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“He's Set for Action!”
the song

Set for Action! is a feature length special. It aired on the 22 October 2018 and was released on DVD on the 18 March 2019. It takes place after Series 11 and before Series 12.

Summary

When a burning oil tanker truck is out of control and racing towards Pontypandy, Fireman Sam pulls off a daring rescue. Mandy and Sarah film the rescue for their new website - Pontypandy Planet Online - and the clip of Sam's heroism goes viral. Then, Don Sledgehammer sees the clip and wants Sam to be the star of his latest movie. Sam is reluctant and thinks maybe the acting should be left to the actors, but Chief Fire Officer Boyce will have none of it. Doing his best to bask in Sam's glory, Boyce tells Sam that he must make the movie - only then he can go back to his firefighting job when the film is completed. Unfortunately for Sam, his co-star, Hollywood actor Flex Dexter, is determined to get the lead part and will stop at nothing to get it.


Characters

Characters Introduced

Vehicles

Cast

UK

US

Trivia

  • This special's working title was Hollywood Hero.[1]
    • Another working title was Hollywood Comes to Pontypandy.[2]
  • This special takes place between the eleventh and twelfth series.
  • This marks Chief Fire Officer Boyce's last appearance until his main return in I'm the Captain.
  • This special introduces Don Sledgehammer and Flex Dexter.
  • This is the first time Penny is seen riding Mercury.
  • When Sarah and Mandy check how well their Fireman Sam oil truck rescue clip is doing on the Pontypandy Planet website, Mandy makes a reference to the classic YouTube video Keyboard Cat! by saying that their video has had "more hits than that cat playing the piano."
  • It is established that Sarah is 5 minutes older than James.
  • This is the first time that outtakes are shown during the end credits.
  • The special was dedicated to Joy Andrews (1976-2017), the late wife of the director, Gary Andrews.
  • This special first aired on Cartoonito and has yet to air on Channel 5.
  • This special marks the first appearance of the angle grinder.
  • This special was released to Amazon Prime in the US but as the UK dub instead.
  • This special was released on the Roku channel in the US with the US dub and this is also the latest special to be dubbed in the US. The Roku Channel in the US then changed the special's dub with the UK dub, but the US dub can still be found somewhere.
  • This is the last special to get a DVD Release from Abbey Home Media due to the company closing after Anne Miles' death. It is unknown what company is going to take over the UK DVD releases in the future.
  • This is the last special to be composed by David Pickvance.
  • When Sam is talking to Charlie, his line "ever since we were children, and we used to watch that old firemen show on television" could presumably be a fourth wall breaking reference to the Fireman Sam television series itself.
  • Helen Flood makes a reference to the 1975 American thriller film Jaws, with the line "I think we need a bigger box."
  • The famous Wilhelm Scream is used when the oil tanker driver is yanked out of his cab.
  • The Great Fire of Pontypandy was mentioned in the bloopers.
  • This special reveals that Sam is not used to being in a movie.
  • This marks the first and only time where someone gets fired in the series.
  • This is the latest Fireman Sam special to have a US dub, as the US dub of the series has been possibly discontinued as of Series 12.
  • This is the only special where Jupiter got modified and customized.
  • If the Pontypandy Police Station, Rose Ravani, and Malcolm Williams had debuted sooner, Flex Dexter likely would have been arrested for arson and criminal damage.

Goofs

  • At one point Sarah mistakenly refers to her Uncle Sam as "Fireman Sam", though she did correct herself later on.
  • After Flex gets off the phone, the ocean rescue centre is further out into the sea than in the next scene.
  • In the audience when the premiere starts, Derek is in his Norman costume (minus the wig), but a few seconds later, he's in his normal outfit.
  • When the movie is about to start, Dilys is in her normal outfit and is sitting next to Gareth, but later on she is back in her green dress and sitting next to Trevor.
  • Before the rope bridge rescue, when Don Sledgehammer is telling Sam what to do, there are no vehicles behind them, but a few seconds later, Flex's trailer and some other vehicles are behind them.
  • During the rope bridge rescue, Sam accidently breaks one of the planks and grabs a rope that was previously meant to be fire to keep balance.
  • When Flex sabotages the runaway bus scene, it's evening, but in the video that Sarah and Mandy recorded, it's the afternoon.
  • During the theme song and end credits, US voice cast reads that Penny Morris was voiced by Tegwen Tucker instead of Ashley Magwood.
  • Strangely, when James analyzes the films and shares his observations with Mandy and Sarah, the recordings are pixelated.
  • During the beginning, with the runaway oil truck, it passes Pontypandy Mill multiple times.
  • When Steele and Boyce are firing Sam, the engine on the shelf changes from blue, to black, and blue again.
  • Jupiter's trailer comes loose on a cobbled street, but when it goes into the garage, the road is made of tarmac.
  • When Derek Price screamed “Mam!” while acting as Norman Price, the firefighters switched places when Arnold covered his ears.
  • When arriving at the burning quay, the driver's door on Jupiter 2000 is open slightly.

Gallery

Videos

UK version

[3]

US version

[4]

References

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