Naval & maritime TV shows (drama)

[Sonarman]

Whilst there have been countless threads here about naval movies I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at what TV has had to offer us over the years. Please add any other dramatic/comedic naval/maritime TV shows you can think of to the list.

Whilst the small screen does not have the huge budgets of movies it generally has the luxury of much more time to expand it's themes and give us a deep rich story with proper characterisation rather than the typical 100 minutes alloted to it's big screen cousin.

DVDs for some of the listed series are available from Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk buy thru the Amazon links in the Subsim store & help support Onkel Neal!!!

Adventures Of The Seaspray & Cruise of The Seaspray
A family sails their yacht around the South Pacific encountering smugglers, treasure pirates criminals natives etc, a quality kids TV series from Australia
read more at the Classic Australian TV page here


Buccaneers, The (UK)
Years before the fantastic actor Robert Shaw appeared in Jaws to give us the grizzled character of Quint he was singing "Farewell & adieu to you fair Spanish Ladies " as buccaneer Dan Tempest in the Caribbean in this half hour kids show from the 1950s. The show ran 39 episodes and is available as a DVD boxset in the UK (region 2).
Screen Online has a page on this series.
view a clip of "The Buccaneers" at the "Robert Shaw for all seasons site"


Captain James Cook (Australian-German co-production)
The age of sail equivalent of "Das Boot" this four hour mini series an Australian-German coproduction starring Keith Michel.It follows the three great voyages of the famous explorer. I purchased a copy of the series recently and was very impressed.
is a clip,note this is the dubbed German version, the series is available on import from Australia in English (check your DVD player can play region 4)

Captain Pugwash
This teatime kids cartoon series was a massive hit in the UK with adults and kids as it aired just before the evening news. When the series went off the air in the 80s, a myth spread that the characters were named "Master bates", "Seaman Staines", "Roger the cabin boy" and "Shag the cat", the reemergence of the series on DVD & the internet puut paid to this particular "urban myth"

see a clip on
see the series wiki here

C.P.O. Sharkey
An NBC US sit com which ran from 76-78 and starred Don Rickes as a CPO in charge of raw recruits at SanDiego naval base, ending after 37 episodes the rather un-PC show is seldom aired today.
check out its wiki page here


Das Boot (The Boat) (Germany)
The 5 hour mammoth TV series from Germany, at it's time the most expensive series ever produced there. Much better at capturing the whole experience than the shortened movie version and of course you must watch it in German with subtitles, not the inferior dubbed version. Truely immersive, a landmark series. ***It's interesting to note that Buchheim the author of the original novel was not entirely satisfied with the show, see the wiki for more...

here is the wiki page
here is a

Ensign O'Toole (US)
Starring Dean "Herbie's driver" Jones this US comedy ran for 32 episodes in the early sixties and followed the exploits of the title character on board destroyer USS Appleby (thanks Sailor Steve).
read more about the show here
see an episode guide here

Everglades, The
Running for 38 episodes in the early sixties this show featured Ron Hayes a cop patrolling the Everglades in an airboat.
read more here
view a clip here
(Thanks, Sailor Steve)


Glencannon (UK)
A uk comedy series based on the books of Guy Gilpatric following the comedic voyages of the old tramp steamer "SS Inchcliffe castle"
This is one I'd like to see having read some of the books, but as yet it is lost in the mists of time.
see the CTVA page here
the books are still in print at the Glencannon press

Hollands Glorie (Netherlands)
From the Netherlands this was a 15 episode 1977 miniseries based on a novel by Jan De Hartog about the role played by ocean going tugs in the second world war. Note a model of the steam tug "Furie" featured in this series will shortly be avaiable as an addon to Ship Simulator 2008.
The series is available on DVD (in Dutch only, no subtitles) from Tugspotters.com.

