Boon
Opening title
Genre	Drama
Created by	Jim Hill Bill Stair
Starring	Michael Elphick, David Daker, Rachel Davies, Neil Morrissey, Lesley-Anne Sharpe, Amanda Burton, Elizabeth Carling, Brigit Forsyth, Saskia Wickham
No. of episodes	92 + 1 special
Production
Producer(s)	Central Independent Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	14 January 1986 – 1 December 1992; 1 May 1995

Boon is a British television drama series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker and later on Neil Morrissey. It was created and filmed by Central Television for ITV. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Michael as Harry Slater in EastEnders Michael Elphick (born September 19, 1946 in Chichester, West Sussex; died September 7, 2002 in London) was a British actor. ... David Daker is a British actor. ... Rachel Davies is a British actress, with numerous television credits to her name. ... Neil Morrissey (born in Stafford, July 4, 1962) is a British actor. ... Parkinson, Burton and Grant in 2001 This article is about the actress. ... Elizabeth Carling (born 20 October 1967 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire) is an English actress best know for her roles in Goodnight Sweetheart, Casualty and Barbara. ... Brigit Forsyth, born July 28, 1940, in Edinburgh Scotland, is an actress. ... Saskia Wickham (born London, January 14, 1967) is a British actress best known for playing Dr. Erica Matthews in the ITV television drama series Peak Practice between 1996 and 1998. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... Michael as Harry Slater in EastEnders Michael Elphick (born September 19, 1946 in Chichester, West Sussex; died September 7, 2002 in London) was a British actor. ... David Daker is a British actor. ... Neil Morrissey (born in Stafford, July 4, 1962) is a British actor. ... Central TV logo, 1985_1998 Central Independent Television, or to give it its familiar name, Central Television or Central, is a British Independent Television company that took over from ATV on 1 January 1982. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990...

Early Years

Ken Boon with his pride and joy 'White Lightning'. 1986

Boon was a TV drama series created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... James Hill may refer to: James J. Hill (1838–1916), American/Canadian railroad magnate James Hill (soldier) (1901–2006), British paratroop commander James Hill (director) (1916–2001), American film director, fifth husband of Rita Hayworth Jimmy Hill (born 1928), British former footballer and pundit James Hill (folk musician), folk musician...

Ken Boon (Elphick) and Harry Crawford (Daker) were both old fashioned "smokeys" (firemen) in the West Midlands Fire Service, Crawford took early retirement and moved to Spain to open a bar leaving Ken behind. Ken went to a fire where a child was trapped upstairs. Rather than waiting for breathing apparatus to arrive, he went into the house and rescued the child but was severely injured by inhaling toxic smoke. He was declared unfit for duty after collapsing during a drill because his lungs had been permanently damaged so he had no choice but to leave the fire service for good. The West Midlands Fire Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the West Midlands county in England. ...

He started a market garden called "The Pondorosa" in a village about ten miles outside Birmingham but found that it wasn't working out. As he struggled to pay bills and keep afloat, he was surprised when a visitor arrived at the garden: Harry had returned from Spain to Birmingham, after leaving his wife and finding himself unhappy in his new life. Harry had acquired a hotel in Birmingham and offered a port in a storm for Ken. Birmingham (pron. ...

Ken was convinced into placing a PO box advert in "Box 13" saying “Ex-fireman seeks interesting work. Anything legal considered.” From these humble beginnings, his career as a courier, minder and private investigator began.

During this period Harry ran two hotels, a ballroom, a country club and a security firm. The security firm, CBS (Crawford Boon Security), was a joint venture, with Ken being responsible for private investigations and Harry for security.

The series moved away from Birmingham to Nottingham at the end of Series 3, with production of the show being based at Central's studio in Nottingham. The Birmingham episodes (Series 1-3) were made on film whereas the Nottingham episodes (Series 4-7) were made on video. Apart from interiors of Series 1, all filming was done on location [1].
Birmingham (pron. ... Nottingham is a city, unitary authority, and county town of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England. ...

