Series 5

Main Page

Behind the Scenes

Gallery

Series 5
Series Overview
Director(s)	Timon Dowdeswell
Producer(s)	Robin Lyons
Composer(s)	Ben Heneghan Ian Lawson
Release Details
No. of episodes	26 (ENG) 13 each (WEL)
Released	October 6, 2003 - May 13, 2004 (WEL) 4 April - 24 December 2005 (ENG)
Episode Guide
← Previous	Series 4
Next →	Series 6

The fifth series of Fireman Sam (individually known as the fourth series and the fifth series in the Welsh language) first aired from October 6, 2003 to May 13, 2004 in the UK in the Welsh language, 4 April to 24 December 2005 in the UK in the English language, sometime in 2005 in Australia and 2006 in the United States. This series has 26 episodes. However, in the Welsh language, this series has 13 episodes. The reason why it has 13 episodes in Wales is because England was one series ahead of Wales, as the second series was a part of the first series in Wales. To keep it right on track, they decided to split the the fifth series episodes in half so both English and Welsh languages would be on the same level.

Production

In December 2001, Gullane Entertainment announced they had purchased a 50% stake in the Fireman Sam property from S4C, with the intention of remastering the earlier episodes and producing a new series of twenty-six episodes, ten minutes in length like with the classic series. Gullane was soon purchased by HiT Entertainment in October 2002, bringing the Fireman Sam rights to them. On 25 October, it was announced that the series would be animated by Siriol Productions, a subsidiary of Entertainment Rights, owners of Postman Pat and Basil Brush, and that the episodes would be delivered to S4C and the BBC for a 2005 delivery.

These episodes use more modern techniques of stop motion claymation including mouths that move with the dialogue. This series featured all the original characters (except Bentley the Robot, Ferdinand the Frog and the Jackdaw), but also introduced some new faces, such as Tom Thomas, the Australian pilot of the rescue helicopter Wallaby One and the Mountain Rescue 4×4 Jeep, an unnamed photographer/news reporter, and the Flood family; consisting of Mike the Plumber, his wife Helen the Nurse, and their daughter Mandy. Though still loosely based on a Bedford TK, the updated Jupiter has six wheels, with a slightly revised livery and appearance. Venus also received an update, with its design sporting a more generic modern appearance, though not based on any real-life model in particular.

Timon Dowdeswell had previously worked as animator in Series 3 and Series 4 and Joshua Jones at Bumper Films and he was chosen to be the director. Ben Heneghan and Ian Lawson also came back to provided the music. Robin Lyons, who wrote the lyrics for the English version of the theme song, was the producer and he wrote some episodes in Series 5.

Various props from the Classic Series were reused for this series including the fire station's emergency bell, Norman's skateboard, Sam's living room radio in the station's shed, various food products that were seen in Dilys' shop in Series 1-4 were reused again in Series 5 for the shop, some noticeable props from the original 32 episodes and a handful of props from "Joshua Jones" and "Star Hill Ponies". The buildings, like the fire station and the houses in Pontypandy were all rebuilt while the original buildings of Dilys' Shop and Bella's Café were reused for Series 5 with some modifications done to the models, mainly Bella's Café.

When it came time to decide who would be voicing the characters, Andrew Offiler felt that John Alderton's Welsh accent for the characters was "too generic," so he did not come back to voice the characters from the classic series again. This meant the team had to find new actors to take over from Alderton and can do more specific Welsh accents. The main characters in this series were voiced by John Sparkes, Joanna Ruiz and Sarah Hadland.

