The Adventures of Portland Bill is a British stop motion animated children's television series made in 1983. It is set in a fictional lighthouse on the Guillemot Rock, just off the coast from the fictional village of McGuillycuddy. Norman Rossington provides the voice of all the characters, with Portland Bill the principal keeper acting as the narrator of each episode.
Characters
Most of its characters were named after British Sea Areas and coastal weather stations and other words that occur in shipping forecasts:
These live in the lighthouse: Portland Bill: Principal lighthouse keeper Ross and Cromarty (see also Ross and Cromarty): his assistants Dogger: his dog
The rest of the characters live elsewhere: Fastnet: fisherman, lives on the island Mrs. Lundy: owns cottage on mainland Grandma Tiree: makes oatcakes for the lighthousemen Inspector Ronaldsway: belongs to the lighthouse service Finisterre: owns a croft Eddy Stone: owns the village shop; also is the village's milkman, mayor, postman, meter-reader and policeman. Young Gail: lives in McGuillycuddy
Places
McGuillycuddy: a village on the mainland overlooking the lighthouse island: named after the real MacGillycuddy's Reeks in Ireland
Location
The idea was originated by John Grace and submitted to the competition 'Maritime England'. Most of the characters are named after the areas of the UK Shipping Forecast. Grandma Tiree and Inspector Ronaldsway are named after automatic weather stations and “Gail” is named after the high winds frequently forecast. The submission won the prize and was picked up by Graham Clutterbuck at FilmFair who went on to commission two series for ITV. At the time, John Grace and Mik Parsons were colleagues teaching in the Graphic Design Department at Leicester Polytechnic (now DeMontfort University). They collaborated on the music and song content with Mik Parsons recording all the songs on his 4-track cassette based Tascam Portastudio.
Boats
The Puffin: rowboat, belongs to Portland Bill. The Kipper: used by Eddy Stone and Inspector Ronaldsway.