TV Gold

<!--QuoteBegin-Michael Briant+Apr 12 2005, 03:41 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Michael Briant @ Apr 12 2005, 03:41 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin--><a href='http://www.michaelbriant.com' target='_blank'>Michael Briant - Director and sailor</a>

In the 2nd??? series of Warship the producer became Joe Waters and the frigate playing HMS Hero became HMS Dido - interestingly their web page sent me an email a while ago - or I found it www.HMS-Dido.com - The Captain in those days was Douglas Borriman who was a phantom pilot in real life - he did the london/Paris to NY air race refueling his phantom in mid atlantic with only 10minutes gas left... Maybe emails contact with Dido web site might produce some crew memories.

I enjoyed and remember Warship because I purchased my first sailing boat with a cabin during the making of it and sailed across the channel in that little 22ft sloop.

Ian Macintosh always said the problem was finding stories for a War ship in peacetime circumstances... that was the problem - The whole purpose of the ship and crew is to wage war and there simply were not around when we were making the series.... I was saddend when the ITV version - Making Waves???- did not use any of the possibilties from the Falklands or Iraq.  Possibly cost - possibly the series needed an Ian M...

My memories of it were that the making of it was a joy - great fun - very exciting sometimes and quite challanging but the end result was possibly a little lightweight.. Mind you I have not seen it for 20 odd years or more...
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Thank you for your interesting insight into this show, knowledge of which seems to be rather thin on the ground at present.

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I thought it worth highlighting this forum on this BBC Naval drama series from the 70s today as the 21st of October 2005 is the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.

Hi,

Some time ago you wrote something about actress Prunella Ransome in Warship, you said she played Zoe Carter with "enthusiasm". I'm a big fan of Prunella Ransome and I would like you to tell me something more about your impressions on her as I've never watched the series myself. Maybe I didn't understand you, but did you mean she tried her best but didn't manage to give a really good performance?

Milton wrote:Hi,

Some time ago you wrote something about actress Prunella Ransome in Warship, you said she played Zoe Carter with "enthusiasm". I'm a big fan of Prunella Ransome and I would like you to tell me something more about your impressions on her as I've never watched the series myself. Maybe I didn't understand you, but did you mean she tried her best but didn't manage to give a really good performance?

Cheers for your reply Milton!

Regarding my comment about Prunella Ransome playing Zoe Carter with 'enthusiasm' I meant that she was able to inject a measure of believability and energy into the character making her performance interacting with the HMS Hero crew all the more natural. She certainly strengthened the Captain Holt season of Warship into one of the best of the entire series!

Interested to hear that you are a big fan of Prunella Ransome, I don't know her from anything else. Anything I might of heard of???

Sarah Tarrant wrote:Cheers for your reply Milton!

Regarding my comment about Prunella Ransome playing Zoe Carter with 'enthusiasm' I meant that she was able to inject a measure of believability and energy into the character making her performance interacting with the HMS Hero crew all the more natural. She certainly strengthened the Captain Holt season of Warship into one of the best of the entire series!

Interested to hear that you are a big fan of Prunella Ransome, I don't know her from anything else. Anything I might of heard of???

Hello again!

I'm happy to hear that you found Prunella Ransome's performance so good. People don't usually give good reviews to her performances, but I still think she is a really good actress.

I'm Spanish and I first saw her in "?Qui?n puede matar a un ni?o?" ("Who can kill a child?"), a 1976 Spanish film. I loved her performance in that film and since then I've been looking for information about her. I was so happy to hear that she took part in "Warship", this series sounds very good to me for what I have read in this forums.

I understand you not having heard about her apart from "Warship", I think she's never been very famous. Her only relevant role in cinema apart from "?Qui?n puede matar a un ni?o?" was in the John Schlesinger film "Far from the madding crowd", for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination in 1968.

In British TV she worked in "Country matters" (I don't know anything about this one, but some people say it was popular at the time it aired on TV), "A horseman riding by" and "Sorrell and son".

