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Fireman Sam (Welsh: Sam Tân) first broadcast on 17 November 1987 on the Welsh TV channel S4C. The series is set in the fictional Welsh town of Pontypandy, which was retconned from being a rural village in the south Wales valleys to being a larger seaside fishing town in the 2008 remake series. Other locations mentioned include Cardiff and Newtown.

Originally featuring a small cast of characters, with the later series the cast was expanded to a large range of supporting characters of diverse backgrounds and occupations. The show focuses on the work of the Pontypandy fire service as well as the day-to-day lives of town residents. Every episode includes an emergency of some kind in which the characters say "call Fireman Sam", with a moral lesson being learned at its conclusion.

The series features an ensemble cast of regular and recurring characters, and began with nine human characters in its first series. All the characters in the original series were voiced by John Alderton, roughly divided between children and adults. The original four firefighters; Fireman Sam, Elvis, Station Officer Steele and Trevor were introduced alongside three child characters, Sam's niece and nephew Sarah and James and naughty Norman Price. They were joined by Norman's single-mother shopkeeper Dilys Price and Italian Pizzeria proprietor Bella Lasagne. The only other character introduced in the original run was the female firefighter Penny Morris who first appeared in Series 3.

In 2005, the revived series included all the old characters as well as new characters designed with the modern techniques of stop motion claymation. The Flood family was introduced consisting of Mike the Plumber, his wife Helen the Nurse, and their daughter Mandy. They were joined by Tom Thomas an Australian helicopter pilot. The main characters in this series were all voiced by John Sparkes, Joanna Ruiz and Sarah Hadland.

In 2008, the new CGI series saw the introduction of three new relatives of established characters; Sam's brother Charlie and his wife Bronwyn along with Norman's cousin Derek Price. The voice cast was also replaced, with the new voice actors for the series being Steven Kynman, Tegwen Tucker, David Carling and Su Douglas. With each new series since, more characters have been introduced including Bronwyn's train driver father Gareth Griffiths, Canadian adventurer Moose Roberts and the Chen and Sparkes families.

The animal characters have also played an important role in the series including dogs Dusty, Radar and Nipper, cats Rosa and Lion and sheep Woolly and Lambykins.

As well as the television series, the characters of Fireman Sam have appeared in a number of straight to video and DVD films, books, video games, musical theatre and in 2009 featured on Peter Kay's Children in Need single The Official BBC Children in Need Medley.

Pontypandy Fire Service

Fireman Sam

Fireman Sam
Fireman Sam character
First appearance	The Kite (Series 1 Episode 1; 1987)
Created by	Rob Lee
Designed by	Rob Lee
Voiced by	John Alderton (1987–1994) John Sparkes (2003–2005) Steven Kynman (2008–present)
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Firefighter
Relatives	Charlie Jones (brother) Bronwyn Jones (sister-in-law) Sarah and James (niece and nephew)

Fireman Samuel "Sam" Jones is the title character of the series. He is a senior firefighter for the Pontypandy Fire Service. He is a competent and brave firefighter, who helps keep the people of Pontypandy safe. He considers his job to be 'the best job in the world' and often helps out in emergencies even on his days off. However, he does have an inventive streak which sometimes gets him in trouble when one of his inventions goes haywire: since the sixth series, he has stopped inventing, though he can be creative from time to time, such as fashioning a barbecue out of an oil drum in the episode Sausages vs. Shrimps.

Sam has been a mascot for British fire services used to promote fire safety to children. In the original series, he lives alone in Pontypandy and has a niece and nephew Sarah and James. Sam drives a large fire engine called Jupiter, based on a Bedford TK, receiving elements of a Bedford 6x4 in Series 5 and elements from the Volvo FL6 in Series 6 and entirely a Rosenbauer Panther in Series 15. He also has an all-terrain vehicle called Mercury. Additionally, there is an Animal Rescue Crane called Phoenix, but it has been driven by multiple characters.

Elvis Cridlington

Firefighter Elvis Cridlington is a first class firefighter in Pontypandy and the station mess manager. He is Sam's sidekick and learns skills from Sam, often used for comic relief. As the fire station's cook, he enjoys cooking and playing guitar. His name and character design particularly his pompadour hairstyle was based on Elvis Presley.

In the CGI series the character was criticised for being more childish than the original Elvis had been.

