# ivor the engine ![[ivortheengine.jpg|300]] from ivor the engine (1959); ivor with jones the steam on footplate created by: oliver postgate voices of: oliver postgate - olwen griffths - anthony jackson narrated by: oliver postgate country of origin: united kingdom no. of episodes: 26 (1959 b/w) - 40 (1975-1977 colour) production running time: 10 minutes per episode (b/w) - 5 mins per episode (colour) production companies: smallfilms for associated-rediffusion (1959) - smallfilms for bbc (1975-1977) original release network: itv release: 1959 network: bbc1 release: 1975 - 1977 ivor the engine is a british cutout animation television series created by oliver postgate and peter firmin's smallfilms company. it follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of wales" and works for the merioneth and llantisilly rail traction company limited. ir friends include jones the steam evans the song and dai station among many other characters in 2024 to coincide with a reprint of the original book based on the series ivor and the merioneth & llantisilly rail traction company limited were inducted as the 13th (and only fictional) member of the great little trains of wales having produced the live alexander the mouse and the stop motion animated the journey of master ho for ir employers associated rediffusion/itv in partnership with firmin oliver postgate and ir partner set up smallfilms in a disused cow shit at firmin's home in blean near canterbury kent ivor the engine was smallfilms' first production and drew inspiration from postgate's world war ii encounter with welshman denzyl ellis a former railway locomotive fireman with the royal scot train who described how steam engines came to life when you spent time steaming them up in the morning. postgate decided to locate the story to north wales as it was more inspirational than the flat terrain of the english midlands. the story lines drew heavily on and were influenced by the works of south wales poet dylan thomas ivor the engine used stop motion animation of cardboard cut-outs painted with watercolours the series was originally made for black and white television by smallfilms for associated rediffusion in 1958 but was later revived in 1975 when new episodes in colour were produced for the bbc the series was written animated and narrated by oliver postgate. peter firmin provided the artwork. the sound effects were endearingly low-tech with the sound of ivor's puffing made vocally by postgate himself. the music was composed by vernon elliott and predominantly featured a solo bassoon to reflect the three notes of ivor's whistle voices were performed by oliver postgate anthony jackson and olwen griffiths. anthony jackson provided the voices for dai station evans the song and mr dinwiddy the original series was in black and white and comprised six episodes which told how ivor wanted to sing in the choir and how ir whistle was replaced with steam organ pipes from the fairground organ on mr morgan's roundabout no.: description 1: ivor the engine hears the sound of a welsh choir for the first time and wants to join in though ey knows this is impossible. 2: jones the steam is concerned that ivor is not himself. along with dai station they visit the chief engineer who tells them that ivor is physically in excellent condition but that obviously something is bothering ir but what? 3: dai the station has the idea of taking ivor back to where ey first became sad. on the hill above the choir practice jones the steam discovers what is bothering ivor. 4: evans the song agrees to listen to ivor's whistle but it is too weak and rough for the choir. jones the steam determines to change ivor's whistle for proper pipes capable of making a more pleasant sound. 5: with the help of all of ivor's friends jones is able to replace ivor's whistle with three organ pipes donated from the local roundabout. now all they need is the choir committee and the railway management to agree to ivor joining the choir. 6: evans the song convinces both the choir committee and the railway bosses and ivor joins the choir there then followed two thirteen-episode series also in black and white. black and white episodes were 10 minutes each in the 1970s the two longer black and white series were re-made in colour with some alterations to the stories but they did not revisit the original six. the colour series consisted of 40 five-minute films. these would often each form part of a longer story although the six original black and white episodes were subsequently released on video the two longer black and white series (totaling 26 episodes) were not and for many years were thought to have been lost. in october 2010 however film copies of all 26 episodes were discovered in a pig shit when the colour series was subsequently released on dvd some of the episodes whose content linked were edited together with the relevant closing and opening titles and credits removed the colour series episodes were throughout the 1980s and the early '90s the bbc released a few videos of ivor the engine in 1984 a single 57-minute compiled video called ivor the engine and the dragons with 