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Director : Eric Hills Script : Colin Morris Cast : Richard Marner (The Russian Captain), David Spenser (Leonov), Frazer Hines (Bob Elliot), Glynn Edwards (Jack Elliot), Patrick Scanlan (Red Elliot), George A Cooper (The Reverend Ackroyd), Peter Madden (George Elliot), Ann Way (Judy), Bart Allison (Tom), Michael Wynne (Peter Salt), Wally Patch (Charlie), Kenneth Keeling (Henry), Douglas Blackwell (The Police Constable), Matthew Robertson (The Visitor) and Denis Cleary (The Radio Operator). Publicity
: King Of The River - Meet The Main Characters - Introduced
By Their Author Colin Morris: This series is about the King
family who love, live, fight, and work around a harbour in
the Thames estuary. They inhabit a roaring outspoken community
which feels itself vastly superior to nine-to-five office
squatters. The chief character is Joss King (Bernard Lee),
last skipper of a barge trading under sail. To the rest of
Salthaven his ship belongs to the Greenwich Nautical Museum.
His wife died six years ago, and when he speaks of her his
voice breaks. His recreation ashore is the pub, where his
tough, warm-hearted friend Nel (Sandra Dorne) calls time with
a belaying pin. His elder daughter is Ruth (Meg Wynn Owen),
a modern-language teacher at the local grammar school. Ruth
loathes the sea; it has brought tragedy to the family and
she strives to wean from it her young brother Saul (Richard
James), an arch-investigator of cargoes carried in other ships.
Susanna, the other daughter (Geraldine Sherman), is eighteen,
and has just left school. She has three A-levels, but doesn't
know what to do with them. Various admirers with sports cars
come and go, not having enough courage to handle her. If she
had her way she would like to go fishing with her Uncle Ben
(Robert Brown). There is no single mood in the stories, except
that they take you out of doors. If you can watch them all,
you will see the characters and develop, as in a novel. (Radio
Times, June 30, 1966).
Director : Brian Parker Script : Colin Morris Cast : Katharine Schofield (Betty), John Graham (Gelder), Charles Carson (Brigham), Joe Gibbons (The Docker), Anthony Colby (The Young Doctor), Leslie Dwyer (The Ganger), George Tovey (Jim), Iain Anders (The Detective), Paul Williamson (Cedric), Will Stampe (Clem), Brian Cant (Tom), Peter Blair-Stewart (Susanna's Boyfriend) and Robert Dean (Stonehouse). Publicity
: King Of The River - Power versus Sail - When Rival Skippers
Meet There Are No Holds Barred: A trip to the City is an ordeal
for sailing barge skipper Joss King (Bernard Lee). He hates
the rush and the concrete; to Joss cities "are places
where you stand in queues for your dinners and shove each
other off Tubes to get home to your coronaries". But
in the second story in this series, called "Sunset For
A Sailorman", Joss must visit the ship-owners Brigham
and Gelder in London. The problem is freight. His sailing
barge the Margaret May has had little freight for weeks and
Joss is convinced that the junior partner at the shipping
office is slowly squeezing him out in favour of the motor-powered
vessels. The senior man Gelder is ailing - but he is a great
admirer of Joss, his barge, and his way of life. He happens
to be at the office the day Joss calls. A cargo of one-hundred-and-fifty
tons of flour has to be taken to a mill near King's Lynn,
Norfolk, by Monday. If the deadline is not met the miller
will lose his contract and the company a customer. Joss is
offered the cargo by Gelder - but just to be safe his partner
arranges for a motor vessel to carry an identical cargo "just
in case he doesn't make it". So the race is on - power
versus sail. Battle commences and where Joss and his son Saul
are concerned there are no holds barred. After all the stakes
are the highest - survival. (Radio Times, July 7, 1966).
