Ivor the Engine

IVOR THE ENGINE
Made by: Smallfilms
Shown on: ITV, then BBC
Years shown: 1959-63 and then 1976-7 (and repeats)

Wales. A giant of a nation. Where else could give us Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyler, Shakin’ Stevens, and Shirley Bassey, plus leeks, endless jokes about sheep and inbreeding, and long, unpronounceable place names? And where else could Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin choose to set this likeable, if low-key, yarn about a country railway? Somewhere “in the top left-hand corner of Wales” was the Merioneth and Llantisily Rail Traction Co. Ltd, the owners of Ivor the Engine, a lumbering vintage green train which served the people at Llaniog Station. Ivor the Engine was full of folk who seemed only to have one name, and who were consequently distinguished by their professions: Jones the Steam, (Ivor’s faithful driver), Dai the Station master, Owen the Signal, and Williams the Head Office (was he the entire Head Office?). Just when you thought the Welsh stereotypes couldn’t get any more extreme, they branched out into the village, where you could find Evans the Song, the choirmaster of the Grumbly and District Choral Society; Hughes the Gasworks, and Mrs Griffiths, the chair of the Antiquarian Society. There was also a donkey called Bluebell in there somewhere…but no sheep. But what made Ivor magical and raised him from the sprawling masses of working engines was the source of his steam-power. He was powered by the fire-breathing of the local Welsh dragon, Idris, who was stowed in the furnace, and who was a lot cheaper than hiring a couple of men to stoke the thing every five minutes. With Ivor the Engine, Smallfilms paved the way for other animators, who also created gentle adventures out of village life,
such as Pigeon Street, Postman Pat and, later on, another Welsh Wonder, Fireman Sam.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 3/10

(Thanks to www.smallfilms.co.uk for the borrowed pic)