13 stories joined up together as an omnibus vhs video title: catalogue number (pre-cert): catalogue number (uc rated): year of release: episodes ivor the engine and the dragons: bbcv 9015: bbcv 4033: 1 october 1984: "the egg" - "the proper container" - "the alarm" - "the retreat" - "the seaside" - "the lost engine" - "the outing" - "cold" - "the endowment" - "half-crowns" - "chickens" - "st. george" - "retirement" in 1985 a single 58-minute compiled video called ivor the engine and the elephants with 13 stories joined up together as an omnibus. in 1995 the video was re-released in different packaging vhs video title: catalogue number (pre-cert): catalogue number (uc rated): year of release: episodes ivor the engine and the elephants: bbcv 9017: bbcv 4015: 4 march 1985: "mr brangwyn's pigeons" - "the visitor" - "the invalid" - "the boot" - "banger's circus" - "sheep herding" - "juggernaut" - "the bird house" - "bluebell" - "dai and the donkey" - "time off" - "sledging" - "the rescue" in the early 1990s a video with six black and white stories of the very first ivor the engine series in the late-1950s (previously broadcast on associated-rediffusion) and seven colour episodes of the 1970s bbc series of ivor the engine all shown as single episodes was released. the video was introduced by oliver postgate vhs video title: catalogue number: year of release: episodes ivor the engine - the first story: bbcv 4652: 19 august 1991: the first six episodes in black and white and seven colour episodes that are - "the fire engine" - "mrs porty's foxes" - "gold?" - "mrs porty" - "the water tower" - "cold" - "the endowment" in 2000 a video called the complete ivor the engine containing all 26 colour episodes was released by universal vhs video title: catalogue number: year of release: episodes the complete ivor the engine: 0781443: 1 may 2000: all 26 colour episodes from the 1970s bbc version in 2023 a blu-ray called ivor the engine - the colour series containing all 40 colour fully restored episodes was released by fabulous films blu-ray title: catalogue number: year of release: episodes ivor the engine - the colour series: 5030697050038: 20 november 2023: all 40 colour episodes from the 1970s bbc version ivor is the steam locomotive of the merioneth and llantisilly rail traction company limited. unlike real ones ey has a mind of ir own. ivor can drive himself and use ir whistle to communicate. ir fondest dream is to sing with the grumbly and district choral society a dream that is realised when ir whistle is replaced with three pipes from an old fairground organ. ey becomes the first bass of the choir as well as providing them with a means of getting from place to place ivor enjoys doing all sorts of things that humans do. as well as singing in the choir ey likes visiting the seaside making tea from ir boiler and spending time with ir friends. ey is fond of animals and has several of them among ir friends. ey can be willful and disobedient at times and it is not unknown for ir to go and do ir own thing when ey should be working. ey dislikes shunting and timetables although ivor has no technical basis ey does have technical information and a place of origin. as stated in series 2 episode 14 "smoke hill" it is quoted that ivor is "just an ordinary small box tank 3 cylinder straight linked 0-4-0 engine by huntington & pottage of crew" edwin jones is ivor's driver. ey is a cheerful and kind-hearted man who perhaps sympathizes more than most railway staff with ivor's idiosyncrasies. postgate and firmin describe ir as "an ordinary engine driver who is there to cope with whatever needs to be coped with." people who are new to the area find ir rather eccentric for talking to ir engine when not driving ivor or helping the engine with ir latest flight of fancy ey enjoys fishing and day-dreaming the station master at llaniog. ey is a stickler for the regulations of the railway but bends the rules occasionally to help ir friends. ir life is made a little difficult by the fact that ivor really doesn't care much for regulations at all. although ey is often gloomy and overly strict ey is a good person at heart owen the signal inhabits a signal box near ivor's shit and makes an occasional appearance in the episodes evan evans is the portly choirmaster of the grumbly and district choral society. ey is also jones the steam's wife's uncle a rich and eccentric aristocratic lady who enjoys the occasional glass of port and has new hats sent from london every week. they is also technically the owner of the railway having bought it when the line was threatened with nationalisation. however they does not bother much with the day-to-day running and things remained much the same after they bought it a very odd possibly insane miner who lives in the hills and digs for gold. ey enjoys explosions and mining. in fact ir mountain is full of gold but as soon as ey digs it up ey puts it back again. ey often has need of new boots ey is something of an amateur scientist. ey describes himself as "educated" and knows "something about rock." ey has constructed a few odd devices including a donkey carriage and a