Hornblower (Horatio Hornblower in the US) (UK-US coproduction)
Although it took quite a few liberties with the text this series was a very good stab at translating Forester's age of sail hero Horatio Hornbower to the big screen. Sadly despite huge critical acclaim and public approval the American partner A&E decided not to fund any more episodes and instead put their funding into the superdumb "Dog the bounty hunter", a real travesty.
This series is available on DVD

see the series wiki here
and a clip

Immortal Lee Sun Shin, The (Korea)
A huge epic series little known in the west running to over 100 episodes This series chronices the life of Yi Sun Sin 1545-1598 a famaous Korean naval leader & his battles against Japan
see the series wiki here
& a rather blocky but cool trailer

JAG (US)
Probably the longest running naval series ever made JAG (Judge Advocate General) ran for an amazing ten seasons totalling 227 episodes, all the more amazing considering it was pretty much cancelled in Season 1 until rescued by CBS. NCIS is a spin off from JAG. (thanks TLAM Strike)

see the series wiki here
& the official CBS site here

Konvoi PQ-17 (Russia)
A Russian TV drama series running about 400 mins (longer than the longest Das Boot!) about one of the most famous convoys of WWII. This mini sereis mixed new fx footage with original newsreels, including the launching of the Tirpitz. Unfortunately whilst available on DVD outside Russia there soes not seem to be a subtitled version of the show.

News.ru has a page with screen shots & clips of the fantastic fx from the series here
See incredible Tirpitz launch footage in the archival image from the show
View a BBC article about the series here

Longitude
A TV Miniseries based on Dava Sobel's bestselling book. Longitude features two parallel stories in different time periods, the first concering John Harrison's development of the marine chronometer in the early 18th Century and the secong Robert Gould's restoration of the clocks 200 years later.
read more here
(Thanks to Sailor Steve)


Making waves (UK)
A modern day series about the Royal Navy sadly only three episodes made it to air, Only 2500 DVDs of this series were made available and they contain all 6 episodes (3 previously unaired), highly sought after, (watch eBay or make Linton a huge offer,for his copy).
see a clip on YouTube
and the series wiki here
(thanks Linton)

Man from Atlantis (US) 1977-78
One of Torpy's favourite shows (Not)
... his description of the classic "gem"... "Man from Atlantis was a short-lived American science fiction television series that ran for 17 episodes on the NBC Network during the 1977–1978 season
The series starred Patrick Duffy as Mark Harris, believed to be a survivor from the lost civilization of Atlantis. Possessed of exceptional abilities, including the ability to breathe underwater and withstand extreme depth pressures, Harris is subsequently recruited by a secret organization that explores the depths of the ocean in a futuristic submarine, the Cetacean."

see Torplexed's post below for more details (if you can work the mouse with your webbed fingers!)


McHale's Navy (US)

The maritime equivalent of sgt Bilko this series ran for 148 episodes in total and starred Ernest Borgnine, it chronicled the comedy adventures of PT boat PT-73. the first second & third series are now available in the US (Region 1)DVD.

see the series wiki here


The Mississippi (US) 1983-1984
Daddy Walton (Ralph Waite) quits his day job as a criminal defence attorney to run a tugboat on the Mississippi river, sadly this series only lasted a year.
TV.com has an episode guide


Mister Roberts (US)1965
Although the film and stageplay of the title are well known, it is less known that there was actually a TV show titled Mr Roberts starriing Roger Smith. Running for 30x 30min episodes in Colour it follows Mr Roberts efforts to get reassigned away from his safe posting on USS Reluctant.
read more on the show's imdb page here
a publicity still of the series here


Navy Log (US)
Similar to "The Silent service this less well known US anthology series was endosed by the Navy Dept. The show aired 1955-1958 and covered naval coastguard & marine stories. Apparently the show has not been aired since 1958. Running for 26 minutes each episode 100 installments were produced making it one of the most sought after missing classics out there.

View it's IMDB page here
View a clip from this lost series
NCIS (US)
A huge hit domestically and internationally due mainly to the brilliantly funny scripts and unconventional casting mix, NCIS has gone from strength to strength. We don't see a lot of shipboard episodes unfortunately but a very good series nonetheless. (thanks TLAM Strike)

visit the official CBS site here

The Onedin Line (UK)
Classic period drama poverty stricken skipper James Onedin wants to start his own shipping line but has no money he marries a strong willed "plain Jane" in bargain for her father's old ship and so begins the Onedin Shipping empire. This series was hugely popular in the UK and in Europe and ran for about 9 years 91 episodes covering the age of sail and the birth of steam and encompassing many of the social issues of those times along with romance & boardroom battles and exciting sea voyages.
The first series is available on DVD in the US, series 1&2 in the UK and series 1-4 in the Netherlands.

