TUGS

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 **Creator(s)** | Robert D. Cardona

***TUGS*** was a British children's television series first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of *Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends*, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton.

*Tugs* is about two anthromorphized tug fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z Stacks, who compete against each other in the fictional Bigg City Port during the 1920s. The Star Fleet are honourable and hard-working, the Z-Stacks are underhanded and devious.

The series is noted for the high quality of its animation, which used detailed live-action models (much like the sister series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends).

## History

After two successful seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton decided to create a new television series - TUGS. The series is filmed at Shepperton Studios in 1988 using a similar animation process to its railway-based sister series. The only notable difference was that the boat models were pulled by transparent strings. Remote control devices were used to power mechanisms within the models, such as the moving eyes.

Tugs first aired on *Children's ITV* in Britain, and then on Australia's ABC network. The rights to the series were sold and it's currently not known who owns them, It is possible that the rights were given to Robert Cardona as he allowed the series to become Salty's Lighthouse.

The models and sets were sold to Britt Allcroft, whose new company used the models, (albeit heavily modified) for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1991 onwards. They are still used in current seasons.

David Mitton continued to work on *Thomas* until he retired after the seventh series in 2003, whilst Robert D. Cardona emigrated to Canada and devised a similar program about tugboats called *Theodore Tugboat*.

## Episodes

Thirteen episodes of *TUGS* were made. The series was "darker" in tone than many other television programs aimed at children. The plots often featured crime, violence and destruction, with punishment given to the characters carrying out these actions. The dialogue, too, was quite mature for a children's series. It featured slang and terminology that might these days be considered "over the heads" of young children. Characters would often insult each other, as well as using historical and maritime terms.

*See: List of TUGS episodes*

* **"Sunshine"**
* **"Pirate"**
* **"Trapped"**
* **"Jinxed"**
* **"Quarantine"**
* **"High Winds"**
* **"Ghosts"**
* **"Up River"**
* **"Warrior"**
* **"High Tide"**
* **"Munitions"**
* **"Regatta"**
* **"Bigg Freeze"**

### See also

* TUGS/Characters/Gallery
* Minor tugboat characters in TUGS
* Cranes in TUGS
* Barges in TUGS
* Other Characters in TUGS
* TUGS Liner Characters
* Other TUGS Characters
* Minor Vessels In TUGS
* Made Up TUGS Characters

## The Major Locations in Bigg City Port

For other minor locations see the article *Bigg City Port*

* **Star Dock** - the home of Captain Star's well-known and much-loved Star fleet. Appears in every episode.
* **Zero Dock** - the home of Captain Zero's devious Z-Stack fleet. Appears in most episodes.
* **Lucky's Yard** - this is where ships and tugs alike go to get repaired when they are damage or in need of maintenance. Appears in most episodes.
* **Up River** - former home of Sunshine, when he worked for the Salvage Company. Home to Billy Shoepack, Sea Rogue, His Uncle and Boomer (as a houseboat). In charge on logging.
* **Dem Der Rocks** - home of Lillie Lightship, appears in most episodes.
* **Municipal Garbage Corporation** - where Lord Stinker gets his garbage loads from, and the Jack the Grappler resides, appears in Regatta and Bigg frezze.

## Cast

Unfortunately, the cast of TUGS was never credited. Some of their identities are still ambiguous. However, thanks to the diligent research of various members of the Clearwater and Sodor Island Forums, several have been uncovered;

* **Patrick Allen** as Captain Star.
* **Simon Nash** as Ten Cents.
* **Shaun Prendergast** as Sunshine, Zak and Bell Buoy.
* **Chris Tulloch** as Zorran and The Shrimpers.
* **John Baddeley** as The Green Eye Things, Top Hat, Zip, Puffa, The Quarrymaster and The Shrimpers.
* **Timothy Bateson** as OJ, Big Mickey, Little Ditcher, Eddie , Lord Stinker and Garbage Master.
* **Sean Barrett** as Hercules, Big Mac, Zebedee, Sea Rogue, Izzy Gomez, Captain Zero, Blair and the Fire Tug.
* **Mike O'Malley** as Warrior, Frank, Sea Rogue's Uncle, Old Rusty, Navy Ship, Princess Alice, Scuttlebutt Pete', Mighty Moe, Bluenose, Johnny Cuba, Jack the Grappler, The Green Eye Things and Nantucket.
* **JoAnne Good** as Lillie Lightship, Sally Seaplane and Pearl.
* **Nigel Anthony** as Burke, The Coast Guard Messenger and Zug.
* **Lee Cornes** as Grampus, The Coast Guard, Billy Shoepack, Boomer and The Fuel Depot.

## Ideas

* TUGS Video and DVD ideas
* TUGS Episode Ideas
* The new TUGS charater in the new TUGS series
* Ten Cents' Adventures Movie Ideas
* Things That Go! Collection VHS/DVD Ideas

## Merchandise

 File:Unpackaged.jpg
TUGS Merchandise was rather common in the early 1990s. Some of that merchandise includes:

* Ertl models - Ten Cents and Sunshine are the only known models (although Ertl were supposed to release all of the Star Tugs).
* 13 Photo Books - Different titles for the TV series such as Ghost Fleet (Ghosts), Warrior's Longest Day (Warrior) and Bigg City Freeze (Bigg Freeze)
* 2 Annuals
* VHS Videos

Sunshine/Pirate
Trapped/Ghosts/High Winds
Jinxed/Quarantine/Up River
High Tide/Warrior/Bigg Freeze
Munitions/Regatta
**Note on the Videos:** The versions of the episodes on the videos were significantly edited for unknown reasons. Many original scenes had been extended/deleted and the program now had two different alternate title sequences

* Jigsaw
* Bed set
* Board Game
* Thimbles
* Card Game
* 5 Buzz Books - "Kidnapped, Run Aground, Nothing to Declare and Treasure Hunt"
* Publicity Pack - Ultra Rare!
* Activity Books
* Bath books
* Magazines