Episodes

• Packaging
• Welsh (Series 4 & 5)
• English

Screenshot	Title	Written by	Packaging number #
	Danger Falling Sheep	Stan Hey	5.01
	When Norman tries to climb Pontypandy Mountain, he finds himself stranded on a ledge with a fallen lamb.
	Twist of Fate	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.02
	Station Officer Steele gets in a tight spot during a potholing expedition with Mandy and Norman and has to be rescued by sniffer dog Dusty.
	A Real Live Wire	Steve Sullivan	5.03
	Mandy thinks a squirrel will be a good pet but his taste for electrical cables leads to a fire...
	Bug Eyed Boy from Venus	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.04
	Naughty Norman's U.F.O. hoax goes awry after he stumbles into a swamp.
	Bathtime for Dusty	Nigel Crowle	5.05
	Scruffy mutt Dusty is chosen to be the fire station mascot but first he must have a bath.
	Neighbourhood Watchout	Holly Lyons	5.06
	Mandy, Sarah and James decide to start a junior neighbourhood watch scheme, but get rather carried away.
	Twitchers in Trouble	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.07
	Trevor is looking forward to his date with Dilys and decides to take her birdwatching. However, a fire at Trevor's birdwatching hide ensures that the date is hotter than planned.
	Carnival of Junk	Annie Smyth	5.08
	A rubbish tip proves to be a trap for the unwary James, but then the recycled rubbish becomes the centrepiece in a Carribbean-style carnival.
	Mummy's Little Pumpkin	Chris Donlan and Jonathan Davies	5.09
	Halloween is scarier than normal after Norman leaves his pumpkin lantern unattended.
	Joker Soaker	Robin Lyons	5.10
	Norman is wasting water with his brand new Joker Soaker water pistol, but it comes in handy when Dusty the dog gets his head stuck in some iron railings during the heatwave.
	Fit for Nothing	Annie Smyth	5.11
	The firefighters are training hard to appear in the Wales Fittest Firefighters calendar to see who is the fittest.
	Deep Water	Stan Hey	5.12
	Mandy and Norman get into deep water when they go hunting for treasure, but something goes muddy when Mandy digs up a hole and falls right into it.
	Beast of Pontypandy	Annie Smyth	5.13
	A black beast appears in Pontypandy and Woolly has disappeared.
	Pizza Palaver	Stan Hey	5.14
	Bella is as sick as a parrot when a bird's nest falls down the chimney and into her new oven!
	Fun Run	Holly Lyons	5.15
	One day in Pontypandy, a fun run has been organized for charity. Unfortunately, Norman's cheating ways has put James (who has twisted his ankle) and the other competitors in danger.
	Trouble and Squeak	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.16
	Norman has taken a school mouse home to look after. Unsurprisingly, it escapes and causes havoc when both Rosa and the mouse end up stuck in Bella's chimney.
	King of the Jungle	Les Brooksbank	5.17
	The Tarzan yell of Norman Price raises the alarm when Sarah and James get caught in a flaming haystack.
	Norman's Invisible Friend	John Sinclair	5.18
	Norman invents a fictitious friend named Owein to get double helpings of everything. When Mike Flood overloads the plug socket in the kitchen, it causes a fire in the Flood's house, Norman has to own up that his invisible friend isn't real when Mandy is trapped inside the house.
	High Jinx	Annie Smyth	5.19
	Norman uses a power kite to help him with his deliveries, but soon he loses control and falls into the lake.
	The Case of the Liquorice Shoelaces	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.20
	Someone has been stealing liquorice from Dilys' shop. But who?
	Fiery Finale	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.21
	Norman causes a fire at the Pontypandy talent show and ruins Elvis' guitar.
	Birthday Surprise	Annie Smyth	5.23
	It is Sam's birthday and everyone is keen to surprise him. Norman is tasked with keeping Sam out of the gym, but a fire at Bella's café distracts Sam.
	Firefighter of Tomorrow	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.23
	Norman wants to be a fireman when he grows up, but he can't wait that long.
	Fields of Fire	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	5.25
	Norman and Mandy discover that smoke gets in their eyes when Dusty disturbs a campfire.
	Let it Snow	Marie Davis	5.25
	Naughty Norman has his heart set on a Christmas tree.
	The Big Freeze	Annie Smyth	5.26
	Norman raises everyone's temperature with the bed he builds for his pet lamb Woolly, but he leaves the electric blanket unattended and causes a fire.

