Series 12 & 14) |
| Running time | 60/75/90 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | |
| Audio format |
Mono (Pilot, Series 1–9) Stereo (Series 10–14) |
| First shown in | 7 December 1986 (television film) |
| Original release | 20 February 1988 – 25 August 2002 |
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch, at the fictional Blackwall fire station. It was broadcast between 20 February 1988 and 25 August 2002, including the pilot movie from 7 December 1986.
Jack Rosenthal's original two-hour TV movie, directed by Les Blair, was broadcast on ITV on 7 December 1986. The Broadwater Farm Riot, in north London, was one inspiration for the screenplay. Unlike the final years of the London's Burning TV series, the movie (along with the following early TV series), was a black comedy that also examined serious issues.
The TV show was a weekly episodic drama that began on 20 February 1988. Paul Knight was the show's producer. Knight appointed writers such as Anita Bronson, David Humphries, Simon Sharkey, and Tony Hoare. Directors included Gerry Poulson, Gerry Mill, John Reardon, Keith Washington and Alan Wareing. The camera crews had to be committed and cautious when working with fire. Emergencies—or 'shouts'—would not only be fires, but included a range of incidents from cats up trees to major road accidents. Each episode ran for 50 minutes (one hour with advertisement breaks). The first series (1988) consisted of five episodes while the second series (1989) and the third series (1990) consisted of eight episodes. These series episodes were mostly filmed at Dockhead fire station, and used actual firefighters working shifts as extras for the programme. A studio near the station was used for crowded mess scenes, but they also used the fire station's actual mess, bay and watchroom throughout the series.
A Christmas special was transmitted between series 1 and 2 on 25 December 1988, on ITV. The special followed Blue Watch on duty on Christmas Day.
A special 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, which originally aired on 8 September 1991, marked the launch of the fourth series. This documentary was also released onto VHS video, by Clear Vision Video. It was then added as a DVD extra, on the DVD release by Network DVD.
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Wikipedia