Fireman Sam

Fireman Sam is a British CGI and Stop Motion-animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd and Tonypandy). The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from London, England, who took their idea to artist and writer Rob Lee who developed the concept, and the show was commissioned.

Fireman Sam first appeared as Sam Tân (Fireman Sam in Welsh) on S4C on 1 November 1987, and a few weeks later on BBC One on 17 November. The original series finished in 1994, and a new series that expanded the character cast commenced in 2005. The series was also shown as Sam Smalaidh in Scottish Gaelic in Scotland. The series was sold to over 40 countries and has been used across the United Kingdom to promote fire safety.

The theme song was performed by a different singer in a 2000s alternative rock style since the 2005 new episode broadcasts.

Development
The original idea came about from two ex-firemen from London, England – Dave Gingell and David Jones after purchasing the stop motion animation drawn by artist Anthony Miller. They approached Mike Young, creator of SuperTed, in Barry, Wales, and asked them to further develop their concept. The idea was then brought to S4C's Director of Animation, Chris Grace, who had previously commissioned SuperTed, saw potential in the idea and commissioned the series. The characters and the storylines were created by Rob Lee, an illustrator from Cardiff, and the programme was made using stop motion. It could take up to four days to produce one minute of this form of puppet animation. Fireman Sam has to this day been translated into over 25 different languages including Mandarin.

The later series used several actors' voices.

2003 series
In 2003, a new Fireman Sam series was produced by Siriol Animation for HIT Entertainment, comprising twenty-six episodes, each ten minutes in length. These episodes used more modern techniques of stop motion claymation including mouths that move with the dialogue. This series featured all the original characters, but also introduced some new faces, such as Tom Thomas, the Australian pilot of the rescue helicopter Wallaby One and the Mountain Rescue 4×4 Jeep, an unnamed photographer/news reporter, and the Flood family; consisting of Mike the Plumber, his wife Helen the Nurse, and their daughter Mandy. Though still loosely based on a Bedford TK, the updated Jupiter has six wheels, with a slightly revised livery and appearance.[citation needed] Venus also received an update, with its design sporting a more generic modern appearance, though not based on any real-life model in particular. The main characters in this series were voiced by John Sparkes, Joanna Ruiz and Sarah Hadland. The series premiered on CBeebies in 2003 and repeats were shown until 2007.

CGI series (2008–)
The series was revamped in 2008 which saw the show convert to CGI. Pontypandy is now a seaside fishing village instead of a village set deep in the hills, though the main locations remained in the same places. Another change in this series is that the twins' parents appear for the first time; their new-age mother Bronwyn, and fisherman father Charlie, Sam's brother, who runs a café/fish-and-chip shop called the 'Whole Fish Café'. The series was produced by Xing-Xing from 2008 to 2016 and DHX Media (Later WildBrain)/Island of Misfits for HIT Entertainment (Later Mattel Creations, then Mattel Television) from 2017–present.

Jupiter was updated again, now with a front end taken from a Volvo FL6. A yellow stripe was added to the front of the fire engine. Minor changes were made to Venus which included a water nozzle added to the top of its roof. Trevor's bus was updated to a more modern look with angled headlights. New vehicles introduced included Mike Flood's Van in the sixth season, as well as Mercury (fire quad bike), Saturn (infrared drone), The Pontypandy Flyer (Steam Locomotive), and Bessie (Steele's first fire engine) which were introduced from the eighth season onwards.

The outfits were updated throughout the series (except for Norman Price). This included an update to the firefighter's outfits which added reflective stripes and extra badges to their tunics. Dilys Price received a large makeover which saw her getting makeup, glasses, black hair, a necklace and an updated outfit. The rest of the characters also received minor updates to their clothing.

Thus, many characters also had aspects of their personalities made more apparent. Norman Price is far more mischievous and inconsiderate than in the 2005 series where his pranks were often planned out and his accidents were due to badly planned ideas instead of outrageous schemes. For example, in the episode "Pontypandy Extreme", Norman gets trapped down a wishing well after attempting to climb down in order to retrieve the coins from the bottom. Other examples are Station Officer Steele's strictness and maturity and Elvis's decrease in general competence. For example, in one episode where a first aid training exercise is taking place, Elvis is told off by Steele for dancing with the dummy that is being used. At the same time, Steele is not afraid to unleash the child within him, showing an interest in kite flying and paper planes. He also occasionally causes emergencies himself and often gasps when an emergency comes in. Also, Station Officer Steele's name has changed to Station Officer Norris Steele.

Other changes include the removal of Bella, although her café can still be seen opposite Dilys' shop, now a 7-Eleven-esque convenience store called the "Cut-Price-Supermarket". However, Bella made her first appearance in CGI in the tenth season, where the reason behind her absence was revealed as her moving to Newtown. Penny also now has another string to her bow, as she is a trained ocean rescuer and the helmsman of Neptune (the village's lifeboat). Also, Rosa and Dusty have been replaced by Lion, Nipper, and Radar.

Since 2012, additional characters were introduced: Chief Fire Officer Boyce, one animal called Norris the Guinea Pig, five new villagers named Derek Price (originally introduced in season 6 as a minor character but then recurring since The Great Fire of Pontypandy), Moose Roberts, Gareth Griffiths, Lily, and Mrs Chen.

In 2014, other characters were introduced: a coastguard named Ben Hooper, a mechanic & inventor named Joe Sparkes with his vet wife Lizzie Sparkes, and their daughter Hannah Sparkes. Also, new vehicles were introduced: a jet ski named Juno and a fire boat named Titan.

The characters in this series are voiced by Steven Kynman, Tegwen Tucker, David Carling and Su Douglas. In 2012, John Hasler, Ifan Huw Dafydd and Nigel Whitmey joined the cast, Alex Lowe and Jo Wyatt joined the cast in 2014 and Harriet Kershaw joined the cast in 2015.

CBeebies last aired the final episode of the previous series Fireman Sam on 28 December 2007, before Cartoonito started airing this series from 11 February 2008 and Channel 5 started airing this Series, Starting with Series 8 in 2011.

In 2020, the twelfth series aired and Colin McFarlane joined the cast as the voice of the franchise's first police officer, PC Malcolm Williams. It is revealed in the episode "Red Hot Chili Bites" that he is the younger brother of established character Helen Flood.