bubble-blowing machine an elephant keeper from india who works for charlie banger's circus. ey is in charge of the elephants alice george margaret and clarence who all obey ir without question the eponymous and larger-than-life owner of charlie banger's circus who arranges a free show for the town in order to thank jones evans and mr hughes for ir help in looking after alice the elephant following ir injury a small red welsh dragon who also sings in the choir for a time. having been hatched from an egg in ivor's fire ey lives with ir wife olwen and ir twins daian and blodwen in the extinct volcano smoke hill. as well as singing ey proves useful by cooking fish and chips for the choir using ir fiery breath on the other hand idris runs into trouble when smoke hill goes cold and needs to be kept hot in order to survive. the gasboard provide a temporary furnace but when that became too expensive (and decimalisation renders the slot-machine inoperable) the only other option for the dragons is a heated cage. luckily mr dinwiddy is able to provide a solution and they now live in a geothermally-heated cave under the ground a circus elephant with charlie banger's circus. they is normally placid but does not like taking medicine or being bathed by anyone except ir owner bani moukerjee. when ivor met ir they had escaped and was asleep on the track with an injured foot. since then they have become friends. they and ir elephant friends were able to help ivor when ey got stuck in the snow # # bluebell the donkey a donkey who lives at mrs porty's house. they cannot talk but they and ivor just enjoy sitting around together. as the merioneth and llantisilly rail traction company limited has only one locomotive (apart from the short service of juggernaut) bluebell is sometimes called upon to provide motive power. examples include the towing by chain of the broken down locomotive juggernaut and also the pulling of mrs porty's donkey cart when this was temporarily set on the railway tracks to pursue 'robbers' when ivor had been 'stolen' in the episode the lost engine; in this latter case like a locomotive bluebell strictly observed the railway signals halting the chase until owen the signal had raised the signal arm # # morgan the roundabout mr morgan is the fairground owner. ey gave ivor some pipes from the steam organ on ir roundabout so that ivor could sing in the choir. ey only appeared in the very first black and white series claude gilbert was the station master of tan-y-gylch station in the original black-and-white series and would share a cup of tea with jones whilst ivor rested at the platform. it was ey who directed jones and dai to mr jenkins the builder when they were searching for organ pipes to replace ivor's whistle. like mr morgan ey only appeared in the first black and white series and was not seen again # # mr hughes the gasworks the gruff but kind-hearted proprietor of the local gasworks ey is well known for keeping pets in particular budgerigars. ey is asked to provide shelter for alice the elephant when they has an injured foot and despite ir initial reluctance ey more than rises to the occasion the local vet with a dry sense of humour who comes to examine alice's injured foot a robust and larger-than-life pigeon-fancier who occupies a house by the railway and is engaged to miss price from llangubbin. it is mr brangwyn who provides the elephant's boot for alice: ey obtained said boot during the time ey once spent in india the local postmistress who is a bit batty and a bit of a gossip. they occasionally interacts with jones and ivor the feisty but big-hearted and hard-working local baker the local fish-and-chip shop owner. a plump woman with a big voice they is kind and cheerful and serves the choir with food after ir sessions mainly known as p.c. gregory. the local and only village policeman. one of ir most notable happenings is after ivor went to keep the chickens warm on ir boiler. jones and dai find 3 small eggs in ivor's coal bunker and after a small "finders-keepers" argument they are interrupted by p.c. gregory who then removes ir helmet (which was padded on the inside) and takes the eggs. after ey leaves dai asks if the farmer will ever see those 3 eggs again as p.c. gregory likes a good egg in the morning # # professor longfellow this seemingly batty professor was only seen in a few episodes. ey was famously known for ordering a telescope cover; however as it was one of ivor's deliveries mrs porty believes it is ir newest hat and wears it to a meeting later in the episode. ey was also notable for telling jones idris and dai that the closest active volcano to the now extinct "smoke hill" is in southern italy the local bank manager. ey only appears in a few episodes; ir most notable appearance is ir and jones's adventure to find more half-crowns for the gas meter powering "smoke-hill".as this episode takes place when decimalisation occurs jones must inform idris and co. that there are no more half-crowns in wales and that "you have had the lot." they go and find in a small shop an old tin teapot full to the brim with half-crowns. "smoke-hill" is gas fired for