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Tugs (TV series)

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Tugs
Series logo. The tug featured is Ten Cents
Created byRobert D. Cardona
David Mitton
StarringPatrick Allen
Simon Nash
Shaun Prendergast
Sean Barrett
Chris Tulloch
Timothy Bateson
John Baddeley
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time15 mins (9 episodes)
20 mins (4 episodes)
Original release
NetworkITV (UK) (1989-90)
ABC (Australia) (1990)
Release1989 –
1990
ReleaseLop [1] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [2] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [3] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [4] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [5] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [6] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]
ReleaseLop [7] –
[www.hitentertainment.com/TUGS/uk/ TUGS]

TUGS was a British children's television series made in 1988 by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton.

Tugs is all about two anthromorphized tug fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z Stacks, who are always competing against each other around the fictional Bigg City Port during the 1920s. The Star Fleet are honourable and hard-working, but the Z-Stacks are underhanded and devious.

The series was noted for the high quality of its animation, which used detailed live-action models (much like sister series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends).

Thirteen episodes were made. The series was never repeated. Despite this, it still has a fanbase, which is currently campaigning to have the complete series of all 13 episodes released on DVD.

A Brief History

After two successful series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton decided they wanted to branch out in other directions and create a series that they could call their own.

They devised the outline of the series, and conveniently enough, the production of Thomas the Tank Engine was put on hold until 1991, so there were no obstructions to filming the series.

They filmed the series at Shepperton Studios in 1988, the animation process was not dissimilar to its railway-based sister series. The only notable difference was that the boat models were pulled around by transparent strings. The vessels were literally unmotorised trolleys. Remote control devices were used to power mechanisms within the models, such as the moving eyes.

Tugs was first aired on Children's ITV in Britain, and then on Australia's ABC network. However, even though there was once talk of a second series, nothing came of it. This may have been due to the fact that the producers failed to interest any of the US networks. The rights to the series were sold and it's currently not known who owns them. Redubbed and heavily edited footage later resurfaced as a central part of the low-budget children's series Salty's Lighthouse.

The models and sets were sold to Britt Allcroft, whose new company used the models, (albeit heavily modified) for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends from 1991 onwards. They are still used in current seasons.

David Mitton continued to work on Thomas until he retired after the seventh series in 2003, whilst Robert D. Cardona emigrated to Canada and devised a similar program about tugboats called Theodore Tugboat.

Episodes

TUGS spanned for thirteen separate episodes, which dealt with a range of ideas and plots that involved the use of drama and special effects. Many typical rules of the "talking transport" genre (see Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends) were broken. The series was far "darker" in tone than most other children's series. The plots would often feature crime, violence and destruction, albeit that the characters carrying these things out were invariably villains who would be punished.

The dialogue, too, was quite mature for a children's series. It would feature slang and terminology that might these days be considered "over the heads" of young children. Characters would often insult each other, as well as using historical and maritime terms.

Episode Guides

Individual guides to each episode in the series:

A Note on Episode List: There is no set episode order for the series, though it mainly compiled around the Castle Vision video releases, which provided the episodes in sets of two and three. The main structure is centered around the 'death' of Big Mickey (see Character list below), who last appeared in Munitions. The latter had a minor role in High Tide, so it is safe to assume that this episode came before Munitions. It is commonly believed that Bigg Freeze is the final episode, as it appears to bring the series to a conclusion. This was also the last episode broadcast in the UK.

Major Recurring Characters

Many of the more prominent and better-known characters listed below have their own pages:

File:Tugs-2.jpg
Star Tugs: Big Mac and Sunshine working Up River

The Star Fleet

Ten Cents

Ten Cents is a lively and cheeky young cockney harbour switcher tug with a heart of gold. He is often considered the main character of the series, having being featured prominently in most episodes. Ten Cents almost always works with Sunshine, and the two are inseparable.

Big Mac

Big Mac is one of the fleet's strongest and roughest tugs. Despite his blunt and abrupt exterior, he is a kind and loyal tug who never likes to hurt others' feelings, and will always stand up for those in trouble. Despite fan speculation, he is not Warrior's brother - this was never confirmed in the program. They are, however, good friends, and always look out for each other.

O.J.

The fleet's (and indeed, Bigg City Port's) only paddle steamer, the wisest and oldest tug of them all; OJ is genuinely respected by everyone in the port. He is good natured, and despite his increasing frailty, is the Star's quickest thinker. OJ is loyal to his comrades, and to Captain Star.

