The Flaxton Boys

The Flaxton Boys is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and 1973, running for 4 series and 52 episodes, each of 30 minutes duration.

The Flaxton Boys had a number of completely different scriptwriters, was produced by Jess Yates and Robert D. Cardona, and directed mainly by Cardona (45 episodes). Each of the series was set in a different era, spanning the years 1854 to 1945.^[1]

Plot, Cast and Episodes of the Series

The series is set at Flaxton Hall, located near the fictional Yorkshire village of Carliston. Each series follows the exploits and adventures of a different generation of boys, in 1854, 1890, 1928 and 1945 respectively. The main protagonists in each series are a young member of the Flaxton line and his closest friend, both portrayed as being around 14 years old.

Storylines are drawn mainly from the traditional staples of the Boys' Adventure genre, including plot elements such as hidden treasure, cryptic clues to be solved, ghostly apparitions, malign and unscrupulous villains, and spies. Each series is essentially self-contained in terms of cast and character.

However two lead actors feature in more than one series – Victor Winding portrays Barnaby Sweet in series 2 and Sweet's son Benjamin in series 3 and 4,^[2] while Richard Gale plays Sir Peregrine Stilgoe in series 1, Stilgoe's ward Sir Tarquin in series 2, and Miles Osborne in series 3.^[3] A constant element through all four series is narration by Gerry Cowan, who appears as Jacklin Flaxton in series 2.^[4]

Series 1 (1969)

It is 1854, and Captain Andrew Flaxton is posted as missing in the Crimean War. His wife Lucy and son Jonathan inherit the dilapidated Flaxton Hall, an imposing crenellated and ivy-covered property in the Yorkshire countryside. Jonathan befriends a local boy, Archie Weekes, and the pair spend their free time exploring. Local legend maintains that a great treasure is concealed somewhere within Flaxton Hall or its grounds, and this spikes the interest and attention of the area's avaricious, ruthless and unprincipled villain Sir Peregrine Stilgoe, who hires three convicts to assist him in locating the treasure. Jonathan and Archie find themselves in constant danger, but manage to keep one step ahead of Sir Peregrine in his machinations. A side-plot involves a strange ghostly female figure, reputed to haunt the local churchyard. The series ends with the safe return from the Crimea of Andrew Flaxton, who puts a swift end to Sir Peregrine's villainy and himself finds the treasure, which promises the family a secure and stable future.

Cast

• Peter Firth – Archie Weekes
• David Smith – Jonathan Flaxton
• Penelope Lee – Lucy Flaxton
• Richard Gale – Sir Peregrine Stilgoe
• James Hayter – Nathan
• Molly Urquhart – Flora
• Peter Clay – Capt. Andrew Flaxton

Episodes

1. The Deserter (21 September 1969)
2. The Dog (28 September 1969)
3. The Watcher (5 October 1969)
4. The Tutor (12 October 1969)
5. The Smugglers (19 October 1969)
6. The Seafarer (26 October 1969)
7. The Patient (2 November 1969)
8. The Witches (9 November 1969)
9. The Bridge (16 November 1969)
10. The Hunt (23 November 1969)
11. The Island (30 November 1969)
12. The Will (7 December 1969)
13. The Return (14 December 1969)

Series 2 (1970)

It is now 1890. Andrew Flaxton is now an old man, and his son Jonathan is revealed to have disappeared in unknown circumstances some years earlier. Jonathan's son Jacklin now lives at the Hall, and his best friend is Peter Weekes, the son of Archie and his wife Sarah. Sir Peregrine is now dead, but his villainy lives on in the shape of his erstwhile ward Sir Tarquin, who is plotting to take over the Hall in order to gain access to the large reserves of coal which lie beneath its grounds and whose ambitions are constantly thwarted by the alertness and bravery of Jacklin and Peter. Other storylines include a feud between two local Chinese Tong organisations, and the escape of an unhappy and lovelorn young servant girl, assisted by the two boys.