Station Officer Steele

Station Officer (Fire Captain in the US dub of the CGI series) Basil Steele (Norris Steele in the CGI series) is the officer in charge of Pontypandy Fire Station. He has a rail fire engine called Bessie and a mobile command unit.

The character of Steele has been compared to Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army.

Penny Morris

Firefighter Penny Morris is a firefighter in Pontypandy who was the only female firefighter (firewoman) from 1990 to 2015. Originally from Newtown, Penny moved to Pontypandy in Season 3. She is a trained lifeguard and certified scuba diver. She drives a rescue tender called Venus, as currently based on a Range Rover Carmichael Commando, but received elements of the greatly modified Mini Cooper from the fifth season being a water carrier. She also has a rescue boat called Neptune beginning from the sixth season until Ben Hooper operates it in the ninth season.

Her cousin farmer Annie Morris was introduced to the series in 2023.

Ellie Phillips

Firefighter Ellie Phillips is a firefighter in Pontypandy. She is the second female firefighter after Penny.

Ellie is the main leader of the Pontypandy Junior Fire Cadets and is a keen athlete and will stop at nothing to accomplish a task.

She was first introduced alongside Arnold McKinley in the feature-length special Heroes of the Storm.

Arnold McKinley

Firefighter Arnold McKinley is a firefighter in Pontypandy.

He is an expert in technology and is often found in the office working on the computer.

He was first introduced alongside Ellie Phillips in the feature-length special Heroes of the Storm.

Horatio Boyce

Chief Fire Officer Boyce is the chief fire officer of the Pontypandy Fire Service from Newtown.

He first appears in the 2009 film Fireman Sam: The Great Fire of Pontypandy.

Pontypandy Police Force

Malcolm Williams

Police Constable Malcolm Williams is a Police Officer in Pontypandy. He transferred from The Big City hoping for some peace and quiet, but all is not as it seems.

He is the younger brother of Helen Flood.

Rose Ravani

Sergeant Rose Ravani is the Senior Officer at Pontypandy Police Station, and puts all of her confidence in PC Malcolm to keep Pontypandy the safe and happy place it always has been. She is introduced in the 2020 TV movie Fireman Sam: Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky.

She is voiced by former Coronation Street actress Sasha Behar, known for her role as Maya Sharma.

Adults

Trevor Evans

Trevor Evans is the bus driver of Pontypandy. He drives a 1985 Ford Transit Dormobile and is also an auxiliary firefighter in the original series.

He is a romantic interest for Dilys Price.

Dilys Price

Dilys Price is an original character from the series. She is the shopkeeper of the Cut-Price store. She is the strict mother to a son, Norman, whom she regularly disciplines.

A single mother, Dilys is a romantic interest of Trevor Evans. She is described as a gossiping greengrocer. Dilys frequently misuses words.

Her original appearance was similar to that of Coronation Street character Hilda Ogden. She drives her own car introduced in Alien Alert.

Bella Lasagne

Bella Lasagne is an original character from the series. She is an Italian citizen living in Wales and runs Bella's Café, a pizzeria in Pontypandy. She lives opposite the Price Family and has a pet cat named Rosa. She also has a pet goldfish named Pavarotti. Bella's "gentle and loveable" character was contrasted with the matriarchal approach of Dilys.

Bella appeared from Series 1 to 5 but was absent from the sixth to ninth series but returned in Series 10. She speaks with a heavy Italian accent.

Mike Flood

Mike Flood is the handyman of Pontypandy. He has a green van used for carrying tools for repair work. He was introduced in Series 5 alongside his wife Helen Flood and daughter Mandy Flood. Mike is unlucky and regularly causes accidents.

In Series 5, Mike spoke with a West Country English accent, but in the CGI reboot he speaks with a northern accent. In Series 9, he states that he hails from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire yet in the US dub he has a Brooklyn accent.

Helen Flood

Helen Flood née Williams is the nurse of Pontypandy. She was introduced in Series 5 alongside her husband Mike Flood and daughter Mandy Flood.

She has her own ambulance car and an ambulance van for the Mountain Rescue service. She is implied to be of Jamaican descent.

In Series 12, her brother PC. Malcolm Williams was introduced.

Tom Thomas

Tom Thomas is an Australian helicopter pilot introduced in Series 5.

He owns his Mountain Rescue Center. Has two helicopters called Wallaby 1 and Wallaby 2 and drives a yellow Jeep.