Top Hat

Top Hat is a stuck-up, snobbish railway tug. He wears a top hat and monocle, and loathes dirty work. His fellow Star Tugs have somewhat mixed feelings towards him - although they dislike his attitude, they acknowledge that he is a hard worker. He is the greatest wit of the fleet, but he can be quite hypocritical when it comes to acts of bravery.

Warrior

Warrior is the Stars' third strongest tug. He is rather dense and clumsy, and in one episode (named after him) he tries to do something about this. Warrior has good points to him - he is brave, helpful and good-hearted, and is loved and cherished by his peers. His closest friend and greatest defender is Big Mac.

Hercules

Hercules is the most mysterious of all the Star Tugs. He is an ocean-going tug, and so is often out of the port for long periods of time. He is vain, and vague, and thinks he is cleverer than he is in reality. He can always be found in the estuary with his sweetheart Lillie Lightship. Even the Z-Stacks know not to antagonise him when he is in port - he is the strongest Star by far. Tugs fans consider him the most undeveloped of all the major characters, but maybe this suits his personality.

Sunshine

Sunshine is the star's newest recruit. He was originally from Up River, where he worked for the Salvage fleet (often heard about but never seen). Captain Star initially employed Sunshine on a temporary basis, but after the events of the first episode decided to make him Star No. 7. Sunshine is shy and bashful but strong-willed despite his size. He mainly works with Ten Cents, his best friend.

Captain Star

The proud owner of the Star Tugs, Captain Star narrates the series in past tense. His distinctive voice was provided by Patrick Allen, a veteran voice actor. Captain Star appears in every single episode. He can be gruff, but is always fair. The Stars respect their leader, and are proud to be a member of his fleet.

The Z-Stacks

The devious, and scheming bad guys. They are always finding ways to hinder and infuriate the Star Tugs.

Zorran

The most devious Z-Stack of them all, and therefore their leader. Zorran is cunning and malicious. He is a scheming bully who will do absolutely anything to get ahead, and doesn't care who gets hurt along the way. All the other Z-stacks are secretly afraid of him.

Zebedee

Zebedee is an easy-going tug who often winds up the Stars for one reason or another. He is a very complex character, and beneath his tough exterior is one of the only Z-Stacks to have a conscience. This depth was explored in the episode High Winds.

Zak

Zak is a devious and revolting tug, who, unlike any of the others, was never really explored within the episodes. He is quite a violent character - for instance, he once suggested that the best way to deal with the Stars was to "blow them up". He considers himself something of a schemer, but doesn't really think his plans through. He mainly works with Zebedee.

Zug

Zug is an ambitious young tug, and one of the Z-Stack switchers. He mainly works with Zip, the other switcher, and likes to think of himself as the intelligent one. Compared to Zip, he certainly is intelligent. However, compared to anyone else, he is not.

Zip

Zip the Harbour switcher is rather dense. He often has to leave Zorran or Zug to do the thinking for him and he is a sheep who follows orders bluntly, but loyally. He usually works with Zug.

Captain Zero

The devious and scheming owner of the Z-Stack fleet. He is known to have criminal connections. He only appears in a very small number of episodes, and is quite bad tempered.

Other Notable Characters

Lillie Lightship

Lillie is a vivacious bright young ship, with a long standing affection for Hercules. All of the tugs appear smitten with Lillie, and she knows it! The charming lightship is always to be found at Dender Rocks, guiding their way home with her bright light.

Coast Guard

The Coast Guard is a small vessel who makes sure everithing is safe. His job is to check in newcoming ships and putting some in quarantine for 40 days once. He got into a stickey sittuation when Jonny Cuba rammed him against some rocks.

Izzy Gomez

Izzy is a scheming tramp steamer who is friends (of a sort) with both the Star Tugs and the Z-Stacks. He will often try to convince tugs to tow him into port for free, or at least for a cut-price rate, and is not above trying to sneak in against the law. However, he does have a good streak that was revealed in Sunshine, so he is perhaps more of a rogue than a villain. He has a strong Mexican accent and wears a sombrero.

Grampus

Grampus is a naval midget submarine, who enjoys his free time spent underwater. He is a valuable asset to the Stars, as he is capable of all sorts of tasks that the tugs can't perform. He finally joined the fleet in the episode 4th of July.

