Fireman Sam (Welsh: Sam Tân) is a British animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam and his fellow firefighters who work in the Pontypandy Fire Station, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd and Tonypandy).

Original idea
The original idea for the series came from two former firemen from London, who took their idea to artist and writer Rob Lee who developed the concept, and the show was commissioned. The series first appeared in Welsh on S4C on 1 November 1987, and a few weeks later in English on BBC One on 17 November of the same year.

Characters

Firefighters 
 Fireman Sam is the brave archetypal fireman and protector, who remains composed in an emergency and unfailingly offers assistance to all those in need. He is single, but maintains a close relationship with his niece, Sarah and nephew, James. He spends his spare time in his inventing shed, in which he makes devices ranging from a potato picker made from old bicycle parts to a machine capable of replacing the band. On occasion his inventive streak can undermine his emphasis on fire safety.
 Elvis Cridlington provides a stark contrast to Sam in both competency and demeanour.
 Station Officer Steele is the chief of Pontypandy Fire Station. As a former army officer, he insists upon a high standard of both hygiene and efficiency in the fire station.
 Penny Morris is the only firewoman before Ellie Phillips. She only visited occasionally (hailing from Newtown fire station), and in the new series, she works at Pontypandy fire station full-time. Penny doubles as a mechanic. Her ideas are often unconventional and at odds with her male colleagues, but she usually turns out to have been right. Penny is often known to go on adventures with the's children Sarah and James, Norman Price and Mandy Flood. A relationship between her and Elvis has been hinted more than once. It is also hinted that Penny is a vegetarian.
 Chief Fire Officer Boyce hails from Newtown and visits Pontypandy.

 Ellie Phillips is the new female firefighter introduced in the latest feature-length special "Heroes of the Storm". She attended the Newtown Fire Academy and was one of the best in the batch.
 Arnold McKinley is the new fireman introduced in the latest feature-length special "Heroes of the Storm". It is him who gave the name "Hydrus" to the new rescue vehicle introduced at the end of this special. He attended the Newtown Fire Academy and was one of the best in his batch.
 Jerry Lee Cridlington is a new firefighter and Elvis' cousin. He made his debut in Castles in the Air as a replacement while Penny Morris was away for the day and whilst he was at the fire station he got Station Officer Steele confused as he thought Elvis was in two places at once. He resembles Elvis, though he has blond hair and according to Elvis, he is the better cook of the two.

Pontypandy residents 
 Bella Lasagne is the absent-minded village café owner, hailing from Italy and has since moved to Newtown, making various visits. Bella appears to be based on the real Welsh Italians who ran cafés known as "Bracchis" in South Wales Valleys.
 Ben Hooper is the new coastguard who operates the ocean rescue center.
 Bentley Jones was Fireman Sam's superhuman invention. He appears in Bentley the Robot and Fireman Sam in Action.
 Bronwyn Jones (née Griffiths) is a Pontypandy citizen who runs the Wholefish Café and is the mother of Sarah and James. She is the wife of Charlie and the sister-in-law of Fireman Sam.
 Buck Douglas is an alien-hunter and television presenter who will be introduced in the Fireman Sam special, Alien Alert.
 Charlie Jones is a fisherman, Bronwyn's husband, Fireman Sam's brother and father of Sarah and James. He is running his fishing boat.
 Derek Price is Norman's cousin, Mr and Mrs Price's son.
 Dilys Price runs the village shop. She is a well known gossip, and has great affection for Trevor, the bus driver (something which poor Trevor is too shy to act upon). Dilys is the mother of mischief-maker Norman Price, but is frequently blind to her son's troublesome ways. She dotes on her only child, or "Mummy's Little Darling" or My Little Treasure as she sometimes calls him. In the original series, Dilys is shown to be more snobbish than in the later series. She also appears to use malapropisms in her speech (for example, "historical" instead of "hysterical", "I'm suffering from smoke installation (inhalation)", and "I'm a very reprehensible (responsible) person, me"). She tells her son Norman to turn off the "eccentric" (electric) blanket given to Norman by his Nan. Dilys is also known to be self-centered; when she and Bella think they are going to be abducted by aliens, Bella says, "It's-a coming straight for us!", to which Dilys replies, "Stands to reason, if they want intelligent lifeforms," while looking disapprovingly at Bella.
 Gareth Griffiths is the father of Bronwyn, maternal grandfather of Sarah and James and Charlie's father-in-Law.
 Hannah Sparkes is an eleven-year-old girl and Joe and Lizzie's daughter. She is the only child in Pontypandy to use a wheelchair.
 Helen Flood is the nurse, mother of Mandy Flood, and wife of Mike Flood.
 Sarah and James Jones are the relatively well-behaved six-year-old twins of Charlie and Bronwyn, niece and nephew of Fireman Sam. They are often more sensible in an emergency than Norman. When they grow up they want to be firefighters like their uncle Sam. They started acting more like naughty twins in the 2008 series (i.e. insulting each other, having arguments, and sometimes being the cause of an emergency, but it is made clear they still care for each other). Sarah's catchphrase from 2012 is "I have/What a totally brilliant idea!" while James' is "Here I go."
 Joe Sparkes is the village's mechanic and father of Hannah Sparkes.
 Lamikins is a lamb that is Woolly's child. Norman also tries to look after Lamikins.
 Lily Chen is the three-year-old daughter of Mrs Chen and youngest child on the show.
 Lizzie Sparkes is Joe's wife, Hannah's mum and the vet.
 M.O.P. Jones is a robotic bin when to have Sam's plan he was to do to stop people to vehicles in the episode 'The Great Inventor'.
 Mandy Flood is a seven-year-old girl and daughter to Helen and Mike Flood. Her behaviour is that of a bridge between naughty Norman and well-behaved Sarah and James.
 Mike Flood is a handyman, husband of Helen, and father of Mandy Flood.
 Moose Roberts is a famous mountain climber who hails from Canada and works at the Mountain Activity Centre.
 Mrs Chen is the mother of Lily and the rather rude and bossy schoolteacher.
 Norman Price is a seven-year-old boy with a love of practical jokes and skateboarding. Unfortunately, Norman regularly fails to set appropriate limits on his own behaviour, and has been known to cause mischief and sometimes causes havoc at the fire station, and for many of Pontypandy residents. He has shown interest in becoming a firefighter himself one day.
 Tom Thomas is a helicopter pilot who hails from Australia. He helps with certain emergencies if the firefighters need his assistance.
 Trevor Evans is a West Indian former auxiliary fireman with the Pontypandy brigade. His job is as the village's bus driver. He is known for his fondness for cricket, his fear of heights, his awkward manner and general bad luck streak, but nonetheless exhibits a great devotion to the welfare of others (especially Dilys). In the 2005 and 2008 seasons, Trevor is no longer an auxiliary firefighter but is still the bus driver, and the spark between him and Dilys still holds strong.