Ben Hooper

Ben Hooper is the coastguard in Pontypandy. He has driven a fireboat called Titan and a jet ski called Juno.

Joe Sparkes

Joe Sparkes is the town's mechanic. His daughter is named Hannah and his wife is named Lizzie.

Lizzie Sparkes

Lizzie Sparkes is the town's veterinary surgeon. She is also a member of the town's Volunteer Rescue Squad. Her husband is Joe and her daughter is Hannah.

Mrs. Chen

Mrs. Chen is the town's bossy schoolteacher. She has a young daughter called Lily.

Moose Roberts

Moose Roberts is a famous mountain climber from Canada. He owns and runs the Mountain Activity Centre.

Gareth Griffiths

Gareth Griffiths is the father of Bronwyn, maternal grandfather of Sarah and James and father-in-law of Charlie. He runs the Pontypandy Flyer steam train, which runs on a short, steep heritage railway line up to the base of Pontypandy Mountain. He appears to have been an avid yachtsman in his youth having been Captain of the Pontypandy rowing team.

Charlie Jones

Charlie Jones is a fisherman. He is the father of Sarah and James and younger brother of Fireman Sam. He and his wife Bronwyn had been previously unseen until the CGI Series 6.

He operates a green fishing boat.

Bronwyn Jones

Bronwyn Jones née Griffiths is the new age mother of Sarah and James. She is married to Charlie Jones and is Fireman Sam's sister in-law.

With the departure of Bella Lasagne, Bronwyn runs the new Wholefish cafe. Although she was raised in the city, she feels much more at home in Pontypandy.

In Series 8, her father Gareth Griffiths is introduced.

Krystyna Kaminski

Krystyna Kaminski is a rescue pilot introduced in Series 14. She has a half-brother named Peter. She is the first Polish character in the series. Krystyna is voiced by Krystyna O'Brien.

Annie Morris

Annie Morris is a farmer who is the cousin of Penny Morris. She was introduced in Series 15 and is voiced by Helen Skelton.

Children

Norman Price

Norman Stanley Price is the son of shopkeeper Dilys Price. He is a mischievous redhead turned scapegoat who loves playing practical jokes and skateboarding. He frequently causes accidents.

From Series 6, Norman became more troublesome. He has shown interest in becoming a firefighter himself one day, but he also has said he was going to be a shepherd when he grows up as stated in the episode Sheepdog Trials. He has also shown to be interested in science, as seen in the episode Chemistry Set.

He is based on Dennis the Menace from The Beano.

Sarah and James

Sarah and James Jones are two original characters from the original series. Sarah and James are twin siblings. Sarah is the older twin and James is the younger twin. In the first five series, the two of them respected each other very much and were very well-behaved, but as of the sixth series, they have a sibling rivalry with each other and are not as well-behaved as they used to be.

Originally, Sarah and James were very similar to each other, but later series developed them to have their own personalities. Sarah developed into being very outgoing, way tougher and braver than James and being a bit of a tomboy. While James developed into being sensitive and cautious, as he is often scared of many things and lacks confidence. Both Sarah and James changed appearance throughout the original series, the fifth series and the CGI series, mostly with the clothing. The two are always portrayed with short blonde hair.

Their parents Charlie and Bronwyn Jones are introduced in Series 6, and their maternal grandfather Gareth Griffiths was introduced in Series 8.

Mandy Flood

Mandy Flood is a young girl who is friends with Norman Price. She lives with her parents Helen and Mike Flood. Mandy is mixed race.

Derek Price

Derek Price is Norman's cousin. He is first introduced in the Series 6 episode Double Trouble, where he is revealed to be a goody-two-shoes, the opposite to his cousin Norman.

Derek appears in the 2009 film Fireman Sam: The Great Fire of Pontypandy. He is known as Derek Abney in the Spanish dub.

Hannah Sparkes

Hannah Sparkes is an 11-year-old girl in a wheelchair introduced in series 9. She is the daughter of Joe and Lizzie Sparkes. She is also the third child in Pontypandy to have blond hair.

Lily Chen

Lily Chen is the toddler daughter of Mrs. Chen and the youngest character on the show. She has a plush toy called Sharky.

Peter Kaminski

Peter Kaminski is an 11-year-old boy introduced in Series 14. He speaks with a London accent and has a Polish half-sister named Krystyna.

He is voiced by Arthur Smith Galiano who is the child actor to voice a main character in the series.