Director : Gerard Glaister Script : Colin Morris Cast : Eric McCaine (The Radio Operator), Kenneth Keeling (Henry), Peter Madden (George Elliot), Frazer Hines (Bob Elliot), George A Cooper (The Reverend Ackroyd), Bart Allison (Tom), Stacy Davies (Joe), Michael Wynne (Peter Salt), Jeffrey Segal (The Italian Captain), Gino Melvazzi (The Italian Sailor), Tony Goodson (The Italian Radio Operator) and Toni Kanal (The Italian Girl). Publicity
: King Of The River - Shipwreck - Tonight's Episode Recalls
A Peril Which Colin Morris Its Author Almost Experienced Himself:
Joss King (Bernard Lee), last of the sailing barge skippers,
tonight finds himself - rather uneasily - at the wheel of
a motor-powered barge. The trip made with his son Saul (Richard
James) is not without danger, and it also threatens to split
the King family from top to bottom. Creator of the King family
is Colin Morris who has had a life-long interest in the sea.
Born on Merseyside, he dreamed about going to sea. He says
"the only way to look there was out to sea, away from
the soot and the squalor. It was a way to escape the dinginess".
He did not go to sea though - he went fishing instead. Except
for two afternoons on Regent's Park lake, Morris' affection
for the sea remained a memory until 1956. His play Reluctant
Heroes was having a successful run at the Whitehall Threatre
when he was offered the use of a yacht - providing he took
someone along who was a fully experienced seaman. "A
chap turned up at the theatre dressed in pom-pom hat and thigh-length
boots. He satisfied me - and the owner - that he was a fine
mariner. So we set sail from Ipswich". From then on the
voyage became a nightmare in which they ran aground, got hopelessly
lost, saw the anchor disappear overboard because it was unsecured
at the end, had the sails blow away - and were finally - and
ignominiously - towed in by the Walton-on-Naze lifeboat. Since
then he has become more expert. He has sailed to many places
including Africa. And in his travels he has met and known
a host of rich, colourful characters - many of whom he has
drawn upon in creating King Of The River. (Radio Times, July
14, 1966 - Article by Russell Twisk).
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Elaine Morgan Cast
: Carlos Pierre (Etienne), Freddie Foot (The Small Boy),
David Beale (Roger), Guido Adorni (Pierre), Louis Raynes,
Tony Maddison, Harry Tierney, Ernest Jennings and Ian Gray
(The French Sailors), Edward Kelsey, Fred Hugh and Sidney
Gatchum (The Regulars In The Pub), Harold Bennett (The Old
Cockney) and Bridget Terry (The Blonde).
Director : Gerard Glaister Script : Donald Bull Cast
: Esmond
Knight (Donner), Paul Dawkins (Mather), Clive Blackwell (Derek),
Martin Kendle (Willy), Eve Pearce (Molly Stoker), Denis Cleary
(Dan), Peter Hager (Captain Van Der Donk) and Fred Ferris
(The Waterguard).
Director : Peter Sasdy Script : Anthony Coburn Cast
: Leslie
Sands (Captain Abel Gasser), Reg Lye (Nat), Edwin Brown (Bristow),
Kenneth Watson (Plater), John Graham (Gelder), Donald Pickering
(Skinner), Jane Walker (The Secretary), Barry Wilsher (Jock
Craig) and Michael Earl (The Van Driver).
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Donald Bull Cast : Kenneth J Warren (Rowlands), Jane Walker (The Secretary), John Graham (Gelder), Elisabeth Murray (Angela Brigham), Mary Chirgwin (Barmaid), John Tate (Butters), Mona Bruce (Alice King), Donald Pelmear (Prosser), Patrick Scanlan (Red Elliot), Theo Agar (Charlie), Michael Bird (Wentworth), Jimmy Gardner (Baldy) and Stan Jay (The Duty Officer). Publicity : King Of The River: In tonight's story "Down River To Glory", Joss' sailing barge Maggie May is threatened. His employers wish to sell it because motor-powered barges are more efficient. His relations muster to help him buy it, but even their combined resources are not enough. Then Joss meets his employer's grand-daughter, and she is struck by the devotion of Joss to his craft and his way of life. She offers to lend him the rest of the money he needs, but by this time a new danger is threatening the Maggie May…(Radio Times, August 11, 1966).