I found this forum by accident. But it jerked a whole bundle of memories.
I don't know if anyone is interested but... I served in the R.N. between 1968 and 1980. During this time I served in (Amost others) H.M.S. Phoebe. If any one would like to know what I looked like in those days ...(Can't think why anyone would...but...)you can see me raising the white Ensign during the opening titles of the series..
This kind of brings me to the nub of the post... Does anyone know how I could get hold of copies of the series... or a T.V. Station where it is being aired... It has been a while and I quite fancy the idea of seeing it again...

Sarah Tarrant wrote:ok then guys and gals, lets get a discussion going about this series.

Don't know about it? Well have a look below as, once more I've been pottering along on my laptop computer and here, copied and pasted what I've written into a new posting, so here for your eddification and delight is an introduction to the series:-

Originally made/broadcast between 1973 to 1976, the BBC television series ?Warship? follows the lives of the officers and crew of the Royal Navy Frigate HMS Hero. The series was created by Ian Mackintosh & Anthony Coburn, Mackintosh himself contributed many of the scripts used during the series run as well as, I believe, writing a now out of print novelisation based on the series. I am not aware of the backgrounds to these creators but suspect they must have had some personal involvement with the Royal Navy during their lifetime. The rousing theme music accompanying the title sequence (the opening showing Hero crashing dramatically through choppy waves whilst the closing has the ship sailing away against the left hand side episode credits) was composed by Anthony Isaac. This appropriately composed piece was performed by the Band of The Royal marines, Deal Lt.Col.P.J.Neville MVO, FRAM, RM.

To my knowledge the leading character of HMS Hero?s commanding officer changed three times during the life of the series thereby, I feel, subtly changing the style of the show. Taking the reins from the shows inception was the firm, resolute and highly respected Commander Mark Nialls who was a strong authoritative figure portrayed by Donald Burton. During 1975 actor Bryan Marshall replaced his illustrious predecessor as the fair haired Commander Alan Glenn whose background featured a career with the RAF. Although rather ?green? at naval command he was determined to come out of the shadow of the highly respected former Captain of Hero. Lastly, towards the end of the series run, during 1976, the seasoned sea going veteran, Captain Edward Holt (Derek Godfrey) provided a refreshing change of pace for the series leading character. Captain Holt, like Alan Glenn before him certainly found commanding ?Hero? a refreshing change from his previous career, in this instance Holt was a former Polaris nuclear submarine commander. Although a love interest for the Captain of Hero was never considered for Commander?s Nialls and Glenn (although mention of a past romance for Alan Glenn was mentioned during the ?First Turn of the Screw? episode) romance did blossom for Captain Holt. During the period that Hero was in Hong Kong Edward Holt encountered forthright independent journalist Zoe Carter (Prunella Ransome) who became a popular recurring ?civilian? character during the shows final year. Commander?s Nialls and Glenn were both ably supported by the dedicated first officer Lieutenant Commander Beaumount (David Savile) whilst Captain Holt gained the dashing, easy going, Lieutenant Commander James Napier shortly after Hero arrived in Hong Kong during the ?Windsong? incident. Other notable crewmembers serving during the series were MAA Heron (Don Henderson), seasoned electronics expert Lieutenant Commander Bill Kiley (John Lee), Leading Regulator Fuller (James Cosmo) and the young navigating officer Lieutenant Paul Peak (Andrew Burt).

I first learnt of Warship, typically, from seeing it on the once innovative UK Gold channel around 1995/1996 and found it to be a charming gentle drama with a factual base especially when compared with the high action gloss of the Paramount series JAG which had just started around that time. Although not really in the same league as the impressive portrayal of the military conveyed by the American series (currently strong as ever in its tenth year (2004/05)) there are certainly slight similarities between the two shows. Now I have to admit there are certainly quite a lot of what I would consider ?duff? episodes where nothing really happens and the series really does cry out for any kind of dramatic incidental music to liven things up. However saying that there are indeed some excellent performances, exciting stories, surprise guest stars, exotic locations, occasional technical insights and certainly a few occasional laughs along the way, in particular during Ian Mackintosh?s ?The Ides of Mark? story.

