Adventures of Portland Bill, The

1 9 8 3 (UK)

Portland Bill works as the keeper of the Trinity House lighthouse at Guillemot Rock, alongside his two assistants Ross and Cromarty and his small pet dog, Dogger.

Guillemot Rock lies offshore of the small village of McGuillycuddy – a village so small that it only has one shop (Edward Stones’ Emporium shop) and the shopkeeper, Eddy, takes on multiple jobs (he is also the electrician, water board inspector, postman, milkman, policeman and mayor).

Rowing ashore to McGuillycuddy in his old rowboat, the Puffin, Bill catches up on the local gossip from Grandma Tiree, the crofter Finisterre, Fastnet the village fisherman and old Mrs Lundy.

The lighthouse keepers have all sorts of adventures on both land and sea and the lighthouse is also subject to periodic inspections by Bill’s superior, Inspector Ronaldsway.

The Adventures of Portland Bill was filmed in stop-motion animation and each episode ran for approximately 11-minutes.

The series was devised and scripted by John Grace and the voices were supplied by Norman Rossington. All the characters take their names from shipping forecasts, sea regions and nautical terms.

Narrator
Norman Rossington