London's Burning (TV series)

London's Burning is a British television drama programme, produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network. It was based on the 1986 TV movie of the same name, and focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch, at the fictional Blackwall fire station. It began with the movie (pilot), broadcast on 7 December 1986. This was then followed by a total of 14 series, which ran from 20 February 1988 to 25 August 2002.
Movie.
Jack Rosenthal's original two-hour TV movie, directed by Les Blair, was broadcast on ITV on 7 December 1986. The Broadwater Farm riot, in north London, was one inspiration for the screenplay. Unlike the final years of the "London's Burning" TV series, the movie (along with the following early TV series), was a black comedy that also examined serious issues, primarily that while female and Black, Asian and minority ethnic firefighters had to deal with prejudice on the job, the prejudices in their own families and neighbourhoods could be far worse.
The series.
Series 1–3 (1988–1990).
The TV show was a weekly episodic drama that began on 20 February 1988. Paul Knight was the show's producer. Knight appointed writers such as Anita Bronson, David Humphries, Simon Sharkey, and Tony Hoare. Directors included Gerry Poulson, Gerry Mill, John Reardon, Keith Washington and Alan Wareing. The camera crews had to be committed and cautious when working with fire. Emergencies—or 'shouts'—would not only be fires, but included a range of incidents from cats up trees to major road accidents. Each episode ran for 50 minutes (one hour with advertisement breaks). The first series (1988) consisted of five episodes while the second series (1989) and the third series (1990) consisted of eight episodes. These series episodes were mostly filmed at Dockhead fire station in Bermondsey in London, and used actual firefighters working shifts as extras for the programme. A studio near the station was used for crowded mess scenes, but they also used the fire station's actual mess, bay and watchroom throughout the series.
'Ding Dong Merrily' Christmas special.
A Christmas special was transmitted between series 1 and 2 on 25 December 1988, on ITV. The special followed Blue Watch on duty on Christmas Day.
'Stunts and Stars' documentary.
A special 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, which originally aired on 8 September 1991, marked the launch of the fourth series. This documentary was also released onto VHS video, by Clear Vision Video. It was then added as a DVD extra, on the Series 4 DVD release by Network.
Series 4 (1991).
In 1991, LWT commissioned 10 episodes for Series 4, which became the most popular series of the drama. Paul Knight had appointed Brian Clark as the Fire Brigade Advisor and, along with the writers and directors, he decided on a climax to the fourth series. The psychological state of one of the main characters deteriorates after being buried alive under a collapsed wall whilst at a spectacular 20-pump warehouse fire. Series 4's climax won the programme its record rating of 18.86 million viewers.
Series 5 (1992).
Each series now included a major disaster or "shout". In Series 5 (1992), a spinning wheel ride at a fairground is jammed by a troublesome youth (played by Liam McGuire) armed with a pole. The ride collapses, and there is a huge fire with people trapped in the crushed metal. The series attracted 17 million viewers.
Series 6–9 (1993–1996).
In the early 1990s, the ratings averaged 17–18 million viewers. In 1995 (Series 8), ratings fell to 16 million viewers.
Paul Knight decided it was time for a real shock—a tragic exit for one of the main characters, who had starred in the show for nearly ten years. The man who was to be killed was Sub Officer John Hallam—a dedicated and loyal member of the watch and the London Fire Brigade. Hallam was killed off in 1996 (Series 9) during a huge warehouse fire, where he and his colleague, Leading Firefighter Geoff Pearce, were attempting to rescue four teenage girls on an unstable gantry above a blaze in the basement. Hallam held the gantry steady for Pearce as he walked across with one of the girls. As Hallam attempted to cross, the gantry cracked and Hallam fell to his death. The writers developed a storyline about Pearce feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt after the accident, which would lead to him considering a transfer.
Series 9 attracted 16.8 million viewers.
Series 10 (1997).