For the most part I found at the time that UK Gold?s scheduling of Warship rather inconvenient for me and tended to videotape a lot of the shows. At the time I had a Nicam stereo video recorder which I could link directly via suitable leads into my tape recorder. Not only could I get perfect stereo sound reproduction through my detachable speakers but I suddenly hit on the idea of taping soundtracks of programs where the plot was not totally reliant on visuals. Therefore, considering Warship a suitable candidate for this I eventually collected, I hasten to add, for my own personal enjoyment, eighteen of what I consider the best episodes onto nine nigh quality TDK AR90 audio cassettes, making the necessary trims wherever possible to fit the tape running time. Onto the inner tape cover I jotted down the complete cast list whilst on the flip side I constructed specific plot synopsis based purely on what I can hear from the recording. The captured sound quality is uniformly good, the stories are easy to follow in audio only format (good enough for radio transmission or maybe a new series created especially for radio?) and I now treasure these recordings now thinking of this series as ?my own little secret?. Could I be wrong about this or do other people have fond recollections of the series (maybe from it?s initial transmission) as well???
B)

p.s. O, and by the way a very Happy New Year to all members visiting the site!

Thank you very much Sarah Tarrant. I've started writing a novel, and somehow or other the name "Alan Glenn" came to me as a good strong name for a character. Any my 42 year old brain kept saying - it was a character's name on a TV show a long time ago. It was a good show." Tonight, I thought to google, and thanks to you, mystery is solved! I would have been 13 and 14 when I watched that show, but I remember I loved it! It was a great trip down memory lane. (I think I can keep the name - as if anyone will remember after all these years!)

Recently I?ve discovered an episode listing guide for the 1970?s BBC Naval drama series ?Warship? which gives season and UK Transmission breakdown information for the forty-five stories that were made. With gratitude towards http://www.tv.com/warship/show/9301/episode_listings.html?tag=tabs;episodes/, it?s indeed great that there is further recognition on the internet, of the existence of this rather forgotten, seemingly technically accurate portrayal of life in the Royal Navy, that was made now over thirty years ago. Admittedly I would have to agree that it is not the most engagingly exciting of series in its application with plenty of what can be construed as ?dud/slow moving/boring? story entries throughout its entire run however it certainly provided on occasion some suitably dramatic plots with elements of humour, pleasing cast interaction as well as towards the latter stages of its entire run, exotic foreign locations, hence my interest in collecting (through edited down forty-five minute stories, two per AR90 TDK audio cassettes) what, in my opinion, are the ?pick of crop?. I would like to add that at present I do not have a facility to make further tape copies of my collection and even if it was possible I guess I can only really view such an action as verging on some sort infringement of copyright law regarding the ownership of the material that I have recorded for my own personal enjoyment. Any comments I make, derived from the contents of these recordings are just a means to help stimulate interest and recollections regarding this particular BBC series. Anyway without further ado, let?s look over the now identified ?four year complete list?, one season at a time:-

SEASON ONE (1973 (UK TX : 7th June ? 9th August))
01. 1-1 Hot Pursuit (7th June)
02. 1-2 Nobody Said Frigate (14th June)
03. 1-3 Off Caps (21st June)
04. 1-4 Funny, They All Say That (28th June)
05. 1-5 The Drop (5th July)
06. 1-6 The Prize (12th July)
07. 1-7 Sub Smash* (19th July)
08. 1-8 A Standing and Jumping War (2nd August)
09. 1-9 Shoresides and Home* (9th August)