Director : Eric Price Script : Elaine Morgan Cast
: Paul
Williamson (Cedric), Wally Patch (Charlie), Artro Morris (Sam),
Fred Hugh (Joe), Sean Arnold (Tim) and Veronica Purcell (Annie).
Director : Eric Hills Script : Alistair Bell Cast
: Erik
Chitty (Captain Dan Farley), Donald Morley (Councillor Riches),
Diana King (Sarah Shelley), Malcolm Patten (Joe Giles), Walter
Horsbrugh (Ralph Quenell), Paul Bacon (Julian Pratt), Julian
Somers (Councillor Bigelow), Malcolm Watson (Councillor Todman),
Wally Patch (Charlie), Donald McKillop (MacArthur), Tom Bowman
(Sam Giles), Simon Taylor (The Reporter), Van Boolen (Barton),
Katherine Parr (Harriet) and Anthony Sheppard (The Chauffeur).
Director : Peter Sasdy Script : Donald Bull Cast
: Derek
Francis (Malory), Reg Lye (Nat), Ivor Salter (Alf), Mona Bruce
(Alice King), Paul Williamson (Cedric), Sydney Arnold (Charlie),
Hal Jeayes and Billy Cornelius (The Reporters), John Boyd-Brent
(Les), Declan Mulholland (Sam), Geoffrey Denton (Beaumont),
Anthony Dawes (The Secretary), Richard Davies (The Steward),
Christopher Banks (Lancing) and Gerald Rowland (Willie).
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Fred Watson Cast : Eddie Byrne (Sam Pelham), Tony Selby (Jag), Roland Curram (Western), Julian Holloway (Mick), Harry Towb (The Irishman), David Daker (Jack Flynn), Christopher Stephens (The Young Man), Joe Quigley, Henry Manning and Ron Welling (The Dockers). Publicity : King Of The River - Tonight At 8:00pm: Susanna meets two boys on their way to start a contract for roofing warehouses at Salthaven where the harbour is being redeveloped. The roofers hope that a third man Jack Flynn (David Daker) will leave his job as a docker and join them on this profitable contract. But they are disappointed in this - as is Joss by the way the work in the harbour is preventing him from loading his barge. (Radio Times, September 8, 1966).
Director : Eric Hills Script : Cyril Abraham Cast : Patrick McAlinney (Dominic), Bill Kenwright (Sammy), Dyson Lovell (Lofty), Richard Shaw (The Bosun), Robert Dean (Mr Poole), Edwin Brown (Mr Maybrick), Peter Thomas (The Tally Clerk), Ralph Nossek (The Pilot), Patrick Milner (The Quartermaster), Howard Lang (Captain Friar) and Denis Cleary (The R/T Operator). Publicity : The King's Daughter - Geraldine Sherman, One Of The "King Of The River" Regulars, Talks To Russell Twisk: Dark-haired and black-eyed Susanna King is the apple of her father's eye. At eighteen she has left school with three A-levels and no ambition. For the time being she is using her wild, laughing talents as a barmaid at the local pub. But while Susanna wonders about her future, Geraldine Sherman - the girl who plays the part in the series - has no doubts about where she's going. "I'm a career actress," she says intensely, "acting comes first with me. When I marry, my husband will have to understand that I'll be totally involved with my career. I'd expect him to be really involved with his work, too". At twenty-two she has had a varied and interesting career outside acting. She spent two years in Canada working in an advertising agency, writing plays, appearing on television, and teaching. Though she stipulated in all her jobs that if an acting opportunity came up she would leave immediately. Finally it happened. A wire from her agent in London arrived in Montreal offering her a part in Up The Junction. She accepted immediately. "I wanted to leave anyway," she says. "It was the part of Rube, the girl who has the abortion and causes all the trouble". She recalls rather touchingly the moment she decided to become an actress. At the age of six she was taken to see a big American musical in London. She had a broken collar bone at the time, and her arm was tucked in a sling so that one arm of the coat was flopping by the side. Her parents took her round to the stage door where there were crowds waiting for the star's autograph. "Suddenly she spotted me and asked the crowd to make way `For the little girl with one arm'. Everyone ooed and ahhed and I thought how wonderful to be an actress". In between the cynicism and toughness which is the currency of the acting profession Geraldine Sherman still retains some of that childlike innocence. (Radio Times, September 22, 1966 - Article by Russell Twisk).
