1980s TV Series-Airline

[DC10RealMan]

I am trying to get a DVD of the 1980s TV series "Airline" starring Roy Marsden as a young ex-RAF pilot starting up his own airline after de-mob which was called Ruskin Air Services. I wondered if anyone has any ideas?

[L1649]

I don't think the series has ever been released on home video, either VHS or DVD. It's a great shame as it was an enjoyable programme. I quite liked "Buccaneer" too from around the same period (c. 1980) which featured a Britannia of Redcoat Cargo Airlines.

[DC10RealMan]

B****R!!, but thanks anyway.

[ab33t]

Just did a search and I dont think it has been released . I do know you could get old broadcasts from BBC , maybe worth dropping them a line.

[one11]

....but I think it was Yorkshire TV, not a BBC job

[Saint-Ex]

It was Yorkshire TV. We shot at Lytham, Rufforth and Blackpool because they were nearby.

[Tiger_mate]

YouTube has film clips from the series, so there are still some examples around.

[DC10RealMan]

It was seeing the clips on Youtube that reminded me what an excellent series it was and how I would like to see the complete series again.

[Corsairoz]

IMDB has a little information on this series, including why it was never put to DVD.

>>>>
Planned originally as the first third of a 30-hour saga tracing an independent airline's progress from 1946 to the 1980s, Airline (ITV, 1982) lasted only nine episodes after Greatorex fell out with producers Yorkshire Television. ... scrapped because of financial problems and a major row between Greatorex and YTV over unauthorised script re-writes.

The final straw in an increasingly frustrating business for Greatorex came when he was forced into a legal battle over the rights to his characters and the original idea for Airline: YTV had sold on rights to the British Airports Authority and their ad agency J. Walter Thompson, resulting in a series of unauthorised (Greatorex claimed) TV commercials.
<<<<<<<<<

&#x22;Airline&#x22; (1982) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083378/)

And Wilfred Greatorex was the Writer:

Wilfred Greatorex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Greatorex)

[chevvron]

Didn't they buy a Connie for the second series; the one which is now at Wroughton?

[Amos Keeto]

There was a discussion about this on the Key Forum a couple of years ago as several people wanted this on DVD. Yorkshire Television were contacted and said they had no plans to release the series on VHS or DVD. However one forum member had recorded the series on VHS and had offered to make copies on DVD for anyone. If you can trace that thread, you might be in luck!

There was a second series planned, using the Connie at Wroughton, but in the end nothing came of it. Great shame as the first series was very good.

[chevvron]

And the Dak (fictitious G-AGHY) used in the first series was ex RAE West Freugh (TS423?) which had a radome on the nose when it arrived at Farnborough. The original plan was to use it as spares for KG661 (which became ZA947 then later transferred to BBMF when Transport Flight was disbanded) which arrived about the same time, but it was sold to Aces High instead; I last saw the radome at the Booker Museum.

[Dartsinsync]

The programme being discussed was supposedly based on 'Mike' Keegan. I seem to recall that some unfortunate in BAF ops decided to ring him during one of the transmissions. This was not appreciated!

[Capot]

I had understood that Mike Keegan was the "technical adviser" for the series, which did look remarkably as though it was based on him with a touch of Freddie Laker.

The portrayal was unrealistic to those who knew him due to the fact that in those days turning the air blue with every utterance on TV was less common than now, indeed frowned upon.

And no fictional character could ever be quite such a s**t as MK achieved in real life.

Back to the thread; I wondered if running down Jeremy Keegan might locate a copy tucked away. A quick google yielded this as the top response, (http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/219043926209/9e894774/Jeremy/Keegan) which might well be him.

Over to you!

[L1649]

"Didn't they buy a Connie for the second series; the one which is now at Wroughton?"

Yes , Aces High bought L-749 c/n 2553 N7777G in March '82 and transported her from Dublin Airport, where she had sat since March '74.

