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Tugs is a British children's television series first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. Tugs episodes were repurposed as Salty's Lighthouse footage.

About the show[]

The series deals with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who compete against each other in the fictional Bigg City Port.

The series was set in the Roaring Twenties, with the two rival tugboat companies competing against each other to win contracts, towing jobs much more.

Production on the show[]

The series used real working models on functioning water sets. All events in Bigg City Port were filmed on a gigantic water tank, which the crew would built in 1987, for the filming of the series. The water was given a dark blue colouring, and was constantly filtered to be kept clean.

They used The Clearwater Periscope Lens System, which was basically a camera on a huge rig, which hung directly above the set, which gave the camera free lanced movement, whilst being able to keep a focus on the small models. Tugs was filmed on Film Reels, so the crew had to be very careful about filming, as Film is expensive, but this means we can get pure HD footage, if restored.

The tugs themselves were built mostly out of plastic, with brass funnels, so the pumped smoke from the stacks so it won't melt. They were moved by being placed on trolleys, which the crew would pull by string under water.

The Tugs had moving eye and head mechanisms, which were all remote controlled, usually by David Mitton and Chris Tolluch, his assistant director.

Tugs was filmed in late 1987, starting with the Filming of Jinxed, and ending in 1989, with the filming of Bigg Freeze.

Tugs was originally meant to have a runtime of 30 minutes, but during production of Jinxed, plans changed, and it was cut down to 20 minutes, and all the episodes were filmed to this length. However when it came time for Tugs to air, there were no slots available for 20 minutes, only 15, so all episodes had to be shaved down to this time. This meant all existing dialogue had to be either shortened, drastically edited or completely re-recorded to be shorter.

This left the 15 "final" cuts being very rushed, and unfinished.

Producers, Creators and Composers[]

Due to the bankruptcy of Television South and eventually Clearwater Features in mid 1990, the series could not continue production past the first filmed 13 episodes, and all the plans for a season 2 were scrapped.

Following the initial airing of the series throughout 1989 in the UK, and 1990 in Australia and Japan, the television rights were sold to an unknown party, whilst David Mutton and Robert D Cardona kept the franchise rights.

1 Sunshine Gloria Tors David Mitton 20 min (VHS) 15 min (TV)
2 Pirate

Tarquin Cardona

from a story by David Mitton

David Mitton 20 min (VHS) 15 min (TV)
3 Trapped Chris Tulloch Chris Tulloch 15 min
4 Jinxed David Mitton David Mitton 15 min
5 Quarantine Tarquin Cardona David Mitton 15 min
6 High Winds Chris Tulloch Chris Tulloch 15 min
7 Ghosts Robert D. Cardona

Robert D. Cardona

15 min
8 Up River David Mitton David Mitton 15 min
9 Warrior Chris Tulloch Chris Tulloch 15 min
10 High Tide David Mitton David Mitton 15 min
11 Munitions David Mitton David Mitton 20 min (VHS) 15 min (TV)
12 Regatta David Mitton David Mitton 20 min (VHS) 15 min (TV)
13 Bigg Freeze Roy Russell David Mitton 15 min

Tugs' home media release[]

In an effort to recover some lost money in 1988, 2 VHS tapes were published for Tugs, one having Munitions and Regatta (titled 4th July), and the other tape including Sunshine and Pirate. These tapes had the 20 minute cuts of the episodes, and were not fully complete, but had most of what was needed. The "Munitions" includes the 'prototype intro' for Tugs which has unused footage from Jinxed in it.

Some time during 1989, more Tugs VHS tapes were released. These tapes were the remaining 15 minute cuts of the rest of the series, and used the regular intro that was used on TV.

Post production of Tugs[]

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  • Patrick Allen voices The Narrator and Captain Star
  • Simon Nash voices Ten Cents
  • Sean Barrett voices Big Mac, Hercules, Zebedee, Captain Zero, Izzy Gomez, Sea Rogue, Fire Tug, and Blair
  • Timothy Bateson voices O.J., Owner of the Municipal Garbage Corporation, Big Mickey, Lord Stinker, Little Ditcher, and Eddie
  • John Baddeley voices Top Hat, Zip, Puffa, Shrimpers, Pirate Tug #2, and the Quarry Master
  • Mike O’Malley voices Warrior, Bluenose, Frank, Mighty Mo, Sea Rogue’s Uncle, Scuttlebutt Pete, Jack the Grappler, the Princess Alice, Navy Ship, Old Rusty, Nantucket, Johnny Cuba, and Pirate Tug #1
  • Shaun Prendergast voices Sunshine, Zak, and Philbert Bell Buoy
  • Chris Tulloch voices Zorran and background Shrimpers
  • Nigel Anthony voices Zug, Burke, and Davy Jones
  • Lee Cornes voices Grampus, Billy Shoepack, Coast Guard, Boomer, and Fuel Depot Manager
  • JoAnne Good voices Lillie Lightship, Sally Seaplane, and Pearl
  • Sue Glover voices S.S. Vienna (song only)
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