- This article is about the TV show. See also:
- catchphrase Swallows and Amazons for ever!
- book Swallows and Amazons for Ever!
A rather baffling title for the BBC's adaptation of Coot Club and The Big Six
Swallows and Amazons Forever! is an adaptation of Arthur Ransome's books Coot Club and The Big Six made for television by the BBC in 1983 in association with Prime Time Television & Theatre Projects. It was dramatised by Michael Robson, set on the Norfolk Broads in the early 1930s.
There were eight episodes of about 30 minutes each, four each for Coot Club and The Big Six.
Critique[]
Overall a lavish and enjoyable watching. The title is baffling, since the Swallows and the Amazons do not appear. For some odd reason, the Ds travel with Mrs Barrable by horse-drawn cart from Wroxham to the Teasel, instead of by motor boat.
Cast[]
(* = name devised by the screenwriter, not Arthur Ransome)
- Mrs Barrable - Rosemary Leach
- Mr Tedder the policeman - John Woodvine
- Dr Dudgeon - Colin Baker
- Frank Farland - Andrew Burt
- The Eel Man - Patrick Troughton
- Hullabaloos
- Jerry* - Julian Fellowes
- Livy - Sarah Crowden
- Ronald - John Harding
- Maude* - Angela Curran
- James - David Timson
- Dorothea Callum - Caroline Downer
- Dick Callum - Richard Walton
- Death and Glories:
- Joe - Nicholas Walpole
- Pete - Jake Coppard
- Bill - Mark Page
- Tom Dudgeon - Henry Dimbleby (son of David Dimbleby)
- Bess Farland - Claire Matthews
- Nell Farland - Sarah Matthews
- George Owdon - Simon Hawes
- Ralph Strakey - Shaun Turner
- Ella Dudgeon - Sarah Atkinson
- Wroxham Stationmaster Frost* - Michael Burrell
- Mrs McGinty - Anne Kristen
- Jim Wooddall - Jack Watson
- Simon Fastgate - John Branwell
- The Owner of the Cachalot - Sam Kelly
The book[]
Red Fox edition
The TV series prompted Arthur Ransome's publishers to issue a book with almost the same title: Swallows and Amazons for Ever!.