The Onedin Line (1971–1980)

James Onedin marries Anne Webster in order to get his hands on a ship. However the marriage turns out to be one of true love. James is ruthless in his attempt to get a shipping line started... See full summary »

Creator:

Cyril Abraham

Stars:

Peter Gilmore, Jessica Benton, Howard Lang

4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Peter Gilmore	...	James Onedin (91 episodes, 1971-1980)
Jessica Benton	...	Elizabeth Frazer (91 episodes, 1971-1980)
Howard Lang	...	Captain Baines (91 episodes, 1971-1980)
Mary Webster	...	Sarah Onedin (50 episodes, 1971-1979)
Brian Rawlinson	...	Robert Onedin (41 episodes, 1971-1978)

Storyline

James Onedin marries Anne Webster in order to get his hands on a ship. However the marriage turns out to be one of true love. James is ruthless in his attempt to get a shipping line started in Liverpool of the 1860s.

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Plot Keywords:

liverpool | ship | shipping | shipping line | ocean | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1971 (UK)

Also Known As:

Az Onedin család

Filming Locations:

Bayard's Cove, Dartmouth, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min 50 min (91 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The show was praised for its locations and use of genuine historical vessels. Along with day-to-day drama, romance, and business dealings, the series also tackled social and economic issues of the time, such as slavery.

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Connections

Referenced in Postcards: Episode #8.32 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Opening music from Khachaturian: Spartacus-Suite

User Reviews

Warning on the DVDs

Grand music, real drama, tall ships and Jessica Benton, how can you go wrong?

One way is to cram all the episodes together so that each DVD forms some kind of four hour movie version of 'The Onedin Line'. This means that the writing talent that went into giving us some dramatic flow in an hour show is completely crapped on. At odd points during your viewing, provided you've got four hours spare to do that, you'll suddenly get a bit of the Adagio from 'Spartacus' dropped on you like a piece of musical jetsam. And with only your memory to guide you as to where each episode ends, you end up with a very up and down experience and not what TV drama is all about.

I for one would've been keen to see the names of the actors in each episode, too, as I'm sure they would be keen for me to know who they were. Alas, even that is lost to us in some harebrained attempt to turn this magnificent production into something even David Lean could find a trifle lengthy and vicissitudes.

We can only hope the BBC doesn't try this again with the second series.