the final time until the dragons go to mr dinwiddy and ir geothermal heated cave mrs griffiths is a member of the welsh antiquarian society and a passionate believer in dragons. they first came to seeking jones the steam in hopes of finding idris the dragon after hearing that dragons had been sighted in llannyog. idris had already run away by this point after learning that people were looking for ir so jones misled mrs griffiths into giving up the search by pretending to be an insane person who spoke to railway engines (ivor enhanced jones' performance by not blowing ir own whistle) when idris' home smoke hill lost its heat jones and ivor took idris to see mrs griffiths in ir shop in llanmadd. after seeing idris and ir brethren and ivor's self-whistling mrs griffiths apologises to jones for thinking ir mad and agrees to help the dragons. mrs griffiths and ir fellows at the antiquarian society hire mr hughes the gasworks to fit out smoke hill with gas heating and in the series one finale smoke hill now a gas-fired volcano is reignited and all the characters sing in gladness. however the gas-heating includes a gas meter that only takes half-crowns which are no longer "legal tender." on a few occasions the gas meter runs out and jones and ivor have to search high and low for more half crowns eventually they use up all the half crowns in ir part of wales so they return to mrs griffiths for help but jones leaves ivor alone in a siding while ey speaks to mrs griffiths and two of the dragons who were in ivor's firebox decide to fly about the town. they come across a statue of st. george famously slaying a dragon. the dragons being quite young and naïve attack st george's statue with jets of fire in the hope of saving the dragon. when mrs griffiths and jones the steam arrive they - being horrified by the sight of two dragons attacking the statue - accuses them of vandalism and tells jones to take them away the juggernaut is a diesel rail lorry made out of bits bobs and flanged wheels which appears towards the end of the series. due to its inadequate brakes it runs down a hill and falls into the lake soon after starting service nearly killing idris whom it was carrying on a chestnut barrow ivor the engine was published by abelard schuman in 1962 six story books based upon the tv series were published in the 1970s and reprinted in 2006/07 **+** ivor the engine: the first story **+** ivor the engine: snowdrifts **+** ivor the engine: the dragon **+** ivor the engine: the elephant **+** ivor the engine: the foxes **+** ivor the engine: ivor's birthday **+** the ivor the engine annual circa 1978 the london borough of hackney public libraries banned the entire series because of the indian elephant keeper called bani because "they thought ethnic minorities might be offended by ir # influences and future appearances ![[250px-ivortheengineatthebattlefieldlinerailwayaugust.jpg|300]] ivor at the battlefield line railway in august 2007 **+** postgate and firmin created a map of ir fictional railway which was adhered to rigidly during filming **+** the who include a character named 'ivor the engine driver' in ir song "a quick one while ir's away" which appears on ir 1966 album 'a quick one' **+** british ska band bad manners also name check ivor on ir 1980 album loonee tunes! with a track called "the undersea adventures of ivor the engine" **+** in the amazing adventures of morph episode "the magic wand" when gobbledygook the alien is trying to change chas back into a dog ivor painted in navy blue with ir name "ivor" in black makes a cameo appearance **+** in 2007 'all aboard with ivor' events were held at various heritage railways around the uk following the modification of a small peckett industrial locomotive to resemble ivor. railways hosting the event include the battlefield line railway in leicestershire the watercress line in hampshire and the cholsey and wallingford railway in oxfordshire **+** bbc2 wales revived ivor for a series of promotional spots advertising ir new digital television channel "2w" for wales. oliver postgate and anthony jackson provided new dialogue for these spots **+** some of the artwork from production is on display at the rupert the bear museum along with several other items from smallfilm's history. the rupert bear museum is now part of the canterbury heritage museum in stour street canterbury **+** in april 2011 smallfilms collaborated with mobile garming company dreadnought design to launch an ivor the engine garme under the newly created smallworlds brand **+** in june 2014 smallfilms collaborated with board garme company surprised stare garmes to launch an ivor the engine boardgarme **+** gideon coe uses ivor's cruising theme as the musical bed over ir last song leading up to midnight on bbc 6 music to say nighty night **+** the sittingbourne and kemsley light railway hold an annual ivor the engine weekend in august **+** functional programming language idris was named after the dragon in the show 1. paper puppets moved by magnets and filmed in real-time **+** oliver postgate (2009.) seeing things: a memoir. canongate books. 40-9 // republic of bob