The Plane Makers 

The day-to-day story of a multi-million pound aerospace company, its new jet plane, its test-pilot, its workers and its ruthless and hard-nosed managing director John Wilder, the embodiment of modern, unflinching capitalism.

Stars:

Jack Watling, Patrick Wymark, Norma Ronald

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jack Watling	...	Don Henderson 28 episodes, 1963-1965
Patrick Wymark	...	John Wilder 27 episodes, 1963-1965
Norma Ronald	...	Kay Lingard 24 episodes, 1963-1965
Reginald Marsh	...	Arthur Sugden / ... 19 episodes, 1963-1964
Robert Urquhart	...	Henry Forbes 17 episodes, 1963-1965
Norman Tyrrell	...	Sir Gordon Revidge 13 episodes, 1963-1965

Storyline

The day-to-day story of a multi-million pound aerospace company, its new jet plane, its test-pilot, its workers and its ruthless and hard-nosed managing director John Wilder, the embodiment of modern, unflinching capitalism.

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Plot Keywords:

partially lost tv series | aeronautics | industry | boardroom | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1963 (UK)

Also Known As:

Den stora fabriken

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated Television (ATV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (58 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ann Firbank temporarily replaced Barbara Murray as Pamela Wilder when the original actress was unable to attend recordings whilst recovering from a health-related incident. Firbank made all four of Pamela's appearances in the final run, before the original actress resumed the role later in the year in continuation series The Power Game (1965).

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Connections

Followed by The Power Game (1965)

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Soundtracks

Citizens Of The World: March
(uncredited)
Composed by Trevor Duncan
Performed by The New Concert Orchestra
[Series theme tune for second and third seasons]

User Reviews

Sustains the drama - and holds interest even today

Was unaware of this show until I saw The Power Game, which is the series that follows it - and includes several of the major characters including John Wilder played by the outstanding Patrick Wymark who sadly passed away MUCH too young at the age of 50 in 1970. I am half way through the Plane Makers on DVD. After a choppy start, the series really hits its stride. Very adult and sophisticated stories jumping between office politics, union issues, business challenges, and of course personal relationships. Of its time but what is most surprising is its sustained quality - it holds the interest even today. Characters are well drawn and interesting, stories are tight and well crafted. Acting is quite naturalistic and therefore unlike some other more stagey fare of the time, really survives the test of time. And going back to Patrick Wymark - both in this and the Power Game, John Wilder and later Sir John Wilder - is a very interesting character. There is something very special about Wymark. And although almost 50 years since he passed - very sad that we did not have the opportunity to have more of him.