Later Years

Ken Boon. 1989

At the end of the final series, in episode "Shot in the Dark", Harry got engaged to an Irish woman whom he met during a case, and Ken and Alex seemed to be becoming romantically attached after she tenderly read him poetry [2] while was in hospital recovering from gunshot wounds. Neither of these plot developments were referred to during the special episode "Thieves Like Us". This episode, although was thought to be part of an eighth series, was actually an episode from the final series which had not been aired. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

In all, seven series, each of which consisted of 13 episodes (apart from the last two series which had 14) were filmed. The sixth series featured a 90 minute christimas special, which was dedicated to the memory of Bill Stair, one of the shows creators.

Neil Morrissey joined in the second series as Rocky; this was his first major television role. Other regular characters were played by Rachel Davies (Doreen Evans), Lesley-Anne Sharpe (Debbie Yates), Amanda Burton (Margaret Daly), Elizabeth Carling (Laura Marsh), Brigit Forsyth (Helen Yeldham) and Saskia Wickham (Alex Wilton). Neil Morrissey (born in Stafford, July 4, 1962) is a British actor. ... Rachel Davies is a British actress, with numerous television credits to her name. ... Parkinson, Burton and Grant in 2001 This article is about the actress. ... Elizabeth Carling (born 20 October 1967 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire) is an English actress best know for her roles in Goodnight Sweetheart, Casualty and Barbara. ... Brigit Forsyth, born July 28, 1940, in Edinburgh Scotland, is an actress. ... Saskia Wickham (born London, January 14, 1967) is a British actress best known for playing Dr. Erica Matthews in the ITV television drama series Peak Practice between 1996 and 1998. ...

Writers

The show's writers included Geoff McQueen, Anthony Minghella and Kieran Prendiville. Ted Childs was the first executive producer. Geoff McQueen (1947- 1994) was a TV series scriptwriter and dramatist best known for creating Thames Televisions The Bill. ... Anthony Minghella (born January 6, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning British film director, playwright and screenwriter. ... Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947 in Rochdale, Lancashire) is a television writer and producer, and has also presented some shows. ... Ted Childs is a British television producer, screenwriter and director, whose notable works include Kavanagh QC, Soldier Soldier, Making Waves, Inspector Morse and its spin-off Lewis. ...

Theme Song and Incidental Music

Music was a huge part of the series. A large reason for its popularity was the catchy theme song 'Hi Ho Silver' which was written and recorded by Jim Diamond, who was by that time famous for his Number 1 hits 'I Won't Let You Down' and 'I Should Have Known Better'. It was so popular with fans that it was released as a single in 1986 and reached number 5 in the UK charts. Most of the episodes however, didn't end with the theme song, many of them ended with country and western songs such as 'Handsome Stranger' and 'Texas Rangers'. All of which were written for the series by Dean Friedman. Friedman wrote the incidental music and songs from series 2 through to the end of the show. The incidental music for the first series was provided by Barrington Pheloung. Jim Diamond (born September 28, 1951, in Glasgow) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. ... I Wont Let You Down was a chart topping single in 1982 by the band Ph. ... I Should Have Known Better was a UK number single for one week in November 1984 for Jim Diamond. ... Dean Friedman (1977) album cover Dean Friedman is an American singer-songwriter who plays piano, keyboard, guitar, and other instruments including the harmonica. ... Barrington Pheloung (born 1954) is an Australian composer, now living in England. ...

Trademarks

Ken's trademark style included his red and silver BSA A65 White Lightning 650cc motorbike which he had in every series.

Ken also had certain jackets which he wore in each series. Series 1 was a long duffle coat. Series 2 was his tassled leather jacker which had his 'Texas Rangers' logo on the back. He also wore this for a lot of series 3. Series 4 was a black jacket (also for series 5.) Series 6 was a brown suede jacket. Series 7 was a regular leather jacket.

Rocky Cassidy's trademark for most of the series was his studded leather jacket, which also featured his name "Rocky" studded on the back. He also wore leather pants.

Harry was usually seen in a grey or black suit of some sort.

External links

• Fan site with images, sound clips, episode details, cast biographies, etc.
• Boon at the Internet Movie Database