At only nine episodes long this rather looks like an initial tentative ?dipping the toe? into this ?Navy focused? format however I managed to select two gems from the line-up. On the ?B? side of my second audio tape (which I?ve identified by my own catalogue number : VTAT3252) is Season One?s seventh episode, a claustrophobic ?race against time rescue attempt? (events detailed take place over a seven hour period!) for Nialls and the HMS Hero boys as fellow exercise participant Royal Navy submarine HMS Omega hits a uncharted mine whist participating on a Sonar 8006 system test exercise. Aside from the tense, potentially life-threatening situation ?Sub Smash? is notable for the appearance of ?Survivors? regular Denis Lill as sub skipper, Lieutenant Commander Aubrey. Now identified as Season One finale ?Shoresides and Home? slots into the ?A? side of my third tape (VTAT3253) and provides likeable Master at Arms Heron played so memorably by gruff Don Henderson to dramatically go off the rails when his application for extended service is turned down. Although sad that his character is written out at such a point in the series the overall tone of ?Shoresides and Home? is rather upbeat and optimistic regarding Heron?s future outside the Royal Navy despite his apprehension at leaving the service. Also worthy of noting is that the cast also features a small cameo role for ?Secret Army?s? Ron Pember.

SEASON TWO (1974 (UK TX : 15th October ? 17th December))
10. 2-1 The Raid (15th October)
11. 2-2 Without Just Cause* (22nd October)
12. 2-3 Who Runs Across the Sea* (29th October)
13. 2-4 The Immortal Memory* (5th November)
14. 2-5 One of Those Days (12th November)
15. 2-6 The Man from the Sea* (19th November)
16. 2-7 Nothing to Starboard (26th November)
17. 2-8 Distant Waters* (3rd December)
18. 2-9 Away Seaboat?s Crew* (10th December)
19. 2-10 The Echo of Battle (17th December)

In my opinion the now identified Season Two is a far stronger collection with no less than six stories from this line-up featuring in my personal audio tape collection. ?The Raid? and ?Without Just Cause? effectively play out as a two-parter with the action in the former and the consequences of those events played out in the latter. Recording of ?Without Just Cause? (side A of VTAT3251) was at the time of its last repeat broadcast (over on UKTVGold during 1996) an experiment for me having just got the direct audio to video link up leads to make such a background noise free recording possible. As a courtroom drama it rather relies on stock footage and recollections from ?The Raid? but those involved certainly imbue the material with a convincing level of believability to their characters emotions. Third episode ?Who Runs Across the Sea? (slotting in to the ?B? side of VTAT3253) provides a masterfully resolute performance from veteran actor Kevin Stoney as R.A.F. Reliant Captain Ragg dealing with terrorists intent on acquiring his cargo of 16 Polaris Nuclear Warheads for their own sinister agenda. Much lighter in tone, fourth episode ?The Immortal Memory? opens atypically at a Plymouth party hosted by Zimba played by Doctor Who Romana actress Mary Tamm. With Struan Rodger?s memorable performance as anti-establishmentalist Sub Lieutenant Timothy Penn conflicting Nialls tradtionalist values its no wonder that I added this to my collection with it slotting on the ?A? side of VTAT3254. The major Boeing passenger aircraft crash rescue operation during ?The Man from the Sea? is further complicated by the possibility that amongst the survivors may be the very terrorist responsible for the disaster. No doubt about it regarding this tense premise which certainly marked this story out as another one for my collection (on the ?B? side of my VTAT3251 tape) which was further sweetened by the inclusion of highly respected cult entertainment genre actor Ed Bishop as security services investigator Sanders. ?Distant Waters? is an entirely moving story about aging fishing boat Skipper, Briggs played convincingly by Bernard Kay and his loyal but concerned crew which includes the outspoken first mate Ron Walker played by Tom Chadbon. Even on audio (side A of VTAT3252) the harsh deep sea fishing environment of this story is entirely evident in a story that also features a very young Christopher Blake as HMS Hero?s Surgeon Lieutenant Newcombe. Although Season Two?s penultimate tale, entitled ?Away Seaboat?s Crew? (my ?B? side of tape VTAT3255) is merely a tale of below decks rivalry resulting in a ?man overboard? it is significant in presenting us with a very early performance of ?The Professionals? series regular Lewis Collins as the stories central character Leading Seaman Steele.

back soon to talk about Seasons Three & Four...