see the series wiki page here
and the title sequence

Patrol Boat (Australian )
Bookworm_020 says..."Australian Series shot by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corperation), based on the trials of a patrol boat crew, The Boat that was used for the series is now moored at the Australian Marintime Museum.(Thanks Bookworm_020)

view the site's wiki here
see the show's intro sequence here



Pensecola: wings of gold (US)
This drama series starred James Brolin as the leader of a four officer task force (a helo pilot, an explosives expert, an electronics tech & a fighter pilot) based at Pensecola naval air station. Unfortunately the showrunners had to tamper with the format in season 2 jettisonning most of the cast and the show ended shortly afterward.
(thanks, TLAM strike)
for more see the site's description & episode guide at TV.com


Sea Hunt (US) 1958-61
To quote Torplexed..."Sea Hunt was an American television adventure series from syndicator Ziv TV that ran from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards.

The program followed the adventures of scuba diver Mike Nelson, an ex-Navy frogman turned freelance diver, played by Lloyd Bridges. He outmaneuvered villains, salvaged everything from a bicycle to nuclear missile, and rescued a downed Air Force pilot (in his sunken jet, in the pilot episode), children trapped in a flooded cave, and even a dog. One unusual aspect of the series was that at the end of each episode, Bridges made a plea to protect the oceans." (thenks, Torplexed)

**region 1 DVD sets of this classic seruies are available thru Amazon.com (buy through the link in the Subsim store)**
see Torplexed's post below for more details on this classic series.
A great site dedicated to the show is located here

Sea Patrol (Australian) 2007-present
A more modern version of but not a sequel to ABCs Patrol Boat, produced by Channel 9 - A new series is due out soon" A drama series set aboard HMAS Hammersley following the lives of the ship & her crew (thanks, Bookworm_020)

Available on DVD (region 4) :import from Australia -13 eps 563 mins.
view the sites wiki here
see the sexy season II promo here
Sea patrol II site


Seaquest DSV/ Seaquest 2032 (US)
1993-1996 Futuristic sub series initiallly starring the late Roy Scheider later replaced by Michael Ironside. The series started well but like it's forerunner "Voyage to the bottom of the sea" deteriorated as it progressed. Like Star Trek the Next Generation & Wesley Crusher it suffered from having a super-bright kid to solve too many of the plots single handedly. (Thanks,TLAM Strike)
view the series wiki here
see the series intro

Silent Service NBC (US)
Hopefully one day the companies involved in this production will sort out the ownership debate and release a digitally remastered version of this classic NBC series based on the US fleet sub actions in the Pacific. Not yet available to the public see John Clear's site for more details, he has been trying to get the series released.

Sir Francis Drake (UK)
In a similar vein to the classic "Bucaneers" this series played a bit loose with history, but was a fun Satuday night 6pm show in the 1960s. Running for 26 episodes at 25 min each. I beieve it is now availabe on DVD in the UK (region 2).

more details at Television Heaven

Space Above and Beyond/ Space 2063 (US)
Naval drama in outer space this sadly short lived (4 seasons) series has an international cult following to this day. Following the adventures of a group of space marines onboard the space carrier USS Saratoga. A 10 disc DVD set is available in the US. (thanks, TLAM Strike)
see the series wiki here
and a fansite here

Star Trek (US)
Ok I know, I know, it's a bit of a stretch but with its Captain, Lieutenant, Ensign structure it's obviously based on the navy and indeed Rodenberry often stated that Kirk was based on Hornblower so it's probably worthy of inclusion. No informational links since I think we all know what it is. For a particularly navy themed episode watch the original series "Balance of Terror" (free from CBS for US viewers). This episode is obviously a complete ripoff (but still well done) of the classic sub movie "The Enemy Below"

Tales of Para Handy 1993-1994 (Scotland, UK)
A 1990s series inspired by the works of Neil Munro following the humorous voyages of the "Vital Spark" a Clyde Puffer (small Scottish coaster)closer to the original books than earlier Vital Spark sitcom and less funny & less popular as a result. This series starred Gregor Fisher of Rab C Nesbitt fame.

see an episode on YouTube

To The Ends Of The Earth (UK)
A 267 minute mini series based on a trilogy of books by William (Lord of the flies)Golding starring Benedict Cumberbatch & Sam Neill. A typical Goldiing theme "people under pressure" is explored here following the passsengers & crew of a sailing ship on a long voyage from England to Australia.

