Cast and bbc production crew photo

[liamegan2000]

I don't remember exactly where I came across this photo, but it was on a
website somewhere. I found it while doing a bit of a system clean up. It is
uploaded to the files area.
File : /onedin line.jpg
Description : Cast and production crew about 1978?

You can access this file at the URL

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/files/onedin%20line.jpg

Judging by the actors it must have been from one of the later shows as Laura
Hartong (Charlotte Onedin) is sat next to James' left. To his right (left as
we look at the picture) it looks like, Mary Webster (Sarah Onedin), Jill
Gascoine (Letty Gaunt / Onedin), Christopher Douglas (Samuel Onedin), and
Jessica Benton (Elizabeth Onedin / Frazer / Fogarty / Lady Fogarty)

Now spend endless hours of fun trying to name the cast and crew?

🙂

Bill.

[liamegan2000]

I got some more info on this from Maija (thank you)

*************
The young woman, in white dress, above Charlotte is the actress, who
comforted Samuel called Helen Doyle (real name Jeananne Crowley)and
on her right is her father Fergus Doyle (T.P. McKenna). Above
Elizabeth Seth Burgess (Michael Walker) and the tall man above Mrs.
Gibson is Carles Marston (Maurice Colbourne).
*************

I'll see if the yahoo file area will allow a html page with the text as a
footnote and photo embedded sometime.

ATB Bill.

—– Original Message —–
From: "Bill" <william.whittaker1@ntlworld.com>
To: <shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 3:32 PM
Subject: [shiponedingroup] Cast and bbc production crew photo

> I don't remember exactly where I came across this photo, but it was on a
> website somewhere. I found it while doing a bit of a system clean up. It
is
> uploaded to the files area.
> File : /onedin line.jpg
> Description : Cast and production crew about 1978?
>
> You can access this file at the URL
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/files/onedin%20line.jpg
>
>
> Judging by the actors it must have been from one of the later shows as
Laura
> Hartong (Charlotte Onedin) is sat next to James' left. To his right (left
as
> we look at the picture) it looks like, Mary Webster (Sarah Onedin), Jill
> Gascoine (Letty Gaunt / Onedin), Christopher Douglas (Samuel Onedin), and
> Jessica Benton (Elizabeth Onedin / Frazer / Fogarty / Lady Fogarty)
>

[liamegan2000]

I have done a few searches into the back ground of Cyril Abraham,
there does not seem to be a lot about him apart from some stuff about
his scriptwriting activities.

I see to vaguely recall listening to a radio interview with the
author of the Onedin Line books on which the TV series was based.

This was many years ago, and of course my recollection is now a bit
sketchy. The theme of this was about how he thought up the plot and
overall story, how the name "Onedin" came about.

I seem to think that he was either at one time a bus driver in
Liverpool? And that the ideas came to him while driving around the
city about what dramas history had played out. The name "Onedin came
from some destination of the bus. (Or it was at least something to do
with the destinations displayed on the busses).

The story of the family had been drafted right up to modern times
(then the 1970s) but only a few of the early stories were published
in book form. I presume these drafts exist somewhere.

Of course I could be entirely wrong about this, but it would be
interesting to know for sure. I hope someone might know on here.

As an historical aside, there is a real story of a character similar
to James Onedin and from about the same era too. A little information
here:

http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/notable%20houses/the_grove.htm

Bill.

[merligo]

Further to Bill's message, Woman magazine published a nice interview
with Cyril Abraham in summer 1973 prior to the stories he wrote for
them.

I can't remember all the details off hand but I do know that the name
Onedin came from the sea creature Ondine. Cyril originally had a
different name for the series – The Shipmaster I think which later
became the title of the first book – but the BBC didn't like the
title and wanted another name. He was playing around with the word
Ondine and came up with Onedin.

And yes Cyril did originally envisage the story of the family up to
the then present day.