SEASON THREE (1976 (UK TX : 6th January ? 30th March))
20. 3-1 And Wings of Gold (6th January)
21. 3-2 What Are Friends For? (13th January)
22. 3-3 Knight Errant (20th January)
23. 3-4 Hollow Man (27th January)
24. 3-5 Under the Surface (3rd February)
25. 3-6 Rough Run Home (10th February)
26. 3-7 All of One Company (17th February)
27. 3-8 Quiet Run Ashore (24th February)
28. 3-9 The Ides of Mark* (2nd March)
29. 3-10 The Buccaneer (9th March)
30. 3-11 Divert With Dispatch (16th March)
31. 3-12 Heart of Oak (23rd March)
32. 3-13 First Turn of the Screw* (30th March)

A bit of a gap between seasons saw the third run of ?Warship? present us with a new Captain of HMS Hero. The handsome, blonde haired Bryan Marshall took charge as former aviator Commander Alan Glenn, ably assisted once more by his first officer Lieutenant Commander Beaumont played with steely resolve by David Savile. Its now evident that this particular run didn?t, in my opinion, present as strong a run of stories as had featured during Season Two, however there were indeed a couple of significant entries in this line up. Played entirely for laughs, ninth episode ?The Ides of Mark? rekindles a former rivalry between Glenn and Hero?s illustrious former leader, Commander Mark Nialls during HMS Hero?s Naval inspection. The rumours that inspecting assistant officer Nialls leaks to the current officers of Hero about the wild and wacky ?evolutions? (tasks associated with the inspections) has them anxiously attempting to anticipate whatever might be dreamed up by the former Captain. With a cast that features Donald Hewlett as crusty old Rear-Admiral Staunton and Star Wars actor Dave Prowse as a rather slow-witted ex-wrestler ?The Barberry Ape? this is definitely a valued addition to my collection (side B of VTAT3254). Closing out this third run of ?Warship? and ?First Turn of the Screw? presents Glenn and the crew of HMS Hero with a mystery when they make a delivery to an isolated MoD scientific station. Not only notable for the guest starring appearance of Frederick Jager as base director Anvey but there is significant character background when Glenn encounters former love of his life Katharina, played by Caroline Mortimer. With location filming, an engaging, thought provoking central premise and significant character interaction ?First Turn of the Screw? certainly rates as the best of Season Three and works just as enjoyable on edited audio (finding a place on side A of my tape VTAT3255).

SEASON FOUR (1977 (UK TX : 4th January ? 29th March))
33. 4-1 Windsong* (4th January)
34. 4-2 Singapore Incident* (11th January)
35. 4-3 Diplomatic Package* (18th January)
36. 4-4 Rendezvous (25th January)
37. 4-5 The Girl From The Sea* (1st February)
38. 4-6 A Matter of History (8th February)
39. 4-7 Counter Charge* (15th February)
40. 4-8 Man In Reserve (22nd February)
41. 4-9 Fall From Grace* (1st March)
42. 4-10 Jack Fell Down (8th March)
43. 4-11 Robertson Crusoe* (15th March)
44. 4-12 Someone, Somewhere* (22nd March)
45. 4-13 Operation Sting-Ray** (29th March)