Vie the BBC site (with clips & description)for this series here

Triangle (UK)
After the BBC's huge success with the "Onedin Line" they decided to try a similar series set in modern times, the result was the maritime drama "Triangle", which concerned the owners, crew and passengers of a fleet of cross channel ferries. The result was pretty poor and is most often remembered for the featuring poor Kate O'Mara sunbathing on the deck in what is obviously a freezing cold North Sea gale!

view the series wiki here


Tugs
Set in the 1920s two rival TUG fleets in bigg city port strugge for contracts, with the Starr tugs being brave and friendly they have no problem, but the z stacks are a different story. A sister series of Thomas the Tank angine and friends made 1989

A campaign to bring this great series for kids out on DVD is now underway at this fansite
(Thanks for the info Capnsink360)

Vital Spark, the (Scotland UK)
Classic maritime Scottish comedy based upon the works of Neil Munro following the voyages of the SS "Vital Spark" a Clyde puffer, her highland skipper and bosun, her Glasgow engineer & ships boy. very funny. Sadly the BBC accidentally wiped the masters of eight episodes and only 4 remain. Another incarnation of the stories the "Tales of Para Handy" aired in the 1990 less a sitcom and more a dramedy see above.
view an episode on Youtube

Voyage to the bottom of the sea (US)
An Irwin Allen series which made a good start and deteriorated rapdly over the coming seasons. For additional info see Torplexed's great post below
view the trailer for VTBOS
and the series wiki here
(thanks Torplexed!)

Warship (1973-1976) (UK)
Another classic BBC series charting the adventures of the Leander class frigate F42 "HMS Hero" The series ran for 4 years with 45 episodes.
This series is sadly not yet available on DVD. Hopefully some episodes will pop up soon on the new online BBC iPlayer service.
see its wiki page here

[Torplexed]

Hmmm. Must confess I had never heard of The Buccaneers. :hmm:If it had Robert Shaw it must have been good.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1964-68

Voyage was the decade's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters. The 110 episodes produced included 32 shot in black and white (1964–65), and 78 filmed in color (1965–68). The first two seasons took place in the then future of the 1970s. The second two seasons took place in the 1980s. The show starred Richard Basehart and David Hedison and crew aboard the research sub Seaview.

In the beginning the series mostly featured undersea cold war and espionage plots. The first two seasons were probably the most solid. Sadly, over the course of the decade it degenerated into monster of the week episodes. It continued to avoid the bottom in terms of ratings, but was eventually pulled in favor of producer Irwin Allen's next sci-fi series; Land of the Giants.

[Linton]

There was a very short lived series in the UK called Making Waves.It was pulled after 3 episodes but a dvd was produced which contained six episodes.I didn't think the series was that bad bit it has never been repeated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_Waves

[Sonarman]

Yes I vaguely remember that one, I think it died beacuse it was a bit too soapy and PC but good nonetheless, I'll maybe try and get the DVD of that especially with 3 missing eps. I' add that into the list above Thanks

[Sailor Steve]

I watched The Buccaneers as a kid, though for some reason I remembered the title as being singular. Remember exactly nothing about it though, as was disappointed that that site wouldn't let me watch the clips.

A show I remember fondly from the early sixties is Ensign O'Toole:
http://www.tvacres.com/military_ensignotoole.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionC...signOToole.htm

[Sonarman]

Thanks for that Sailor Steve, I've never seen Ensign O'Toole but looks interesting. It could be that Bucaneers became Buccaneer for the US market, they often made changes to the titles as they crossed the Atlantic.

[TLAM Strike]

Seaquest DSV (and Seaquest 2032)
JAG
NCIS
Penscola Wings of Gold
and if Star Trek is on the list I think Space Above and Beyond should be too.

[Linton]

There were only 2500 dvd sets made of Making Waves and I have one!