All of the minor characters can be found on new destination pages:


The Major Locations in Bigg City Port

For other minor locations see the article Bigg City Port

  • Star Dock - the home of Captain Star's well-known and much-loved fleet. Appears in every episode.
  • Zero Dock - the home of Captain Zero's devious Z-Stack fleet. Appears in most episodes.
  • Lucky's yard - this is where ships and tugs alike go to get repaired when they are damage or in need of maintenance. Appears in most episodes.
  • Up River - former home of Sunshine, when he worked for the Salvage Company, appears in Up River, where Sunshine is trapped under a pile of logs.
  • Dender Rocks - home of Lillie Lightship, appears in most episodes.
  • Municipal Garbage Corporation - where Lord Stinker gets his garbage loads from, and the odd Jack the Grappler resides, appears in Regatta

Cast

Unfortunately, the cast of TUGS was never credited. Some of their identities are still ambiguous. However, thanks to the diligent research of various members of the Clearwater and Sodor Island Forums, several have been uncovered;

Hopefully, more will be discovered over time.

Merchandise

TUGS Merchandise was rather common in the early 1990s. Some of that merchandise includes:

  • Ertl models (Ten Cents, and Sunshine are the only ones discovered; although Ertl were supposed to release all of the Star Tugs)
  • 13 Photo Books - Different titles for the TV series such as Ghost Fleet (Ghosts), Warrior's Longest Day (Warrior) and Bigg City Freeze (Bigg Freeze)
  • 2 Annuals
  • VHS Videos
Sunshine/Pirate
Trapped/Ghosts/High Winds
Jinxed/Quarantine/Up River
Bigg Freeze/Warrior/High Tide
Munitions/4th of July

Trapped/Ghost/highwinds & 4th of july Note on the Videos: The versions of the episodes on the videos were significantly edited for unknown reasons. Many original scenes had been extended/deleted and the program now had two different alternate title sequences

  • Jigsaw
  • Bed set
  • Board Game
  • Thimbles
  • Card Game
  • 4 Buzz Books - Kidnapped, Run Aground, Nothing to Declare and Treasure Hunt
  • Publicity Pack - Ultra Rare!
  • Activity Books
  • Bath books
  • Magazines

Trivia

  • Many characters from TUGS, such as Big Mickey, Izzy Gomez, O.J. and the Fultan Ferry have also been seen in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. Many of the TUGS models are still used today.
  • Two of the Z-Stacks, Zebedee and Zip, appeared in an episode from the fifth series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends called Something in the Air. The models had been heavily modified (including the removal of 'head' and hat) to look less characteristic, and more contemporary in appearance to the setting of the story.
  • "High Tide" was the only episode to include Top Hat in main plot and focus.
  • Captain Star (as the narrator), Ten Cents, and Sunshine were the only characters who appeared in every episode.
  • "Up River" is the only episode not to feature the Z stacks
  • Sunshine's smoke stack was originally white and he is from the salvage company in Up River. In the pilot episode, there is a goof as such, where Sunshine still sports his original white stack, but is half painted star tug yellow, this was obviously some kind of goof, because Sunshine hadn't officially joined the Star tug fleet yet, and would have no reason to be half-painted in their colours.
  • A second season was talked about, but (as of yet) nothing has been done.
  • Ghosts was the only episode to use cartoon animation.
  • On the Sunshine/Pirate and Munitions/4th of July videos Captain Star was called Captain Starr with two Rs (as in Ringo Starr).
  • The engines (such as Puffa) and the tugs are of the same gauge as the Thomas the tank engine models
  • "Jinxed" and Sunshine are the only episodes to use stock footage
  • Captain Zero only ever appeared in 3 episodes with speaking roles.
  • Hercules was absent for 6 episodes in the series - more than any other main character. Big Mac, OJ, and Top Hat, all starred in 12 individual episodes - being missing in 1 episode each respectively. Warrior stared in 11 episodes being missed in two respectively.
  • Zorran was absent in 2 episodes, Zebedee and Zak were absent in 4 episodes each, Zug and Zip were absent in 4 episodes each.
  • There is an American spin-off of TUGS called Salty's Lighthouse were several characters have different voices, Some have different names and some male characters are considered female. Despite this Salty's Lighthouse is not official canon of TUGS.

See also

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