Flambards

Christine McKenna had read K.M. Peyton's Flambards novels and desperately wanted the part of Christina. When producer Leonard Lewis asked her whether she could ride a horse, she assured him that she was an expert and could even ride side-saddle. In reality she had never ridden before in her life. When she learned that she had got the part, one week before filming started, she went out and bought a pair of riding boots and a hard hat, and booked an intensive course of riding lessons. She was so saddle-sore by the end of the lessons and the start of filming that although she could ride passably well, she could barely walk and sitting was painful.

When the series was originally shown, the first episode was 90 minutes long and was titled "Christina" in the opening titles and "The Blooding" in the caption after the second commercial break. For subsequent repeats and the DVD release, longer versions of this first episode were shown as two separate 60-minute episodes with titles "Christina" and "The Blooding".