Series 10 was the last series produced by Paul Knight, who left to produce episodes of "The Knock". Budget cuts led to a small number of scenes being done with computer-generated imagery. Notable 'shouts' included ones at a paint factory and another at a bus depot. With 18 episodes this was the longest series of the show.
Series 11–14 (1998–2002).
"London's Burning" continued on into 1998 with a new producer, David Shanks (later David Newcombe). Series 11, 12 and 13 saw the return to firefighting scenes as the primary focus. Series 14 however was almost completely based on soap opera-style story lines, with the number of fire 'shouts' severely reduced. Series 14 completely ignored the new ranking system of the LFB that was introduced at the start of series 13; also some old characters had left, with new ones added, with no explanation – confusing matters for the viewer. Viewing figures slumped drastically and the series was critically panned. In 2002 "London's Burning" was cut from the schedule; the final episode was broadcast on 25 August 2002 in a two-hour slot. The replacement show – "Steel River Blues" – bombed in the ratings, and was axed after just one series.
'Duty Log' video special.
In 2000 a 90-minute behind-the-scenes special was released on VHS video.
Theme music.
The "London's Burning" theme used between Series 1–10 was composed by Simon Brint, Rowland Rivron, and Roddy Matthews; it was loosely based on the children's round of the same title (sung by a group of schoolchildren in the pilot film.) Series 11–13 used a theme composed by Warren Bennett (son of The Shadows drummer Brian Bennett); revamped opening titles created by Capital FX were introduced. The theme tune and opening titles were updated again for Series 14. The titles were made to fit the look ITV were giving to shows at the time. The series 14 theme was composed by Stuart Hancock and Toby Jarvis. Hancock also composed the original incidental music score to all episodes of series 14.
Opening titles.
Series 1–10 lacked a title sequence, the episodes opened with the text "London's Burning" used in Futura bold condensed typeface superimposed in white over the opening scene of the episode, various fonts were used in different series. Series 11–13 used a montage of action shots superimposed over a fiery background as the text "London's Burning" superimposed in gold and black slowly grew in size over the course of the sequence before quickly zooming to most of the length of the screen on the final musical flourish. Series 14 used a shorter montage of action and character shots before the text "london's burning" in orange and white appeared and moved closer together over a shot of fire engines emerging from the station that blurred out.
Locations.
The earlier series used Dockhead Fire Station (opened in the 1928) at 8 Wolseley Street, London SE1, as the exterior for Blackwall. The Jacob Street studio is opposite, housing a full scale reproduction of the mess, built by Colin Monk. The actual station mess was also used in the series, as were many other parts of the station and its actual firefighters.
To this day Dockhead is still an operational fire station, with just one pump ladder and the South East Area Command Unit (callsigned E341 &amp; CU4), but the original station was demolished and rebuilt by the London Fire Brigade in 2016 to allow for the Brigade's redevelopment and modernisation. The crew and pump ladder were temporarily located at the nearby Deptford Fire Station for the duration of the work, as Old Kent Road fire station (shown as Borough Street station in the series) was also being rebuilt. The Swan and Sugar Loaf pub, located opposite the station and which featured as the firefighters' local pub in the early series was converted into flats in the early 90's. This necessitated a move to The Ship Aground pub located next door to the station, which still exists to this day.
The location of the original fictional Blackwall fire station is about 800m from Tower Bridge but approximately 6 miles from the eponymous real life Blackwall. Locations used throughout the show were ostensibly filmed around the London postal district of SE16 at a time when the London Docklands Development Corporation were redeveloping the derelict areas of east and south east London. Notable filming locations include Chambers Wharf, Surrey Quays and Bermondsey.
The restaurant opened by Mike 'Bayleaf' Wilson in series 8 was filmed on location at The Chequers Inn, Deal, Kent.
From series 13 the original Blackwall station was revealed to have closed down and relocated. The final 2 series used the exterior of Leyton Fire Station and the Oliver Twist pub opposite. The new station location was far closer to the real London district of Blackwall than the previous set.
DVD Releases.
All series of London's Burning were released between 2005 and 2011.