Diana

[lobsanghoskins]

I have to be a little careful here (not everyone is dead yet!), but I can give some insight into the show's relationship with Cyril Abraham in its last two series. The fact is that he was, as a matter of policy, ruthlessly kept out of it. Mr Abraham did indeed have a plan for the story going well into the twentieth century; to say the least of it, this plan was not to the taste of Mervyn Haisman, the show's script editor. Mr Abraham saw the show as a slowly unfurling saga of a family and the sea – almost a Dickensian novel – but Mervyn, eye always to the ratings, thought more in terms of a 1970s soap opera in fancy dress. Under Mervyn, every episode had to have an "exciting" sea story and something going even more wrong with the family; there were times when he seemed to be talking about some sort of ocean-going Wacky Races based at the Crossroads Motel.

The fact is that Mervyn Haisman and Cyril Abraham detested each other to the edge of mania. Geraint Morris, the producer, got caught in the middle. Eventually, Mr Abraham's numerous phone calls were simply ignored. Geraint actually changed his home phone number to avoid him; Mr Abraham had no contractual relationship with the show by then, but would call the producer after every transmission to read the riot act. He had a lot to talk about. He was probably the first person to raise the annoying question of why, in a show set in Liverpool in the Victorian period, we never, ever heard a single Scouse accent, even from the servants. Mervyn would jump on any actor who even tried it, citing American sales as the reason. Mr Abraham would also pick merciless holes in the plots, which under Mervyn developed from the fantastical to the near-surreal; we were all, director very much included, very glad that he did not live to see the last episode, which made no sense at all.

Here's where I have to be careful. Much of the Abraham master plan was based around characters who, for the worst of practical reasons, simply couldn't be developed. Let's just say that some of the actors were better than others. Drink was an increasingly visible issue in one case.

In the end, the show's relationship with Cyril Abraham was so bad that we were genuinely surprised that Geraint asked Continuity to run an end-of-credits tribute to him when he died. Then they got his name wrong.

[liamegan2000]



So very interesting!

 

And you have provided just about the only
conformation about what Abraham had said in the radio interview about the story
line. It is just the sort of background detail that is easily lost.

 

It ought to be recorded and written down without
legal implications if possible.

 

Bill.

 

style="PADDING-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;PADDING-RIGHT:0px;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px;" dir="ltr">

—– Original Message —–

From:
William Murphy
lobsanghoskins@yahoo.com [shiponedingroup]

To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, April 10, 2015 1:48
PM

Subject: [shiponedingroup] Cyril
Abraham

I have to be a little careful
here (not everyone is dead yet!),
but I can give some insight into the show's relationship with Cyril Abraham in
its last two series. The fact is that he was, as a matter of policy,
ruthlessly kept out of it. Mr Abraham did indeed have a plan for the story
going well into the twentieth century; to say the least of it, this plan was
not to the taste of Mervyn Haisman, the show's script editor. Mr Abraham saw
the show as a slowly unfurling saga of a family and the sea – almost a
Dickensian novel – but Mervyn, eye always to the ratings, thought more in
terms of a 1970s soap opera in fancy dress. Under Mervyn, every episode had to
have an "exciting" sea story and something going even more wrong with the
family; there were times when he seemed to be talking about some sort of
ocean-going Wacky Races based at the Crossroads Motel.

The fact is that Mervyn
Haisman and Cyril Abraham detested each other to the edge of mania. Geraint
Morris, the producer, got caught in the middle. Eventually, Mr Abraham's
numerous phone calls were simply ignored. Geraint actually changed his home
phone number to avoid him; Mr Abraham had no contractual relationship with the
show by then, but would call the producer after every transmission to read the
riot act. He had a lot to talk about. He was probably the first person to
raise the annoying question of why, in a show set in Liverpool in the
Victorian period, we never, ever heard a single Scouse accent, even from the
servants. Mervyn would jump on any actor who even tried it, citing American
sales as the reason. Mr Abraham would also pick merciless holes in the plots,
which under Mervyn developed from the fantastical to the near-surreal; we were
all, director very much included, very glad that he did not live to see the
last episode, which made no sense at all.

Here's where I have to be
careful. Much of the Abraham master plan was based around characters who, for
the worst of practical reasons, simply couldn't be developed. Let's just say
that some of the actors were better than others. Drink was an increasingly
visible issue in one case.

In the end, the show's
relationship with Cyril Abraham was so bad that we were genuinely surprised
that Geraint asked Continuity to run an end-of-credits tribute to him when he
died. Then they got his name wrong.

[Author]

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