Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»TV by Decade»TV Shows - 1970s
    TV Shows - 1970s Variety 2 Mins Read

    Sailor

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 7 6 (UK)

    A BBC film crew worked among the 2,500 men aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal for ten weeks and introduced us to a navy which returned to ship with black eyes and cracked heads and even, in one sorry case, without trousers.

    Once at sea, the lads drank, cursed, dressed up in drag and mocked their superiors. And viewers loved it.

    They cheered pilot Alan Gibson, who took seven attempts to land his fighter plane and survived the ribbing of his mates.

    They didn’t mind when Chaplain Bernard Marshall used four-letter words – “swearing is not as bad as blasphemy,” he said, adding that most of the words were common parlance and “a term of endearment on Ark Royal“.

    And they loved the adventure when a sailor with acute appendicitis had to be airlifted off an American submarine by helicopter and transferred to Ark Royal. When he was halfway between the two vessels, hanging on the end of a rope, a huge wave swept him and the winchman who clung to him into the sea.

    Eventually, they were rescued to the lilting theme tune of Rod Stewart‘s ballad Sailing.

    The first episode of Sailor aired on 5 August 1976. The final episode saw Ark Royal return to port and the crew reunited with their families.

    When the series was re-run in 1984 with a postscript (Sailor Eight Years On) that showed all that was then left of Ark Royal was a rusting hull in a breakers’ dock, the tough master-at-arms, Tom Wilkinson, was seen to be moved to tears.

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Krofft Superstar Hour
      Krofft Superstar Hour
      1 9 7 8 - 1 9 7 9 (USA) 13 x 60 minute episodes This was a variety show (similar…
    • Swap Shop/Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
      Swap Shop/Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
      1 9 7 6 - 1 9 8 2 (UK) Presented by Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds (pictured above) and a…
    • Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?
      Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?
      1 9 7 3 - 1 9 7 4 (UK) 26 x 30 minute episodes 1 x 45 minute special Christmas…
    • George
      George
      1 9 7 2 - 1 9 7 4 (Canada/Switzerland/West Germany) 16 x 30 minute episodes When sis Regina (Linda Caroll)…
    • Patrol Boat
      Patrol Boat
      1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 4 (Australia) 26 x 50 minute episodes Patrol Boat was made in cooperation with…
    • Operation Petticoat
      Operation Petticoat
      1 9 7 7 - 1 9 7 8 (USA) 33 x 30 minute episodes With a cast of 18 regulars,…
    • Pot Black
      Pot Black
      1 9 6 9 - 1 9 8 6 (UK) Snooker was first televised by the BBC in 1950, but it…
    • Tim Conway Show, The
      Tim Conway Show, The
      1 9 7 0 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes Timothy "Spud" Barrett (Tim Conway) was the clumsy, oafish, but well-meaning…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticlePot Black
    Next Article News At Ten

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Supermarionation
      Coined by British filmmaker Gerry Anderson and his wife, Sylvia, […]
    • Charley Moon (1956)
      Already a phenomenally successful entertainer and stalwart of […]
    • Raise Your Glasses
      1 9 6 2 (UK) 5 x 45 minute episodes Arthur Askey starred in this […]
    • Dion (& The Belmonts)
      Born in the Bronx area of New York on 18 July 1939, Dion Dimucci […]
    • Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
      In a small American country town, the mentally-impaired Bubba […]
    • Bed Sitting Room, The (1969)
      The adapted play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus serves as […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.