[Saint-Ex]

Dick Millward was the technical adviser and did a very good job. The L749 was transported by sea and road from Dublin and I very much doubt that it could have been made airworthy bar huge expense.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Ah; Dakota.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n131/Golf_Bravo_Zulu/DAKOTA2-1-1.jpg?t=1262895422

[chevvron]

Must have been taken at Hal Far with the clear blue sky.

[Corsairoz]

I just found this:

http://www.ruskin-air-services.co.uk/

[240 Gardner]

I think it was around the time of the filming that I was taking my HGV driving course (the second half of September 1981), and the P&O subsidiary for whom I worked leased a section of a peri-track at Squires Gate, and had it marked out as en exact replica of the manoeuvring area used at the driving test centre.

I remember watching the series on TV not long afterwards, and seeing that unloading in "Berlin" was clearly taking place on a 1970s HGV test pad, complete with all the tyre marks. I've a vague recollection that our little shed used for storing the traffic cones, also made an appearance!

There was a hangar alongside the track (on the Squires Gate Lane side)with 'Westair' painted on the roof - wasn't it re-lettered to show 'Ruskin Air Services', or have I imagined that over the passage of time?

[dakkg651]

GBZ

What a cracking photo!

I remember the museum staff at Cosford going ballistic one day when they found a big notice attached to their Dak - SOLD TO RUSKIN. No idea who put it there of course.

[Sir George Cayley]

I thought it was a fly on the wall documentary:uhoh:

Sir George Cayley

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

chevvron. Different Air Station, alas. Lee on Solent, June '84. can't find my original slide to cross check, though.

dakkg651. Thanks. All credit to the driver, really, for displaying the aeroplane so well.

[dada]

airline was indeed filmed at blackpool - i was a spotter at the time but also went to a local casting agency for fill in parts etc. i was involved in the series as an extra - i played roy marsdens stunt double when the dak crashed in the snow and they had to bail out from the cockpit roof exit ( quite a drop ). roy was bald at the time and wore a very good wig which i acquired at the end of the filming. from what i can remember the dc3
belonged to a company called aces high who also provided a/c for war films etc. i was also in memphis belle as the belly gunner who got trapped. this week i am mostly in emmerdale as a sheep farmer.

dada

[dakkg651]

As for Roy Marsden. I can only recall seeing him in one other TV series and that was a one off in Only Fools and Horses. He played one of the Driscoll brothers in 'Little Problems' if I remember correctly.

[dakkg651]

GBZ

If you like Daks, here's our aircraft ex G-AMHJ well on the way to becoming KG651 again.

http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy347/dakkg651/spit109023-1.jpg

[240 Gardner]

Ah, but you're forgetting his long-running portrayal of P D James' detective character, Adam Dalgleish :8

[LTAfan]

And as MI5 Director of Operations Neil Burnside in "The Sandbaggers."

Sorry for the thread drift. I've always wanted to see "Airline." Looking forward to seeing the YouTube clips.

[KERDUNKER]

The blue sky in the picture could be over Biggin or West Malling in either 1984 or 1985 as I along with 90 others and two additional Daks (one being G-AMHJ) took part in a mass drop to mark Arnhem 40th and then end of WWII +40............................... If anyone has a picture of either of those drops I would love to see them.

[wub]

And the Dak (fictitious G-AGHY) used in the first series was ex RAE West Freugh (TS423?) which had a radome on the nose when it arrived at Farnborough. The original plan was to use it as spares for KG661 (which became ZA947 then later transferred to BBMF when Transport Flight was disbanded) which arrived about the same time, but it was sold to Aces High instead; I last saw the radome at the Booker Museum.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/wub_01/423.jpg

[chevvron]

Named 'Mayfly' if I remember correctly('661/947 was 'Portpatrick Princess'). I recall seeing it in that configuration when it visited Farnborough, but by the time it was re-assigned to Farnborough, it had lost the 'pointy' bit (Blue Fox radar for Sea Harrier? Where's John Farley when you need him) but retained the rest, obviously being de-modified by Aces High, as the radome was in the possession of Booker Museum in about '84/85.