Animals

Rosa Lasagne

Rosa Lasagne is Bella Lasagne's cat. Rosa is the only non-human character to appear in the first four series.

Lion Jones

Lion Jones is the Jones' cat.

Dusty Jones

Dusty Jones is a stray dog, but later in the end of Bathtime for Dusty, he became a fire mascot.

Radar Jones

Radar Jones is Sam's Dalmatian and is part of the fire service.

Nipper Griffiths

Nipper Griffiths is an energetic dog who belongs to Bronwyn's sister that the former looks after.

Woolly

Woolly is a sheep. She was introduced as a male lamb in Series 5 before reappeaing as a adult female ewe in Series 6. She is Lambykins' mother.

Lambykins

Lambykins is a sheep. She was named by Sarah in "Baa Baa Baby".

Norris

Norris is a Guinea Pig owned by Sarah and James. He is named Norris after Station Officer Steele because they both have similar moustaches.

Visitors

Buck Douglas

Buck Douglas is a television presenter and an "alien hunter". He was introduced as the main antagonist in Alien Alert.

Flex Dexter

Flex Dexter is an actor from Hollywood, as the main antagonist in Set For Action!.

Professor Piccalilli

Professor Piccalilli is an archaeologist from the museum in the Big City. He is the main rival for Norman Price in the search for pirate treasure.

References

1. ^ "Fireman Sam at 30: Prince George's favourite cartoon celebrates". BBC News. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
2. Salmon, Natasha (4 May 2016). "Call Fireman Sam! 17 bizarre rescues when firefighters saved the day". Surrey Live. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
3. Hudson, Polly (3 November 2020). "Children in Need's most-loved moments as iconic BBC telethon turns 40". The Mirror. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
4. "Fireman Sam celebrates 25th birthday in Pontypandy". 3 March 2012.
5. "Fireman Sam dropped as fire service's mascot over 'inclusivity' fears". LBC. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
6. "Elvis Cridlington | Find out about Fireman Sam | Cartoonito". Cartoonito UK. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
7. ^ Burnett, Dean (7 February 2014). "Fireman Sam: the worst children's programme ever?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
8. "Station Officer Steele | Firemansam". www.firemansam.com. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
9. "You're fired! 'Outdated' Fireman Sam dropped for not being inclusive". Sky News. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
10. "Fireman Sam: 'No stereotype problem' in show, says creator". BBC News. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
11. "Penny Morris | Find out about Fireman Sam | Cartoonito". Cartoonito UK. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
12. Shaw, Neil (18 October 2023). "Helen Skelton lands new role in iconic Welsh TV series". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
13. "Ellie Phillips | Find out about Fireman Sam | Cartoonito". Cartoonito UK. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
14. "Arnold Mckinley | Find out about Fireman Sam | Cartoonito". Cartoonito UK. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
15. "Legendary Children's TV show FIREMAN SAM Introduces First Ever Police Character PC Malcom Williams Voiced By Colin McFarlane". www.thefancarpet.com. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
16. "Fireman Sam: Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky cast and actor biographies". Tribute. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
17. Ryder, James (28 October 2020). "Fireman Sam introduces Police characters". ATV Today.
18. ^ "Fireman Sam at 30: Prince George's favourite cartoon celebrates". BBC News. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
19. Harries, Robert (27 March 2022). "The 12 iconic Welsh 'mams' from TV and film that bring a smile to our face". WalesOnline. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
20. "BBC - Wales - Arts - Children - Fireman Sam". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
21. ^ "Brand new Fireman Sam series on Cartoonito!". Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
22. ^ Tansley, Janet (16 November 2022). "Sam's back with some new faces". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
23. "Helen Skelton announces new acting role that'll see her on iconic kids TV show". News and Star. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
24. Macpherson, Jon (19 October 2023). "Helen Skelton to voice new Fireman Sam TV character as series 15 launches". Lancs Live. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
25. Bish, Derek (22 May 2022). "Review: Fireman Sam at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre". Express and Star. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
26. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (27 October 2015). "How we made Fireman Sam". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
27. "Fireman Sam: The Great Fire of Pontypandy". The Northern Echo. United Kingdom. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
28. "Arthur Smith Galiano - Child Voiceover Artist". Little Soho Voices. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

• Fireman Sam
• Fictional firefighters
• Fictional Welsh people
• Lists of characters in British television animation