Director : Philip Dudley Script : Donald Bull Cast : Joseph Brady (Andrew), James Ellis (The Visitor), Wally Patch (Charlie), Artro Morris (Fred), Joe Gladwin (Ted), Edward Higgins (Joe), Mona Bruce (Alice King) and Laurie Webb (Sam). Publicity
: Queen Of The Anchor - Sandra Dorne Appears With Joseph
Brady And James Ellis In Tonight's Dramatic Story: Tonight's
story - intriguingly titled "The Great Albert Mystery"
- gives Sandra Dorne by far the biggest and most strenuous
part she has played so far in King Of The River. During rehearsals
she had a temperature of one-hundred-and-two, but in the best
theatrical tradition she soldiered on after a brief rest from
rehearsals. With her temperature back to normal she turned
in the barn-storming performance you can see tonight when
a series of almost catastrophic difficulties beset the warm-hearted
Nel at "the Anchor". When I saw her at her flat
in North London she was enjoying the relative relaxation of
a light week with few lines to learn. "I thought cabaret
was the toughest thing I'd done until I began King Of The
River. Only Sunday is totally free, and we usually go down
to the country. Sometimes we drive down and have lunch with
Diana Dors. Or we play tennis or just take the dog for a walk".
Born in the Bronte country in Yorkshire Sandra Dorne's career
began when she was about three. "I got up on a stage
and did a Charleston. At school I wanted the lead in plays
- or I wasn't going to be in them". She went into repertory
and then became one of the famous Rank starlets. She has had
many film roles, but she remembers with particular pleasure
appearing in The Iron Petticoat with Hope and Hepburn and
Sir Laurence Olivier in The Beggar's Opera. (Radio Times,
September 29, 1966 - Article by Bernard Adams).
Director : Unknown Script : Unknown Cast
: Unknown.
Director : Paul Ciappessoni Script : Donald Bull Cast
: David
Bauer (Jason), John Slater (Jack Elliot), Paul Whitsun-Jones
(Mr Jones), Mona Bruce (Alice King), Paul Thompson (Ronnie
Binns), Frazer Hines (Bob Elliott), John Slater (Jack Elliott),
Douglas Blackwell (Red Elliott), Walter Sparrow (Binns), John
Halstead (The Waiter), Christopher Hodge (Sid), George A Cooper
(The Reverend Ackroyd) and Peter Braham (The Truck Driver).
Director : Peter Cregreen Script : Colin Morris Cast
: Jack
Smethurst (Peter), John Gill (Mr Bell), Frazer Hines (Bob
Elliot), Terry Bale (Joe Atkinson), Jean Marlow (Betty), Wally
Patch (Charlie), John Graham (Gelder), Elaine Paige (Nancy),
George A Cooper (The Reverend Ackroyd), John Warden (Sam),
Derek Smee (The Doctor) and Laurie Webb (The Engineer).
Director : Terence Williams Script : Fred Watson Cast : Iris Russell (Elspeth Conway), Bernadette Milnes (Sandra), Meredith Edwards (Dick Conway), Georgina Patterson (Joanne Conway), Arnold Bell (Doctor Wirrel), Wally Patch (Charlie), Frederic Lees (Terry), Robert McBain (Peak), Royston Tickner (Crown) and Malcolm Kaye (The First Mod). Notes : This episode was postponed from its original transmission date of October 12th, 1966. Teacher's Honeymoon was transmitted in place of this episode, which was delayed for four months before mid-afternoon transmission. This unofficial final episode was transmitted on BBC-1 from 2:55pm to 3:45pm. |
The series was devised, created and produced by Colin Morris. Text © Matthew Lee, 2004. |