Series 4

Screenshot	Title	Written by	Original Welsh release date	Welsh broadcast number #
	Danger Falling Sheep	Stan Hey	October 2003	4.01
	When Norman tries to climb Pontypandy Mountain, he finds himself stranded on a ledge with a fallen lamb.
	Twist of Fate	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	October 2003	4.02
	Station Officer Steele gets in a tight spot during a potholing expedition with Mandy and Norman and has to be rescued by sniffer dog Dusty.
	A Real Live Wire	Steve Sullivan	October 2003	4.03
	Mandy thinks a squirrel will be a good pet but his taste for electrical cables leads to a fire...
	Bug Eyed Boy from Venus	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	October 2003	4.04
	Naughty Norman's U.F.O. hoax goes awry after he stumbles into a swamp.
	Bathtime for Dusty	Nigel Crowle	October 2003	4.05
	Scruffy mutt Dusty is chosen to be the fire station mascot but first he must have a bath.
	Neighbourhood Watchout	Holly Lyons	October 2003	4.06
	Mandy, Sarah and James decide to start a junior neighbourhood watch scheme, but get rather carried away.
	Twitchers in Trouble	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	October 2003	4.07
	Trevor is looking forward to his date with Dilys and decides to take her birdwatching. However, a fire at Trevor's birdwatching hide ensures that the date is hotter than planned.
	Carnival of Junk	Annie Smyth	October 2003	4.08
	A rubbish tip proves to be a trap for the unwary James, but then the recycled rubbish becomes the centrepiece in a Carribbean-style carnival.
	Mummy's Little Pumpkin	Chris Donlan and Jonathan Davies	October 2003	4.09
	Halloween is scarier than normal after Norman leaves his pumpkin lantern unattended.
	Joker Soaker	Robin Lyons	October 2003	4.10
	Norman is wasting water with his brand new Joker Soaker water pistol, but it comes in handy when Dusty the dog gets his head stuck in some iron railings during the heatwave.
	Fit for Nothing	Annie Smyth	October 2003	4.11
	The firefighters are training hard to appear in the Wales Fittest Firefighters calendar to see who is the fittest.
	Deep Water	Stan Hey	October 2003	4.12
	Mandy and Norman get into deep water when they go hunting for treasure, but something goes muddy when Mandy digs up a hole and falls right into it.
	Beast of Pontypandy	Annie Smyth	2004	4.13
	A black beast appears in Pontypandy and Woolly has disappeared.

Series 5

Screenshot	Title	Written by	Original Welsh release date	Welsh broadcast number #
	Pizza Palaver	Stan Hey	May 2004	5.01
	Bella is as sick as a parrot when a bird's nest falls down the chimney and into her new oven!
	Fun Run	Holly Lyons	May 2004	5.02
	One day in Pontypandy, a fun run has been organized for charity. Unfortunately, Norman's cheating ways has put James (who has twisted his ankle) and the other competitors in danger.
	Trouble and Squeak	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	May 2004	5.03
	Norman has taken a school mouse home to look after. Unsurprisingly, it escapes and causes havoc when both Rosa and the mouse end up stuck in Bella's chimney.
	King of the Jungle	Les Brooksbank	May 2004	5.04
	The Tarzan yell of Norman Price raises the alarm when Sarah and James get caught in a flaming haystack.
	Norman's Invisible Friend	John Sinclair	May 2004	5.05
	Norman invents a fictitious friend named Owein to get double helpings of everything. When Mike Flood overloads the plug socket in the kitchen, it causes a fire in the Flood's house, Norman has to own up that his invisible friend isn't real when Mandy is trapped inside the house.
	High Jinx	Annie Smyth	May 2004	5.06
	Norman uses a power kite to help him with his deliveries, but soon he loses control and falls into the lake.
	The Case of the Liquorice Shoelaces	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	May 2004	5.07
	Someone has been stealing liquorice from Dilys' shop. But who?
	Fiery Finale	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	May 2004	5.08
	Norman causes a fire at the Pontypandy talent show and ruins Elvis' guitar.
	Birthday Surprise	Annie Smyth	May 2004	5.09
	It is Sam's birthday and everyone is keen to surprise him. Norman is tasked with keeping Sam out of the gym, but a fire at Bella's café distracts Sam.
	Firefighter of Tomorrow	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	May 2004	5.10
	Norman wants to be a fireman when he grows up, but he can't wait that long.
	Fields of Fire	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	May 2004	5.11
	Norman and Mandy discover that smoke gets in their eyes when Dusty disturbs a campfire.
	Let it Snow	Marie Davis	May 2004	5.12
	Naughty Norman has his heart set on a Christmas tree.
	The Big Freeze	Annie Smyth	2004	5.13
	Norman raises everyone's temperature with the bed he builds for his pet lamb Woolly, but he leaves the electric blanket unattended and causes a fire.