[wub]

Chevvron,

'423 flew with AI23, for the Lightning, first and latterly with the TSR-2 FLR radar in the radome.

[spo]

DC10REALMAN Please check your PMs. Managed to get hold of this series on Dvds

[JEM60]

Slight thread drift.
I believe that the Brittania used in filming crashed in serious icing conditions near Boston, Massachussets, shortly after filming was complete. I survivor if my memory serves me correctly. Sad.

[Watcher]

You can find the complete series, 9 episodes here,
Airline (http://www.tv-memories.com/detailsairline.htm?gclid=CLK6osiMn6ECFR6Z2AodJjg6xw)

[Dr Jekyll]

Slight thread drift.
I believe that the Brittania used in filming crashed in serious icing conditions near Boston, Massachussets, shortly after filming was complete. I survivor if my memory serves me correctly. Sad.

I think you're thinking of the early eighties series "Buccaneer." Loosely inspired by Red Coat air cargo, one of whose Brittanias was repainted to represent the fictional airline "Red Air".

[JEM60]

Thanks for the reply Dr. Jekyll.You're right, of course, memory playing tricks again.:)

[LAS1997]

In 1982 I was working at Fairoaks with the Ground Crew and Aces High had an office on the airfield during this time. I remember getting a really nice sticker for the car with Airline (in place of Ruskin) with the flying eagle as a back ground. I too really enjoyed the series and managed to get some copies of it recently from a chap on You Tube; the quality is not very good as they are copies from rather old VHS tapes; but its good to be able to see the series again. Great shame no follow up series was produced, it would be good if someone on the BBC or ITV decided to make one as these days they seem to like producing endless talent shows, house make overs and cookery programmes!

[chevvron]

There was also a childrens TV series in the early '60s starring Terence Longdon and Terence Alexander flying a Dove and a DC3; can't remember the name but it was on BBC and the opening sequence showed a huge radar scanner, with the title music being timed to its rotation.

[chevvron]

Surely it was the dishwasher not the fridge.

[Amos Keeto]

I remember watching Gary Halliday on BBC TV in the late '50s. Filming was courtesy of Silver City Airways at Lydd.

More information can be found here:

CHERISHED TELEVISION | REVIEWS: A to J | GARRY HALLIDAY (http://www.cherishedtelevision.co.uk/garryhalliday.html)

[sv650]

Airline: The Complete Series: Network DVD (http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1514)

1946. The war is over... but not for everyone. Demobbed pilot Jack Ruskin (Roy Marsden The Sandbaggers) has developed a passion for aviation and he's determined to keep flying. Unable to find work with an established civilian airline, and armed with only his demob suit and a seventy-pound gratuity, he decides to launch his own air freight company with wartime colleague Peter Witney. Boasting just one plane, Ruskin Air Services is born amid the austerity of post-war Britain... and it's not only the Great Freeze that threatens to keep Jack's fledgling business on the ground.

Airline vividly brings to life the faltering and sometimes perilous progress of the independent airline operators of the Forties, encompassing landmark events such as the Berlin Airlift and capturing the excitement of the earliest passenger services. Richard Heffer (Colditz) and Terence Rigby (Beiderbecke) also star in this highly original series, devised and written by Wilfred Greatorex (The Power Game).

[L1649]

Blimey, that one crept in under the radar! Ordered. :)

[reynoldsno1]

'Tis available on the big South American river site as well ...

[cyflyer]

Ordered it, got it, saw it, loved it !!!! Worth every penny.

Why did they make only one season ?

[bigal1941]

Cost, the production manager had ideas above his station of using the Connie rotting away at Dublin, restoring it to flying condition. I think Aces High were involved. The Connie was eventualy moved to The British Museum,s site at Wroughton, by road. Hope that helps Alan

[max weight]

Try this link it seems to be current if you are still looking

Airline: The Complete Series: Network DVD (http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1514)

regards

M W