[Sonarman]

Yes, I looked on Amazon & ebay & came up empty handed but I see some brave person has posted most of the eps on Youtube so i will at least be able to view them there. I've updated the above to reflect the linited status of the DVD, Cheers.

[Torplexed]

Here's more grist for yer list Sonarman. Not sure if a documentary series counts, but this one was a milestone.

Victory at Sea (US) 1952-53

Victory at Sea was a documentary TV series about naval warfare during World War II that was originally aired by NBC in the USA in 26 half-hour segments on Sunday afternoons, starting October 26, 1952 and ending May 3, 1953. The series, which won an Emmy in 1954 as best public affairs program, played a major role in establishing historic documentaries as a viable television genre. When it first aired, NBC thought it so important that it had no commercial breaks.

After the original run, NBC syndicated it to local stations, where it proved successful financially through the mid-1960s. NBC also marketed the series overseas; by 1964, it had aired in 40 foreign markets. NBC sold the theatrical rights to United Artists, which created a feature-length movie released in 1954; NBC aired the movie twice in the 1960s. RCA's record division sold the Rodgers-Bennett musical score in four different album versions, released on LP and CD.

It is now available in VHS and DVD and is in the public domain. Though the score, script, and narration by Leonard Graves retain their appeal, much of the film editing is criticized by knowledgeable viewers for anachronistic sequences. As an example, 1943-45 ships and aircraft in 1941-42 segments.

[Torplexed]

Here's one more in the straight drama catagory.

Sea Hunt (US) 1958-61

Sea Hunt was an American television adventure series from syndicator Ziv TV that ran from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards.

The program followed the adventures of scuba diver Mike Nelson, an ex-Navy frogman turned freelance diver, played by Lloyd Bridges. He outmaneuvered villains, salvaged everything from a bicycle to nuclear missile, and rescued a downed Air Force pilot (in his sunken jet, in the pilot episode), children trapped in a flooded cave, and even a dog. One unusual aspect of the series was that at the end of each episode, Bridges made a plea to protect the oceans.

After Bridges was cast, he was given a crash course on scuba diving by Courtney Brown, who would serve as his underwater stunt double. Over the course of the show's run, Bridges would get more involved in the underwater stunt work, graduating from close-ups in the earliest episodes, to doing all but the most dangerous stunts by the end of the series' run.

The series served as a stepping stone for some of Hollywood's most notable actors, including Leonard Nimoy, Robert Conrad, Bruce Dern, Larry Hagman, Jack Nicholson (in the last episode of the series) and Bridges' own sons, Beau and Jeff.

[Sonarman]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Here's more grist for yer list Sonarman. Not sure if a documentary series counts, but this one was a milestone.

Doesn't really qualifiy for this list, but definitely a landmark show with some amazing imagery and a beautiful score & narration, an all time classic documentary.

& Thanks for the info on Sea Hunt, I've added it above

[Torplexed]

Another clunker for your list Sonarman. I must have a good head for bad sci-fi. I remember this one was a real dog. It's star, Patrick Duffy went on to greater fame in Dallas. But, for the sake of completeness.

Man from Atlantis (US) 1977-78

Man from Atlantis was a short-lived American science fiction television series that ran for 17 episodes on the NBC Network during the 1977–1978 season

The series starred Patrick Duffy as Mark Harris, believed to be a survivor from the lost civilization of Atlantis. Possessed of exceptional abilities, including the ability to breathe underwater and withstand extreme depth pressures, Harris is subsequently recruited by a secret organization that explores the depths of the ocean in a futuristic submarine, the Cetacean.

Victor Buono played Mr. Schubert, a recurring villain of the pilot and the series. Belinda Montgomery was Dr. Elizabeth Merrill, the main supporting character, apparently loosely inspired by the 1940s Timely-Atlas comic book character Betty Dean, who often managed to calm down Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner when he felt angered with the behavior of surface people.

[Sonarman]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Another clunker for your list Sonarman. I must have a good head for bad sci-fi. I remember this one was a real dog.

Yes I remember that one too a long time back, we are very old! about the same time as Tweeky/Dr Theopolis was doing the "eebygeeby, hey Buck" stuff on the other channel!

[Torplexed]

I'm tempted to add Baywatch to the list. But it really belongs on a gratuitous jiggling show thread.