Screenshot	Title	Written by	Original English release date	English broadcast number #
	Danger Falling Sheep	Stan Hey	4 April 2005	5.01
	When Norman tries to climb Pontypandy Mountain, he finds himself stranded on a ledge with a fallen lamb.
	The Big Freeze	Annie Smyth	5 April 2005	5.02
	Norman raises everyone's temperature with the bed he builds for his pet lamb Woolly, but he leaves the electric blanket unattended and causes a fire.
	Twist of Fate	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	6 April 2005	5.03
	Station Officer Steele gets in a tight spot during a potholing expedition with Mandy and Norman and has to be rescued by sniffer dog Dusty.
	A Real Live Wire	Steve Sullivan	7 April 2005	5.04
	Mandy thinks a squirrel will be a good pet but his taste for electrical cables leads to a fire...
	Bug Eyed Boy from Venus	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	8 April 2005	5.05
	Naughty Norman's U.F.O. hoax goes awry after he stumbles into a swamp.
	Bathtime for Dusty	Nigel Crowle	11 April 2005	5.06
	Scruffy mutt Dusty is chosen to be the fire station mascot but first he must have a bath.
	Neighbourhood Watchout	Holly Lyons	12 April 2005	5.07
	Mandy, Sarah and James decide to start a junior neighbourhood watch scheme, but get rather carried away.
	Twitchers in Trouble	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	13 April 2005	5.08
	Trevor is looking forward to his date with Dilys and decides to take her birdwatching. However, a fire at Trevor's birdwatching hide ensures that the date is hotter than planned.
	Carnival of Junk	Annie Smyth	14 April 2005	5.09
	A rubbish tip proves to be a trap for the unwary James, but then the recycled rubbish becomes the centrepiece in a Carribbean-style carnival.
	Mummy's Little Pumpkin	Chris Donlan and Jonathan Davies	15 April 2005	5.10
	Halloween is scarier than normal after Norman leaves his pumpkin lantern unattended.
	Joker Soaker	Robin Lyons	18 April 2005	5.11
	Norman is wasting water with his brand new Joker Soaker water pistol, but it comes in handy when Dusty the dog gets his head stuck in some iron railings during the heatwave.
	Fit for Nothing	Annie Smyth	19 April 2005	5.12
	The firefighters are training hard to appear in the Wales Fittest Firefighters calendar to see who is the fittest.
	Deep Water	Stan Hey	20 April 2005	5.13
	Mandy and Norman get into deep water when they go hunting for treasure, but something goes muddy when Mandy digs up a hole and falls right into it.
	Beast of Pontypandy	Annie Smyth	21 April 2005	5.14
	A black beast appears in Pontypandy and Woolly has disappeared.
	Pizza Palaver	Stan Hey	22 April 2005	5.15
	Bella is as sick as a parrot when a bird's nest falls down the chimney and into her new oven!
	Fun Run	Holly Lyons	25 April 2005	5.16
	One day in Pontypandy, a fun run has been organized for charity. Unfortunately, Norman's cheating ways has put James (who has twisted his ankle) and the other competitors in danger.
	Trouble and Squeak	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	26 April 2005	5.17
	Norman has taken a school mouse home to look after. Unsurprisingly, it escapes and causes havoc when both Rosa and the mouse end up stuck in Bella's chimney.
	King of the Jungle	Les Brooksbank	27 April 2005	5.18
	The Tarzan yell of Norman Price raises the alarm when Sarah and James get caught in a flaming haystack.
	Norman's Invisible Friend	John Sinclair	28 April 2005	5.19
	Norman invents a fictitious friend named Owein to get double helpings of everything. When Mike Flood overloads the plug socket in the kitchen, it causes a fire in the Flood's house, Norman has to own up that his invisible friend isn't real when Mandy is trapped inside the house.
	High Jinx	Annie Smyth	29 April 2005	5.20
	Norman uses a power kite to help him with his deliveries, but soon he loses control and falls into the lake.
	The Case of the Liquorice Shoelaces	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	3 May 2005	5.21
	Someone has been stealing liquorice from Dilys' shop. But who?
	Fiery Finale	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	4 May 2005	5.22
	Norman causes a fire at the Pontypandy talent show and ruins Elvis' guitar.
	Birthday Surprise	Annie Smyth	5 May 2005	5.23
	It is Sam's birthday and everyone is keen to surprise him. Norman is tasked with keeping Sam out of the gym, but a fire at Bella's café distracts Sam.
	Firefighter of Tomorrow	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	6 May 2005	5.24
	Norman wants to be a fireman when he grows up, but he can't wait that long.
	Fields of Fire	Robin Lyons and Andrew Offiler	9 May 2005	5.25
	Norman and Mandy discover that smoke gets in their eyes when Dusty disturbs a campfire.
	Let it Snow	Marie Davis	24 December 2005	5.26
	Naughty Norman has his heart set on a Christmas tree.

