Warship, made with the assistance of the Royal Navy was a seagoing drama series that told stories of the men aboard HMS Hero, a warship travelling the world on tours of duty.
The emphasis was firmly on the Captain and the rest of his crew and only occasionally focusing on the rest of the crew, the engineers and so on.
The plotlines would revolve around either a crisis at sea or a drama involving one of the crew in a port or sometimes at home. Andrew Burt, who had been starring as the original Jack Sugden in Emmerdale Farm to much success, gave up that role to take a lead role as Lt Peek in this series.
There were three different men in charge during the shows run, each with their own style of leadership, Commanders Nialls (Donald Burton) and Glenn (Bryan Marshall) and Captain Holt (Derek Godfrey).
Ian Macintosh who co-created the series (along with The Wilde Alliance and The Sandbaggers) died in mysterious circumstances when the plane he was on went missing in Alaska. Macintosh was also serving in the Navy at the time of the shows creation.
Cast: DONALD BURTON as Cmdr Nialls(73-74); BRYAN MARSHALL as Cmdr Glenn(75); DEREK GODFREY as Capt Holt(76-77); NORMAN ESHLEY as Lt Last; ANDREW BURT as Lt Peek; JOHN LEE as Lt Cmdr Kiley; DAVID SAVILLE as Lt Cmdr Beaumont; DON HENDERSON as Master at Arms Heron; JAMES COSMO as Lt Leading Reg Fuller
Creators: Ian Mackintosh, Anthony Coburn / Script Editor: Ian Mackintosh / Music: Anthony Isaac / Producers: Anthony Coburn(73-74), Joe Waters(75-77)
UK / BBC-1 / 45×50 minute episodes / Broadcast 1973-77
