Photograph from Radio Times depicting Peter Gilmore as James Onedin and Jessica Benton as Elizabeth Frazer.

The Onedin Line was a popular BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham, a native of Liverpool, where the story was set. The opening credits of the series featured music from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian. The programme was recorded in Dartmouth, Devon, as well as certain scenes in nearby Exeter. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (906x1440, 250 KB)My own scan from a 1976 edition of the television listings publication Radio Times. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (906x1440, 250 KB)My own scan from a 1976 edition of the television listings publication Radio Times. ... Cathy Come Home, a 1966 entry into The Wednesday Play anthology series, voted the best drama and second highest programme overall in the British Film Institutes 2000 survey of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Aram Ilich Khachaturian (Armenian: Արամ Խաչատրյան, Aram Xačatryan; Russian: Аpaм Ильич Xaчaтypян, Aram Ilič Hačaturjan) (June 6, 1903 – May 1, 1978) was a composer of classical music. ... Map sources for Dartmouth, Devon at grid reference SX877514 The town seen from the River Dart Dartmouth is a town in Devon in the south-west of England. ... The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in England, UK. It is located at , . In the 2001 census its population was recorded at 111,066. ...

James Onedin, the younger son of old Samuel Onedin, a miserly ship chandler, was a penniless sea captain with aspirations to greater things. He married Anne, who was some years his senior and the spinster daughter of Captain Joshua Webster, owner of the topsail schooner Charlotte Rhodes. James's only motivation was to get his hands on the ship. A shrewd and often ruthless operator, James soon built up a fleet, assisted by the loyal Mr (later Captain) Baines. His other sailing ships included the Pampero, the Medusa and the Soren Larsen. He also initiated the building of a steamship, the Anne Onedin. == chandlerLink title == may refer to many different meanings: Profession: A chandlerBold textItalic text is someone who makes or sells wax or tallow candles, and also usually soap. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ...

James's volatile sister, Elizabeth, became pregnant by seafarer Daniel Fogarty but married wealthy Albert Frazer, developer of steamship technology and heir to the Frazer shipyards, a connection James soon turned to his own advantage. Elizabeth gave birth to a son, William. Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ...

At the end of the second series, Anne, whom James had come to love, died giving birth to a daughter, Charlotte. James considered two possible replacement brides for a while, wealthy widow Caroline Maudslay and the young heiress Leonora Biddulph, before settling for his daughter's governess, Letty Gaunt. In due course Letty also died, of diphtheria, and by the last series James was married to a third wife, the exotic Margarita Juarez, and was by then a grandfather. A governess is a female employee from outside of the family who teaches children within the family circle. ...

The eighth and final series ended with news of the death at sea of Daniel Fogarty, whom Elizabeth had finally married after the death of her first husband Albert, and also with the birth, at last, of a son and heir for James. Born aboard ship, the child was named Will after Captain Baines.

The series made the careers of Peter Gilmore, who played James, and Anne Stallybrass, who played Anne, as well as being an important break for Jill Gascoine (Letty), Warren Clarke (Josiah Beaumont), Kate Nelligan (Leonora Biddulph) and Jane Seymour (Emma Callon). Other cast members included Jessica Benton (Elizabeth Frazer), Brian Rawlinson (Robert Onedin), Mary Webster (Sarah Onedin), Michael Billington (Daniel Fogarty), Philip Bond (Albert Frazer), Edward Chapman (George Callon), James Warwick (Edmund Callon), John Phillips (Jack Frazer), Caroline Harris (Caroline Maudslay), James Hayter (Captain Joshua Webster), Ken Hutchison (Matt Harvey), Howard Lang (Captain Baines), Laura Hartong (Charlotte Onedin), Marc Harrison (William Frazer), Christopher Douglas (Samuel Onedin), Roberta Iger (Margarita Onedin), Jenny Twigge (Caroline Onedin), Cyril Shaps (Braganza), Hilda Braid (Miss Simmonds), David Garfield (Samuel Plimsoll), Robert James (Rowland Biddulph), Sylvia Coleridge (Mrs Salt), Sonia Dresdel (Lady Lazenby), Nicolette Roeg (Ada Gamble), John Rapley (Dunwoody), Stephanie Bidmead (Mrs Darling), John Sharp (Uncle Percy Spendilow), Heather Canning (Mrs Arkwright) and Keith Jayne (Tom Arnold). Peter Gilmore is a UK actor born 25th August 1931 in Leipzig, Germany, best known for his portrayal of Captain James Onedin in BBC Television period drama The Onedin Line. ... Anne Stallybrass (born 1938) is a British actress. ... Jill Gascoine (born April 11, 1937 in Lambeth, London, England) is a British actress. ... Warren Clarke (b. ... Kate Nelligan (born Patricia Colleen Nelligan on March 16, 1950, in London, Ontario) is a Canadian actress of Irish Catholic extraction. ... Jane Seymour was strict and formal compared to her flamboyant predecessor, Anne Boleyn. ... Jessica Benton as Elizabeth Frazer and Peter Gilmore as James Onedin in The Onedin Line Jessica Benton is a British actress, mainly known for her role as Elizabeth Frazer in the BBC series The Onedin Line. ... Michael Billington (born on December 24, 1941 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England; died on June 3, 2005 in the UK) was a popular British film and television actor. ... James Warwick is a British actor, known for his roles on television. ... James Hayter, born April 23, 1907 at Lonuvla, India (although raised in Scotland) and died March 27, 1983 in Spain, was a British actor. ... Howard Lang was a British actor (born 1911, died 12 December 1989). ... Cyril Shaps (born 13 October 1923-1 January 2003) was a British actor. ... Hilda Braid (Born 3 March 1932) in Northfleet, Kent; is a British actress known for her roles in the BBC comedy series Citizen Smith and more recently as Nana Moon in EastEnders, also on the BBC. After training at RADA, Braid appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company before breaking into... Samuel Plimsoll (February 10, 1824 - June 3, 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line. ... Sylvia Coleridge (born 10 December 1909 in Darjeeling, India, died 31 May 1986 in London, England) was an actress who made numerous appearances on television. ... Sonia Dresdel (born Lois Obee on 5 May 1909) was an actress between the 1940s and 1970s. ... Keith Jayne is a British actor, best known for playing the title role in the 1981 television adaptation Stig of the Dump. ...

There are six novels based on the series. The first five, The Shipmaster, The Iron Ships, The High Seas, The Trade Winds and The White Ships are all by the creator of the series, Cyril Abraham, who died in 1979. The sixth, The Turning Tide, was written by Bruce Stewart. Bruce Stewart is a writer born in New Zealand. ...

A series of Onedin short stories by Cyril Abraham, set between Series Two and Series Three, appeared in Woman magazine in 1973. A further tale by Abraham, For Love of the Onedins, appeared later in a short-lived magazine called tvlife. This story, covering Leonora Biddulph's wedding, occurs between Series Three and Series Four and also features Matt Harvey, who was Elizabeth's love interest during the fourth series.

Cyril Abraham also wrote another excellent seafaring novel, The Blazing Ocean, set during the Second World War, which is well worth reading. It is not, however, an Onedin Line book. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...