The fourth and final season of ?Warship? began with the greatest amount of change in the series history. Once again we had a new Captain in the form of former Polaris submarine Commander, the redoubtable Edward Holt as played by Derek Godfrey. Handsome actor Robert Morris joined HMS Hero as the amicable, youthful, dashing Lieutenant Commander James Napier, a character that was a distinct contrast to the icy resolve of David Savile?s Beaumont. Now I make no secret of the fact that opening episode ?Windsong? is, by far and away my favourite story of the entire series which apart from the new command structure on board ship opens this particular run by finding, rather unexpectedly our Royal Navy crew dropping anchor in the far off exotic destination of Hong Kong! At its heart ?Windsong? has the extremely engaging premise of nuclear testing protests in the pacific area, something that is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. Media interest is represented by gutsy determined freelance reporter Zoe Carter and through Prunella Ransome?s engaging performance this character becomes a welcome semi regular in the early part of this season. Adding further believability to the ?Windsong? script is Clifford Rose?s believable local MP Thomas Meryon whom during the course of the story allies himself with the protest movement. In short this continues to feel like a true ?breath of fresh air? for the series with the whole dynamic seemingly lightened and changed in tone and ?Windsong?, sitting on the ?A? side of my VTAT3256 tape, is one story that I?ve probably listened to more than any other! Although less successful as an audio story, second story ?Singapore Incident? is still an exciting ?locate and deliver top secret papers? premise and admirably compliments ?Windsong? on the ?B? side of that very tape. Rural location filming, particularly towards the latter stages, during the exciting lengthy car chase sequence visually helps to further reinforce the atypical foreign location into which HMS Hero is currently stationed. Another significant point in its favour is the guest starring appearance of Peter Miles as the ruthless, dispassionate Frances Corbin whose ulterior motives regarding the nature of the Hero crews mission only becomes apparent at the end of the episode. On side A of my VTAT3257 tape, the very next episode in Season Four is the light-hearted ?Diplomatic Package? with our HMS Hero boys attempting to gain favourable oil concessions through island Foreign Affairs Minister Zee Khay Lim?s influential recommendations. This high profile official is rendered by the reassuringly charming self-assured performance of guest star Burt Kwouk. In such a pleasant easy-going story there is also a touching secondary plot of Zee Khay Lim?s daughter Akiko (Fiesta Mei-Ling) persuading the clearly besotted navigating officer Lieutenant Paul Peek to smuggle her onboard Hero bound for to Hong Kong. Skipping over to fifth episode ?Girl From The Sea? and the series again makes good location filming use of their Far East location in another relaxed, pleasant story this time centering around an initially drowning Chinese girl which HMS Hero rescue during a Naval exercise. The girl, later identified as nightclub singer Lily Tan has had a falling out with her adopted father, the local wealthy businessman Henry Witzel played by ?Survivors? guest star (Season 3?s ?Mad Dog?) Morris Perry. Also in the cast we find, in a brief cameo scene briefly uttering a few words of Chinese to Akiko, as local Police Inspector Fielding, Prentis Hancock. Despite his reservations about visiting a nightclub, Edward Holt, persuaded by Zoe Carter spend an evening at the establishment where Akiko performs and it quickly becomes clear that through Fiesta Mei-Ling?s engaging performance that this young lady is quite a talented vocalist backed by ?The Chris Allan Sound?. Although now having left Hong Kong behind them the latter stages of Season Four still, I feel, present us with some enjoyably entertaining stories, the first of which being seventh episode ?Counter Charge? which although uses sets onboard ship presents us with good performances from both James Cosmo as Leading Regulator Fuller and Frank Jarvis as Master At Arms Burnett. Essentially this is a ?whodunit robbery? premise however engaging enough for me to add it to my audio collection as VTAT3259?s side A. Friendly inter-ship rivalry forms the premise of ninth episode ?Fall From Grace? (Side A of VTAT3258) in a tale that not only brings Prunella Ransome?s Zoe Carter into the light-hearted proceedings but also features a guest appearance for Robert Gillespie as a visiting NAFFI Manager. Undoubtedly the strongest aspect of eleventh episode ?Robertson Crusoe? is the inclusion of former second Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton here endearingly playing a gruff reclusive Scot called Robertson whom HMS Hero discover living on a presumed uninhabited isolated island. On that basis alone ?Robertson Crusoe? justifies its Side B place on my VTAT3258 tape however this story further offers the tense ?unexploded mine being transported to Belfast? premise to the episode making this another essential Season Four episode. With its fairly domestic ?end of season? feel to it you could almost discount twelfth episode ?Someone, Somewhere? however it is significant in calling challenging the depth of Captain Holt?s romantic relationship with Zoe Carter when visiting Security Services officer, Commander Hirsch (played by John Ringham) suspects the freelance journalist of being a potential security risk. There are moving scenes between Holt and Zoe when you almost think that they may actually go their separate ways so from a dramatic standpoint it is certainly justified in its inclusion in my audio collection (Side B of VTAT3259). Rounding off the season and series ?Warship? goes out in a blaze of glory with the exciting action-packed ?Operation Sting-Ray? (my only story that I currently have on VHS video from its last UKTVGold repeat in 1996) which shows off to great effect the military might of Royal Navy forces to evacuate Consulate staff and their families from a country in the throws of civil unrest. Caught up in the middle of this is our feisty freelance journalist Zoe Carter whom resolutely refuses to be evacuated rather than miss the chance to report the story from the centre of the conflict. Proving his love for her Captain Edward Holt risks his command and career by single-handedly rescuing her from the clutches of a member of the rebel forces in true heroic style. I mean who could ask for more from a story which so effectively and dramatically ended the four year run of ?Warship?!