Characters

• Fireman Sam
• Elvis Cridlington
• Penny Morris
• Station Officer Steele
• Trevor Evans
• Dilys Price
• Bella Lasagne
• Norman Price
• Sarah and James
• Rosa

Characters Introduced

• Mandy Flood
• Mike Flood
• Helen Flood
• Tom Thomas
• Woolly
• Dusty
• Pavarotti
• Photographer
• Squeaky
• The Squirrel

Vehicles

• Jupiter
• Venus
• Trevor's Bus

Vehicles Introduced

• Wallaby 1
• Mountain Rescue 4x4
• Helen Flood's Car

Cast

• John Sparkes as Sam, Elvis, Steele, Norman, Dilys, Mike, Trevor, Tom and Dusty
• Sarah Hadland as Penny, Mandy and Bella
• Joanna Ruiz as Helen, Sarah and James

Releases

Physical home video

From 2005-2006, the English dub of the series was released across five DVDs by HIT Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

From 2005-2009, select episodes were included on Children's Favourites (later HiT Favourites) compilation DVDs and VHS in the UK and Ireland, alongside other HIT Entertainment-distributed shows.

The English and first Latin American Spanish dub of the series are available on US DVDs.

Digital retail

The complete series is currently available to purchase on iTunes.

Streaming

The complete series is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Ketchup TV and The Roku Channel.

From February to May 2020, 8 episodes from the series were uploaded to the official Fireman Sam YouTube channel.

The second Latin American dub of the series is currently streaming on Pluto TV in the United States and Latin America.

The Brazilian Portuguese dub of the series is currently streaming on the same service in Brazil.

