The Onedin Line - The Complete Series 1 [DVD] [1971]

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Popularity in communist Romania [ edit ] Gilmore's signature (as Onedin) in an autograph for the Romanian paper Scînteia Tineretului, December 1978 The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. James Onedin ( Peter Gilmore), the younger son of Samuel Onedin, a miserly ship chandler, who left his shop and money to his elder son Robert, and a few words of advice to James. He was a 28 year old penniless sea captain with aspirations to greater things. To become a ship-owner, he marries Anne Webster, who is over 30, some years his senior. She is the spinster daughter of Captain Joshua Webster ( James Hayter), owner of the topsail schooner Charlotte Rhodes. At first, it is purely a business transaction on Onedin's part and a pragmatic solution to penniless spinsterhood on Anne's part; but a warmer relationship gradually develops.

Elizabeth and Daniel became estranged, as their business interests differ and he rises in political circles to become ambassador to Turkey. She refuses to go with him, and remains to run Frazer's. As time goes by, a reconciliation between Elizabeth and Daniel is in the offing as they exchange letters and Daniel resigns as ambassador. On his return to Liverpool, his ship is in a collision and he is declared missing.

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Among the historic ships and boats featured in the series was the steam pinnace Hero, then owned and lent by John Player & Sons, [11] [12] and the following tall ships: Series three to eight are available on DVD from Memphis Belle in the Netherlands, and all are uncut. All series are also available in Germany. By the final series, James is married to a third wife, the exotic Margarita Juarez, and is, by then, a grandfather. He is framed for theft and imprisoned. He is freed when Elizabeth, Baines, and Samuel discover evidence to clear his name. On his release, he takes to the sea again with Captain Baines, on business to South America, stabilising his life for the next 20 years, only to find Margarita as a stowaway. On the voyage home, she reveals that she is pregnant and unable, as was Baines as a cargo captain, to deliver the baby, so the cook is left to do the job. A baby son is delivered, with both mother and son well. James names the boy William, after Captain Baines. By the end of the series, James is in his mid-60s, or older. Initially angry at Anne's decision to marry James, but more so at the loss of his ship, he comes to accept the situation, though he is the first to point out James' flaws. After his daughter's death he fell under the oversight of Robert and Sarah, much to their irritation. On several occasions James sent him off to conduct business, usually on ships captained by Captain Baines. The relationship between the two is usually one of comical frustration. Captain Webster is not heard of again after Series 3, so it is assumed that he died some time during the mid/late 1870s.

It would not be until 2007 that all 15 episodes of the first series became available uncut on DVD, in the UK from 2 entertain in a four-disc set. One day I stumbled across the word Ondine, a mythological sea creature. By transposing the "e", I had James Onedin, a sea devil. Captain Joshua Webster ( James Hayter), the father of Anne Onedin and the original owner of the "Charlotte Rhodes". When the series begins he is a retired Royal Navy Captain on a small pension. He has been unable to maintain the "Charlotte Rhodes" in a seaworthy condition, and now spends most of his pension on rum.

Lady Fogarty, Elizabeth Fogarty (nee Onedin, formerly Frazer) ( Jessica Benton), James's volatile sister, works in their father's shop. She is informally engaged to marry seafarer Daniel Fogarty ( Michael Billington). However, she does not fancy being a sea captain's wife, and wants better things. Her head is turned by the attentions of the wealthy Albert Frazer ( Philip Bond), developer of steamship technology and heir to the Frazer shipyards, a connection James soon turns to his own advantage. After a heated moment of passion aboard the "Charlotte Rhodes" with Daniel Fogarty, she falls pregnant. Against the advice of her family, she elopes with Albert. Elizabeth gives birth to a son, William Frazer, who she initially tried to raise as Albert's son. William's true parentage is accidentally revealed by James's brother, Robert, at a party for the child's first birthday. Albert agrees to raise William as his own. Samuel Onedin ( Christopher Douglas), son of Robert and Sarah and heir to his father's department store. As a youngster, he grew up with William and Charlotte and was more interested in the sea and ships. He became a stowaway on one of James's ships. On his father's death, he began to run the department store with his mother. Always fond of Charlotte, he married her when she became pregnant with William's baby. Charlotte never reciprocated his feelings, leading to an acrimonious parting after she went off with a sea captain leaving her two children. After a trip to the United States, he returned with a new bride, Caroline. An heiress to a fortune, she immediately put Charlotte in her place by taking full control of the children's upbringing. When Caroline's ambitions for Samuel's election as an MP in Daniel Fogarty's seat failed, she grew colder. Samuel secretly saw Charlotte.