Recently I've had another one of those marvellous 'Insight Guides' books on loan from the library, in this instance this title focuses on Hong Kong (ISBN 981-4120-40-5). In the 'New Territories:Centre' section of the 'Places' chapter I came across the following (on page 201-202) regarding Sha Tin - one of Hong Kong's fastest growing New Towns. In the Sha Tin Valley it says "From the Temple of 10,000 Buddahs, you can look across the valley at the Amah Rock, so named because it looks like an amah, or nanny with a baby on her back. Legend has it that a local fisherman once went to sea and did not return with his fleet. His wife waited patiently for his return day after day, but he did not appear. After a year the gods took pity on her and turned her to stone. Today the rock is a place of worship for Chinese women and stands as a symbol of women's loyalty and faithfulness."

Stangely enough this unique landmark briefly found its way into an episode of the BBC's naval drama series 'Warship'. During the official reception between the crew of Hero and local Lo Klown dignatories in fourth season story 'Diplomatic Package' it soon becomes clear that Navigating Officer Lieutenant Paul Peak is besotted with Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Zee Khay Lim's daughter Akiko. At 2.00pm the following day the couple take a romantic stroll through a picturesque part of the residency grounds (which used to be a temple). It is here that Akiko points out the aforementioned Amah Rock somewhat distant from where they are standing. In keeping with her characters infatuation with the naive and easily led Hero officer actress Fiesta Mei-Ling breathlessly says, in a soft tone 'there's a legend about it, a love story. A fisherman's wife always went up there to await his return. He perished at sea as she watched and waited there for one year until the gods transported her and her child to the husband and left that monument to her fidelity.'

Just found an 8 part YouTube offering of a 1973 story called "The Drop" written by Robert Holmes...

part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BphwqmSRD_E
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVe3oq-Q8iw
part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqUBPI5lvAU
part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45WeS8kzJQ0
part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ygbjta71IU
part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjobTqq-phs
part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41uqCazhEq4
part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY_A_DP5bE4

The picture quality looks surprisingly good, great to see this again as it's one that's always on my wish list for a DVD release (official or unofficial)!

Pleased to find "Under The Surface" on offer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZU2zFhr6U

as well as "A Standing and Jumping War"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDMvTSeXmlU&feature=related

There is also the five part "Away Sea Boats Crew" featuring Lewis Collins...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NmxV7DQC5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5rk1LY0Zic&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjVFMGbhyYk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08VBddqv4s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si1K41GveQs&feature=related

Many thanks to the individuals whom have uploaded these, very good to see them!