Trivia

• This series was produced between 2002 and 2004.
• This is the last series of many things:
  • The last series to use stop-motion model animation. From Series 6 onwards, the whole animation was created using CGI animation.
  • The last series to have Dilys' shop having the name "N.W. PRICE" market.
    • While it is unknown the exact reason for this change, it is most likely so that the English names for the shops will not appear in other dubs.
  • The last series to have Bella living in Pontypandy before moving to Newtown from the sixth series to the tenth series.
  • The last series where Norman has round glasses. From Series 6 onwards, he has square glasses which are blue. However, he still has the same clothes as this series.
  • The last series where Norman has green eyes. He has blue eyes in Series 6 onwards.
  • The last series where Dilys has no glasses. She has glasses from Series 6 onwards.
  • The last series where Bella has round and yellow glasses. She has square glasses from Series 10 onwards, which are white and gold.
  • The last series where Norman is seen as the local paperboy.
  • The last series that any characters are wearing a Hi-Vis.
  • The last series to have the end of the intro with Sam's iconic thumbs up pose. Each iteration of the intro from Series 6 onwards has Sam with his hands on his hips.
  • The last series where Pontypandy is a village set deep in the hills. From Series 6 onwards, Pontypandy is a seaside village.
  • The last series to be produced and distributed by the BBC.
  • The last series to air on CBeebies.
  • The last series to not have a US dub.
  • The last series to feature Steele's original office from the original series. It was then changed in Series 6.
  • The last series with Jupiter bearing the original Bedford TK front end. Starting from Series 6, it gained a new bumper from a Volvo FL6 and the lower front end from the Dennis Sabre.
  • The last series where Station Officer Steele has the first name Basil. From Series 6 onwards, his first name is Norris.
  • The last series where Sam is an inventor.
  • The last series where Pontypandy has phone boxes.
  • The last series to have Rosa as she was replaced by Lion in Series 6.
• This is the first series of many things:
  • The first series for the characters to have their own voices provided by different voice actors instead of all by the same person.
  • The first series to have the characters' mouths move in sync with the voices.
  • The first series to have no narration. Background voices from TV ads can be heard in some episodes.
  • The first series where Cameron Stewart sang the theme tune.
  • The first series to be dubbed in Latin American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Greek and Hindi.
  • The first series to utilise digital masters.
  • The first series after a 9-year hiatus.
  • The first series produced under HiT Entertainment's ownership.
  • The first series where the emergency bell is depicted the other way up with the gongs on top and the hammers on the bottom.
  • The first series to be produced and filmed in 16:9 widescreen but some DVD releases such as Children's Favourites and US releases had them cropped to 4:3.
    • The 4:3 versions of this series had all the special effects, such as the binoculars in Danger Falling Sheep, completely re-edited to fit the screen.
  • The first series where Penny is a full-time firefighter in Pontypandy (having hailed from Newtown in Series 3 and 4 and only making occassonal visits to Pontypandy).
  • The first series where Tom and the Flood family appear.
  • The first series where Jupiter, Venus and Trevor's Bus do not have number plates.
  • The first series to air in the US.
  • The first series where Richard Elfyn and Ceri Tudno are part of the Welsh voice cast.
  • The first series to air on Channel 5's Milkshake! and Cartoonito in the UK.
  • The first series to air on PBS Kids Sprout and Qubo in the US.
  • The first series to not have a Japanese dub.
  • The first series to be broadcast on EBS in Korea.
• This is the only series of many things:
  • The only series to feature the character Dusty.
  • The only series in which Woolly is shown as a baby, said to be male and Norman's pet lamb. From Series 6 onwards, Woolly is an adult ewe and lives just behind the Floods' house.
  • The only series to be animated by Siriol Productions.
  • The only series where Sam drives Jupiter in every episode.
  • The only series where Norman appears in every episode, even when he wasn't the focus of the episode.
  • The only series in the New Series to be made using stop-motion.
  • The only series where Mike has green eyes. He has brown eyes in Series 6 onwards.
  • The only series to have John Sparkes, Joanna Ruiz and Sarah Hadland as part as the voice cast.
  • The only series to air on the Toggolino block on Super RTL in Germany.
  • The only series to not have Slovenian and Slovak dubs.
• A number of props from this series were later sold on the online props website The Prop Gallery, including 2 warning signs (from Danger Falling Sheep and Bug Eyed Boy from Venus), Wallaby 1's control panel, Woolly, and a fire extinguisher.
• The Dutch dub returns in this series since Series 2.
• According to a behind the scenes photo of High Jinx, this series was shot on a Sony SDTV professional video camera, most likely onto BetaCam SP.
• Series 5 can be viewed as a "transitional series", as it seemingly bridges the gap between the Classic and CGI Series; almost every concept, character, and location introduced in Series 5 would be carried over into the CGI series, along with most of the character designs (of all the designs introduced in Series 5, only the firefighters (Sam, Elvis, Steele and Penny), Trevor, Norman and Bella made the jump to CGI relatively unchanged); Sarah and James received new clothes, Dilys gained a younger look, all members of the Flood family (Mandy, Mike and Helen) had their designs overhauled, and Woolly became an adult ewe.
• Unlike every other dubs of this series, every character is voiced in Polish by Jerzy Kramarczyk, who also narrated the first four series.
• This series was discontinued due to 'corporate meddling,' meaning that their could have possibly been more seasons of this version.