1 9 7 3 – 1 9 7 8 (UK)
This BBC drama about life on the (fictional) Royal Navy frigate HMS Hero ran for five series until 1978.
The series was made with the full cooperation of the Royal Navy which initially lent its star, HMS Phoebe, to play the Hero. Six other warships were also used in the filming – HMS Danae, HMS Dido, HMS Diomede, HMS Hermione, HMS Juno and HMS Jupiter – all of which were repainted with the pennant number F42 (HMS Phoebe) for continuity.
HMAS Derwent, a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy, was also used as Hero for some scenes filmed in 1976 in Hong Kong and Singapore.
As the series opened, Commander Nialls (Donald Burton) arrived in Gibraltar (where many spectacular sequences of the series were shot) to take command after Hero had been left for six weeks without a captain or first lieutenant. Both had left in disastrous circumstances.
Cmdr. Mark Nialls
Donald Burton
Lt. Cmdr. Beaumont
David Savile
Lt. Peek
Andrew Burt
L
James Cosmo
Lt. Cmdr. Kiley
John Lee
MAA Heron
Don Henderson
Lt. Last
Norman Eshley
Lt. Wakelin
Graeme Eton
Cmdr. Alan Glenn
Bryan Marshall
Capt. Edward Holt
Derek Godfrey
Lt. Cmdr. Napier
Robert Morris
Zoe Carter
Prunella Ransome
