About this season
...Not very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales, there was a railway. It wasn't a very long railway or a very important railway, but it was called The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, and it was all there was. And in a shed, in a siding at the end of the railway, lives the Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, which was a long name for a little engine so his friends just called him Ivor..." ...And that was how it began, back in 1959: one of Oliver Postgate's most loved creations, Ivor the Engine. It was a series about the Welsh adventures of a little green railway engine and his many friends. But Ivor wasn't an ordinary steam engine. He pretty much wished he was a person and ended up doing things like singing in a choir and swimming in the sea! One season of six, 10 minute, Black and White films was made for and screened by Associated-Red.
Episodes (20)
1. The Railway
Aired 26 January 1976 • 5 min
It is a typical day in the life of Ivor the Engine. Ivor delivers Coal to Grumbly Gasworks, tomatoes to Mr Davy and Fish to Mrs Thomas. Ivor also goes to choir practice.
2. The Hat
Aired 27 January 1976 • 5 min
Jones and Ivor bring back a package, which is supposedly a hat for Mrs Porty, but Jones and Dai discover it's a new telescope cover for Professor Longfellow and go home for the night. In the morning, the package has gone...
3. Old Nell
Aired 29 January 1976 • 5 min
A silly sheep has got itself stuck on a ledge in the hills. Jones tries to rescue it but ends up stuck himself. He ends up sending Ivor and Old Nell, the sheepdog, to get help.
4. Mr Brangwyn's Pigeons
Aired 30 January 1976 • 5 min
Ivor has to deliver some pigeons to Mr Brangwyn. Thanks to Evans the Song, they end up escaping and on Miss Pryce's roof. There follow some amusing attempts to get them down.
5. The Egg
Aired 2 February 1976 • 5 min
Going past Smoke Hill, an extinct volcano, Jones and Ivor spot smoke coming from the top. Jones discovers a fire inside the hill and a strange egg. He puts it in Ivor's firebox to keep it warm. Mr Dinwiddy doesn't have any idea what it is so they go off to choir practice. During the practice there seems to be a voice coming from inside Ivor.
6. The Proper Container
Aired 3 February 1976 • 5 min
Dai Station isn't too pleased about Ivor's new friend, Idris, travelling in his firebox. He orders him into a box, which catches fire and then scares him off trying to extinguish it.
7. The Alarm
Aired 5 February 1976 • 5 min
After choir practice Idris helps out Mrs Thomas, whose fish fryer is on the blink. While everyone is enjoying a fish supper, Evans the Song spots a worrying article in his bit of newspaper.
8. The Retreat
Aired 6 February 1976 • 5 min
Idris is still missing when the representative of the antiquarian society arrives to interview Jones about him. After a few embarrassments, Jones and Ivor find Idris in the most obvious place.
9. The Visitor
Aired 9 February 1976 • 5 min
A rock on the line turns out to be a wounded elephant. Jones and Ivor take the elephant, named Alice, and her keeper to Mr Hugh's gasworks to recuperate.
10. The Invalid
Aired 10 February 1976 • 5 min
Jones and Evans the Song have great difficulty bathing Alice and giving her medicine.
11. The Boot
Aired 12 February 1976 • 5 min
Mr Brangwyn provides a boot for Alice to wear until her foot heals.
12. Banger's Circus
Aired 13 February 1976 • 5 min
Alice's circus, run by Mr Charlie Banger, is coming to Grumbly town. Bani and Alice are very excited.
13. Unidentified Objects
Aired 16 February 1976 • 5 min
Jones and Dai are relaxing when they spot some strange objects in the sky. The source appears to be Mr Dinwiddy's goldmine.
14. Mrs Porty's Foxes
Aired 17 February 1976 • 5 min
Mrs Porty shows Jones and Ivor the fox cubs in the wood near her house. As Ivor and Jones go to deliver Mrs Porty's Hat for the Institute Prize Giving, they save the fox from the fox hunt, by hiding her in the hat box.
15. Bluebell
Aired 19 February 1976 • 5 min
Jones is cleaning Ivor when they are called off on an emergency - Mr Dinwiddy needs his new boots. Jones leaves Bluebell the Donkey holding the bucket. She follows them all the way to the goldmine, so Jones and Mr Dinwiddy arrange for a mode of transport.
16. Dai and the Donkey
Aired 20 February 1976 • 5 min
Dai Station isn't too keen on Bluebell riding around with Ivor, but she soon proves her worth when the engine is derailed.
17. Gold
Aired 23 February 1976 • 5 min
Mr Williams of head office breaks the terrible news to Jones and Dai that the railway is to be sold and Ivor might have to do shunting at Pontypool. Then Mr Dinwiddy has a brainwave.
18. Mrs Porty
Aired 24 February 1976 • 5 min
After Mr Dinwiddy's idea falling through, Mrs Porty comes up with a solution to the railway being sold.
19. Cold
Aired 26 February 1976 • 5 min
One morning Jones and Ivor spot some smoke beside the railway line. It turns out to be Idris the Dragon. They rescue him and he explains that Smoke Hill is now extinct.
20. The Endowment
Aired 27 February 1976 • 5 min
Jones and Dai are not getting anywhere trying to find a home for Idris and the other dragons. Jones decides he must go to Lanmad and ask for the help of Mrs Griffiths.