Filmed in the fishing port of Hull, this Sunday teatime series from Yorkshire Television highlighted the harsh life of a crew of deckhands as two 17-year-old boys set off on their first three-week North Sea fishing voyage aboard the sidewinder trawler Dynasty Neptune.
Tubby Bass (Ashley Barker) was from a local trawling family and had the sea in his blood. His trawlerman father had been killed at sea after being washed into the sub-zero waters of the cod-fishing grounds. Now living with his mother, Tubby took it for granted that he would follow the family tradition and go to sea as a “deckie-learner”.
Jim Smith (Paul Henley) was a London boy, the son of a garage owner, with no seafaring background. Though opposed by his father – who expected him to carry on the family business – Jim was obsessed with romantic notions of life at sea and eventually ran away to the docks in search of a job.
Episodes followed the adventures and experiences of the two lads as “brassies”, “deckie-learners” or “snackers” (all terms for trainee deckhands, depending on which part of the country you come from).
To prepare them for their parts and give added realism to the series, Ashley Barker and Paul Henley were enrolled on a crash course at the Hull Nautical Training College where they were taught chart reading, fire drill and rope making, as well as more obvious deck duties such as repairing nets and handling the huge trawls.
For economic reasons, only one side of the actual trawler used in the series – the Arctic Ranger – was painted for the series, with the fictional name Dynasty Neptune superimposed on it. The other side retained the vessel’s original name and colour scheme.
Unfortunately, nobody advised the Royal Navy about the cost-cutting measure and a warship was sent to investigate the strange-looking trawler with two names and different coloured sides, and she was boarded during filming off the Yorkshire coast.
The Arctic Ranger was scrapped in October 1976 after filming had completed.
The seven-part series was created by Ian Cullen (formerly Detective Constable Skinner in Z Cars) and ex-trawlerman Terry Bottomley. All episodes were produced by Margaret Bottomley (no relation to the writer) and directed by John Pett.
Tubby Bass
Ashley Barker Jim Smith
Paul Henley Alan Forbes
Patrick Malahide Andrew Forbes
Peter Welch Peter Harris
William Simons Jock
Eric Allan Sammy
Mark Drewry Charlie
James Marcus Mr Smith
Philip Bond Mrs Bass
Eileen Kennally
