Warship Overview (1973-1977)

Introduction Warship was a popular British television drama series produced by the BBC between 1973 and 1977. It was also subtitled into Dutch and broadcast in the Netherlands as Alle hens aan dek (All hands on deck). Four series were produced, with 45 episodes made in total, and it enjoyed popularity in Britain, Ireland, Australia,…

Andrew Marshall
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Introduction

Warship was a popular British television drama series produced by the BBC between 1973 and 1977.

It was also subtitled into Dutch and broadcast in the Netherlands as Alle hens aan dek (All hands on deck). Four series were produced, with 45 episodes made in total, and it enjoyed popularity in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The series dealt with life on board a Royal Navy warship, the fictional HMS Hero. It was mainly filmed aboard the Leander-class frigate HMS Phoebe.

Outline

The episodes were written and filmed to reflect the reality of life in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines in the 1970s.

The primary focus for most stories was on the Captain and his fellow officers, but the series also featured life on the lower decks to portray episodes heavily featuring ratings.

Episodes featured a variety of events at sea (the Cold War, smuggling, the evacuation of civilians from crisis-hit places, etc.), as well as the personal lives of officers and ratings and the impact their personal lives had on their professional lives and duties.

Warship (1973-1977) Series

Series Inspiration

The originator of the idea for the series and main script editor was a serving Royal Navy officer, Ian Mackintosh, who worked with BBC producer Anthony Coburn after Mackintosh originally approached the BBC in May 1971. Coburn had for some years wanted to produce a series “that would do for the Navy what Z-Cars had done for the Police”. Apart from Mackintosh, other scriptwriters included Michael J. Bird, and the series was directed by Michael E. Briant among others. Mackintosh was seconded to the BBC for the series, and was awarded the MBE for his work on Warship in 1976.

Trivia

  • Blue Peter Feature: In 1975 the BBC’s children’s television programme Blue Peter included a feature about the filming of Warship at Plymouth Dockyard aboard HMS Danae; the item was presented by Lesley Judd. The next year, future Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan played a major role in the episode “All of One Company”. Six episodes of Warship were filmed aboard HMS Danae around that time.
  • Falkland Islands: One 1977 episode, “A Matter of History”, depicted a visit by HMS Hero to a fictional British Overseas Territory—Eddowes Island—at the time of its handover to an unnamed Latin American country. Eddowes is described as being 50 miles offshore, and the islanders are stated as being offered a choice between retaining British nationality and leaving, or staying and becoming citizens of the unnamed country. The tensions this caused amongst islanders, the ship’s company – one of whom is described as having been born on Eddowes – and British and Eddowes government officials are depicted in a realistic way. There were very strong parallels with the contemporary Falkland Islands situation, and the episode foreshadowed the events that led to the Falklands War.
  • Books: Ian Mackintosh wrote three books based on the series, which were simultaneously published in hardback and paperback. The books were:
    • Warship (published in 1973);
    • HMS Hero (published in 1976); and
    • Holt RN (published in 1977).
  • Board Game: Series creator Ian Mackintosh also devised a version of the board game Battleships, based on his experience of modern naval tactics and called Warship after the series. It was produced by Merit Toys in 1976, in association with the BBC.
  • Scale Model Kit: Airfix produced a plastic 1/600 scale model kit with decals for the fictional HMS Hero, using their model kit of HMS Leander.
  • Theme Music Single: Columbia Records released a 7 inch single (catalogue reference DB 8998) of the theme music (see above) in 1973. As in the TV series the theme was played by the Band of the Royal Marines, Deal, conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Neville, MVO, FRAM, Royal Marines.
  • Availability on DVD: The first series of Warship was released on DVD in September 2014, with the second series being released 09 November 2015.

Production & Filming Details

  • Creators: Ian Mackintosh and Anthony Coburn.
  • Writer: Ian Mackintosh.
  • Director: Michael E. Briant.
  • Music: Anthony Isaac.
  • Editor: Ian Mackintosh.
  • Release Date: 07 June 1973 (UK).
  • Running Time: 50 minutes.
  • Country: UK.
  • Language: English.

YouTube Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5g65RM2ck4

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