Animals 
 Rosa is Bella's pet cat that often goes missing.
 Dusty is a stray flea-ridden dog that soon becomes the fire station's mascot.
 Lion is Bronwyn's striped, ginger cat.
 Nipper is Gareth's brown dog.
 Norris is James and Sarah's guinea pig.
 Radar is a fire station Dalmatian dog.
 Woolly is a sheep that Norman tries to look after.

Others 
 WP was the call sign of fire control during the first four seasons of Fireman Sam. It is monitored by a woman whom has never been seen in the series and relays emergencies to the Pontypandy fire fighter whilst they are out on call.

Vehicles

Land 

 Ambulance/Doctor's car is the only medical vehicle in Pontypandy. The ambulance is a small car and has only ever been driven by Nurse Flood. It bears a resemblance to a Smart car.
 Bessie is the old fire engine which runs on rails. It was used when Station Officer Steele was a young fireman. It is driven by Station Officer Steele, Fireman Sam and Firefighter Penny Morris.
 Bus is the only road vehicle which is public transport and is driven by Trevor Evans.
 Jupiter is a special aerial platform combined fire engine (originally a traditional fire engine). Fireman Sam and Elvis mainly drive it, and occasionally, the other firefighters will drive it too.
 Mercury is the third vehicle which is used for fire emergencies. It is a quad-bike mainly driven by Fireman Sam, however Steele and Elvis have since driven it.
 Mobile Command Unit was introduced in the feature-length special movie, Heroes of the Storm.
 Mountain Rescue 4x4 is a Jeep based at the mountain rescue centre. It is used in occasional mountain emergencies and is driven by Tom Thomas, Fireman Sam and Firefighter Penny Morris.
 Phoenix is the newest vehicle at the station, it is a multi-purpose 4x4 with an extending crane for animal rescue uses. It is mainly driven by Ellie or Penny.
 Pontypandy Flyer is a railway steam train driven and owned by Gareth Griffiths. It goes from Pontypandy Station to the mountain activity centre owned by Canadian hiker Moose Roberts.
 Van is a three-seated van driven and used for Mike Flood's job as a handyman.
 Venus is Pontypandy's second fire vehicle and is a rescue tender mainly driven by Firefighter Penny Morris and occasionally by Fireman Sam and the other firefighters.

Air 

 Cloud Scraper is a hot air balloon created by Joe Sparkes, it appeared in the Series 9 episode "Up, Up and Away".
 Cloud Scraper 2 is a hot air balloon mentioned by Mandy Flood and Joe Sparkes.
 Saturn is the heat GPS tracker drone.
 Wallaby One is the rescue helicopter manned by Tom Thomas and occasionally Fireman Sam. It is stationed at the Mountain Rescue Centre where Tom Thomas works. It has a double harness which is used by Fireman Sam.

Water 

 Fishing Boat is a boat owned by Charlie Jones who is a fisherman and it is used for his work.
 Hydrus, built and previously owned by Moose is the amphibious rescue vehicle that can be used on land and on water but not the sea, it is driven by Fireman Sam. It is the sixth fire vehicle in the show.
 Juno is a rescue jet ski driven by Fireman Sam.
 Neptune is the rescue boat driven by Firewoman Penny Morris and Fireman Sam and was the original boat in the series until series 9.
 Skiff is a rowing or sailing boat that makes appearances in Fireman Sam.
 Titan is the main fire boat manned by Ben Hooper, the lifeguard alongside Firefighter Penny Morris. It has two water cannons.

Notes

References

British children's television series
1987 television series debuts
English-language television programs
1980s British animated television series