The Adventures of Black Beauty

The Adventures of Black Beauty
Genre	Adventure Family drama
Written by	Ted Willis (head writer) Richard Carpenter David Butler
Directed by	Charles Crichton Peter Duffell John Reardon
Starring	Judi Bowker William Lucas Stacy Dorning Roderick Shaw Charlotte Mitchell Michael Culver
Theme music composer	Denis King
Opening theme	Galloping Home
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Knight
Producer(s)	Sidney Cole
Location(s)	Hertfordshire, England
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	The Fremantle Corporation London Weekend Television
Distributor	ITV Studios Global Entertainment London Weekend International Fremantle International Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	17 September 1972 – 10 March 1974
Chronology
Followed by	The New Adventures of Black Beauty

The Adventures of Black Beauty is a British adventure family television series produced by London Weekend Television and shown by ITV in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974. It was distributed internationally by London Weekend International.

The series The New Adventures of Black Beauty (1990–91) was a continuation of the 1970s series, and was set at the beginning of the 20th Century, twenty years after the original series.

Two series were produced, the first airing from September 1972 to March 1973 and the second from September 1973 to March 1974. Although it was mainly aimed at children, it was shown in the Sunday teatime family timeslot and gained a wide audience, becoming popular enough to make the general Top 20 ratings. It was repeated regularly, although often on a regional basis, for many years, its last full repeat run being on Sunday mornings from 1986 to 1988 (a further repeat run was planned for the summer of 1990, but cancelled because of objections by Equity after repeat fees had not been re-negotiated). Having been shown in several major US markets when it was initially produced, it also aired in the United States on Nickelodeon in the 1980s. In July 2009, Retro Television Network picked up all 104 episodes of The Adventures of Black Beauty and The New Adventures of Black Beauty, and affiliates began airing the show, listing both shows as simply Black Beauty.

The series was not an adaptation of the book by Anna Sewell, but a "continuation" featuring new characters created by Ted Willis, most prominently Dr James Gordon, played by William Lucas, and his children Vicky, played by Judi Bowker (who became Jenny, played by Stacy Dorning, in the second series) and Kevin, played by Roderick Shaw (at the beginning of the New Adventures it is mentioned that Kevin had gone to sea and become a Midshipman). Supporting characters included Dr. Gordon's loyal housekeeper Amy Winthrop, played by Charlotte Mitchell, and a local boy, Albert Clifton, portrayed by Tony Maiden. Other writers for the series included David Butler and Richard Carpenter, while directors included Charles Crichton and Peter Duffell. The series, which was filmed mainly at Stockers Farm, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, was widely acclaimed for its high production values and quality of writing and acting, and at times had remarkable English gothic overtones for a children's series.

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