Original title
Ivor the Engine
Released
1/26/1976
Origin country
GB
Genre
Animation, Family
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
5
Number of episodes
97
Ivor the Engine is a British children's animation by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It is a children's television series relating the adventures of a small green locomotive who lived in the "top left-hand corner of Wales" and worked for The Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Limited. His friends included Jones the Steam, Evans the Song and Dai Station, among many other characters.
Original black and white series from 1958.
Nothing out of the ordinary even happens on this little railway in the top left-hand corner of Wales. But what ordinarily happens is often fairly extraordinary!
Who lays eggs in a Volcano? Somebody does and Jones and Ivor take the gold-miner's advice and keep it warm - until they hear it sing!
What is the proper container for red-hot livestock? The Regulations are quite definite but definitely inflammable. So another, more suitable conveyance must be found.
Some creatures are real and some are mythical, even if they are good at frying fish, and they want to stay mythical.
If you want to hide, perhaps the best thing is to pretend you were never there in the first place - even if it does make your friend look a bit of a fool.
Mrs Porty does wear some unusual hats but she wouldn't expect to be arrested for wearing one of them - certainly not in front of the Church Ladies Guild!
It's a hard life being a sheep dog, especially when the silly sheep and the engine driver need to be rescued. Sometimes railway engines are more sensible than people.
Ivor the Engine, when he sings, could charm the very birds off the trees - or at least the pigeons off Miss Price's roof.
Visitors are always welcome. Even wounded visitors weighing several tons can be accomodated by Mr Hughes the Gasworks.
Nobody likes to take medicine, but some patients are so unhelpful that even the most patient nurse loses patience and gets the boot.
We can all be recognised by the sort of clothes we wear, but this invalid is rescued by her boot and everybody is happy at last.
If you are far from home it is a great joy if home comes to find you. And what a show it puts on when it does!
Are these strange apparitions flying saucers or just the bubbles of a goldminer's boredom - and what's the use of gold anyway?
Some wear fancy hats in order to look beautiful. Some wear them to save their friends - but what else should an engine-driver do?
A good donkey will always do what she is told, even though she has to run a long way to do it. Luckily there are wheels for the return journey.
The dividing line between being a nuisance and being useful depends on what sort of disaster is waiting for a small engine.
What is the point in having a bit of gold put by if you can't spend a bit to help your friends when they are in trouble.
Perhaps gold will not do to buy the railway, but Mrs Porty is not going to stand by and let her donkey lose a dear friend.
Volcanoes are not really things that people need, but for some they are home from home - if they can find one.
If you can't find a desirable volcano, then you must seek the help of a learned society which has a lot of half-crowns.
When the snow is deep and Mrs Williams runs out of jelly-babies, it is time to invent something to move the snow out of the way.
Some snowdrifts are just snow, but some have more than snow in them, and they must not be ploughed aside, even for the sake of the General's new teeth.
Some fire engines will go absolutely anywhere, so long as they don't get stuck. Then they must not be too proud to ask for help.
Pulling sledges up the hill can be quite fun, if you are strong enough, but it can be even more fun sledging down the hill again - if you have a sledge.
When all the latest technical equipment cannot pull you out of trouble, perhaps it is time to get help from more old-fashioned pushers and pullers.
Some engines are very particular about what they will or will not be willing to drink, for the sake of who or what happens to be in the drink.
We must always do what we can to help others, even if they do chose to build their houses in such extraordinarily silly places.
It doesn't tell the time any more, it doesn't sing anymore. It is no use at all, except to a homelessbird and her family.
Some trumpets sound very low indeed, but some sound so loud that only mythical creatures can hear them, and they will come to your aid.
What is life if full of case we have no time to be with our friends and do nothing at all. We don't all have to be busy all the time.
Everybody loves to go to the seaside and have fun splashing about in the surf, but some of us aren't able to - and that is a bit sad.
Engines don't always do what you would expect them to do, but luckily they are very rarely stolen by gangsters.
Even the most difficult feats of engineering can be achieved, especially if they will help a friend to join in the fun, and also get very wet.
The money may no longer buy things in the shops, but people who know where to find it can help to keep the dragons warm.
Who said only dogs can herd sheep? Everybody should be allowed to have a try and it doesn't matter a bit how heavy they are.
When Ivor leaves to seek his fame and fortune, who or what can take his place? Is it worth a load of gold just for the pleasure of seing it go?
Ivor has earned a small fortune, but even though he knows what he wants to buy with it, can he persuade them to take the money?
Keeping lots of friends warm on his boiler may help to keep his friends warm, but it makes him a bit grubby. But there are some advantages in it.
Very small dragons do sometimes make mistakes when they meet an old enemy, especially if they don't notice what he is made of.
There are places where a dragon could possibly live, but wouldn't want to, and there are places which, with a little help, will do very nicely, thankyou.
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