Fireman Sam in Action

“	Ooh, you're talking to an expert, sir. Now, I suggest we step along to Bella's, and I'll show you just how nifty I am.	”
— Trevor to Station Officer Steele

Fireman Sam in Action is a 1996 live-action stage play that is 62-minutes long, featuring three different stories, "Fire Station Flood Alert", "Dilys’ Attic Fire" and "Pontypandy Fireworks Party". It was specifically filmed to be released on video. The film was released on April 1, 1996, distributed by BBC Video. The opening sequence was filmed on location at Aldenham Country Park, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. It features children from Parkside School learning fire safety with Fireman Sam (played by Gary Lucas). The film also marked the end of the original Fireman Sam series. The show also toured worldwide with its writer and director for seven years.

Plot Summary[]

Fire Station Flood Alert[]

Station Officer Steele (Ian Sinclair) fires Elvis (Mark Frederick) as the station cook. This gives Fireman Sam (Gary Lucas) an idea; He invents Pancake Prototype One and a robot called Bentley (Sarah Dyall) to be Elvis’ replacement. Norman was playing with Bentley, repeatedly getting his control cassette out and in. Bentley’s whistling was messing with Elvis’s sounds. Elvis Cridlington puts an Elvis Presley tape inside Bentley. Bentley was dancing and throwing stuff everywhere. Elvis was telling Bentley to go. Bentley broke the stopcock. Elvis was shouting for help! There was a flood in the fire station. Penny turned off the stopcock at the mains. She turned off the electricity. A flood was drained by the fire service. The water was cleared. A puddle appears but Bentley was very wet but he was fine and very waterproof. When it’s all sorted, they start to have what Bentley’s cooked, bangers and mash. After lunch, the fire service will expect the damage. It turns out that Bentley isn’t a good cook after all and everyone decides that Elvis should be reappointed. Elvis cooked the lunch.

Dilys’ Attic Fire[]

A few weeks later, the fire station crew set to work on a training film with Norman Price (Karen Briffett) as Trevor (Joe Vera)’s gopher. Production of the training film begins. When James (Kelly East) and Sarah (Emma Watt) arrive, they are asked to be "trapped" inside Jupiter’s garage. However, Norman secretly sets fire to some old newspapers. Later, Dilys (Sarah Carleton) looks for treasure in the attic, but the candle she uses for light starts a fire in the house. When she’s getting rescued, she argues about not letting go of a valuable vase that she found and could be in danger of breaking, and it ends up in Trevor’s hands. Bella (Sarah Dyall) then reveals that the vase was not so valuable after all and Dilys then lavishly praises the fire brigade, but they say it's all in a day's work.

Pontypandy Fireworks Party[]

On November 5, the crew are preparing for Bonfire Night whilst Norman is dressed up as a tree and pinches Bella's and Dilys' bottoms, making them argue with each other. His plan is foiled by some railings in which he ends up getting stuck. After the crew rescue him from the railings, Norman introduces his pet hedgehog, which he calls Brian. However, Brian scampers into the bonfire and Norman panics to get it out. The crew setup the "Guy" and light the bonfire. but Norman, who is searching for Brian, is in danger of being killed. After he’s rescued, it’s revealed that Brian was a female hedgehog and had just had babies. Norman lets them off into their natural habitat, and Bonfire Night is a success.

Cast[]

Gary Lucas as Fireman Sam
Ian Sinclair as Station Officer Steele
Joe Vera as Trevor Evans
Victoria Edwards as Penny Morris
Mark Frederick as Elvis Cridlington
Karen Briffett as Norman Price
Sarah Carleton as Dilys Price
Emma Watt as Sarah
Kelly East as James
Sarah Dyall as Bella Lasagne & Bentley the Robot

Trivia[]

Fire Station Flood Alert was partially based on the episode Bentley the Robot. However, Elvis Cridlington puts an Elvis Presley tape inside Bentley, which makes him malfunction and break the stopcock, starting a flood. In the episode, Norman put a Raiders of the Lost Universe video game cartridge inside Bentley, which caused him to malfunction and start a fire with oil (though Norman does try to scramble Bentley by inserting and removing Bentley's programming tape). Also, Penny was trapped inside the fire station during the fire, while in the episode, Bentley was inside during the flood.
Dilys' Attic Fire was partially based on the episode Rich and Famous.
Pontypandy Fireworks Party was partialy based on the episode Safe with Sam
In the series, Dilys' shop and Bella's café are situated across the road from each other, whereas in this play, they are much closer together.
In the TV series, Jupiter (J999) had a large red radiator grille with its number plate on a bumper, and was based on a 1974 Bedford TK. It was also wider and had three seats. In this stage production, it is narrower and has a slightly different design. The radiator grille is grey and much smaller, and the number plate is below the windscreen, with no front bumper.
In the TV series, Venus (V666) had a winch on its front (as seen in the episode Lost in the Fog) and was based on a six-wheeled 1982 Range Rover. In this stage production, the winch was on the back, and the side doors and third axle were removed.
The inner cover of the VHS cassette has the lyrics to the songs and a promotion for the songs from the shows being available on Fireman Sam "Ready For Action" audio cassette from Sony Wonder Records.

Goofs[]

In Dilys’ Attic Fire, when Bella gets in her café to phone the fire brigade when Dilys' attic burns, the fire brigade arrive immediately as if they'd already known.
Whenever Dilys Price’s shop and Bella Lasagne’s café are on screen, the fire station can be seen right behind them.
In the second story, the title card misspells Mrs Price's name as "Dily's".
At some points in the play, Jupiter's lights do not flash correctly.

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack, released as Fireman Sam "Ready For Action", was released in audio cassette format by Sony Wonder Records.