Cast

• David Bradley – Peter Weekes
• Gerry Cowan – Jacklin Flaxton
• Victor Winding – Barnaby Sweet
• Richard Gale – Sir Tarquin Stilgoe
• Philip Maskery – David Stilgoe
• Hugh Cross – Archie Weekes
• Lila Kaye – Sarah Weekes
• Moultrie Kelsall – Andrew Flaxton

Episodes

1. The Meeting (20 September 1970)
2. The Globe (27 September 1970)
3. The Heir (4 October 1970)
4. The Letter (11 October 1970)
5. The Diary (18 October 1970)
6. The Locket (25 October 1970)
7. The Valentine (1 November 1970)
8. The Conspiracy (8 November 1970)
9. The Messenger (15 November 1970)
10. The Discovery (22 November 1970)
11. The Attempt (29 November 1970)
12. The Homecoming (6 December 1970)
13. The Solution (13 December 1970)

Series 3 (1971)

The year is 1928. Jacklin Flaxton was killed in World War I, and his widow Jane now lives at the Hall. Their son Jonathan returns home from boarding school for the summer holidays, accompanied by his friend William Pickford. The boys befriend a local character, the feckless but well-meaning Benjamin Sweet. The Stilgoes have vanished from the scene and their former home, Stilgoe Lodge, is now in a state of advanced neglect and decay. The Lodge is to be renovated and turned into an orphanage, and Jonathan and William volunteer their holiday services in assisting with the reconstruction. However things do not go to plan, as a steady stream of workmen are frightened away from the Lodge after claiming to have witnessed hauntings and other supernatural phenomena. Jonathan and William, with the help of Benjamin, eventually discover that the supposed hauntings are fake, having been masterminded by a Stilgoe family connection, Miles Osborne, to prevent the Lodge from being redeveloped. The series ends with the boys returning to school as the summer holiday ends.

Cast

• Alan Guy – Jonathan Flaxton
• Veronica Hurst – Lady Jane Flaxton
• John Ash – William Pickford
• Heather Page – Mary Porter
• Nicholas Pennell – Rev. Albemarle Dobson Partridge
• Victor Winding – Benjamin Sweet
• Richard Gale – Miles Osborne
• Royston Tickner – Sgt. Cornfield
• Gorden Kaye – P.C. Joseph
• John Ringham – Mr. Jackson
• Terry Scully – Mr. Wilkinson

Episodes

1. All on a Summer's Day (19 September 1971)
2. A Quiet Sunday (26 September 1971)
3. A Fête Worse Than... (3 October 1971)
4. Snake in the Grass (10 October 1971)
5. In and Out of Hiding (17 October 1971)
6. The Fastest Gun in the West Riding (24 October 1971)
7. Trouble in the Air (31 October 1971)
8. To See...A Fine Horse (7 November 1971)
9. Things That Go Bump (14 November 1971)
10. The Ghost Catchers (21 November 1971)
11. The Lady in White (28 November 1971)
12. Down a Long Black Hole (5 December 1971)
13. Goodbye, Summer - Goodbye (12 December 1971)

Series 4 (1973)

The final series takes place in 1945, as World War II comes to an end. During the war Flaxton Hall has been requisitioned for use as an army facility. Matthew Flaxton befriends Terry Nichols, an evacuee from London who has no home to return to following the death of his parents in a bombing raid. Storylines in this series centre on suspicions of spies being operational in the Carliston area and the boys' interaction with enemy combatants being held as prisoners of war in the locality. The series closes as the troops prepare to leave Flaxton Hall as the war draws to its end. It is implied that Terry will find a permanent home at Flaxton Hall with Matthew and his family.

Cast

• Philip Baldwin – Terry Nichols
• Joanna Marie Jones – Elizabeth Flaxton
• Andrew Packett – Matthew Flaxton
• Pamela Duncan – Edith
• Victor Winding – Benjamin Sweet
• Murray Melvin – Gerald Meder
• Derek Benfield – Sgt. Brophy
• Cyril Luckham – Peter Weekes
• Jill Summers – Mary Porter
• Tom Browne (broadcaster) – Captain Ewing

Episodes

1. Is Your Journey Really Necessary? (25 March 1973)
2. This Little Piggy (1 April 1973)
3. What You Don't Know Might Hurt You (8 April 1973)
4. No Place Like... (15 April 1973)
5. The Bevin Boy (22 April 1973)
6. Welcome Home Tommy Atkins (29 April 1973)
7. It Fell off the Back of a Lorry (6 May 1973)
8. Charity Begins at... (13 May 1973)
9. Things Are Not What They Seem (20 May 1973)
10. Cry Wolf (27 May 1973)
11. A Funny Kind of Day (3 June 1973)
12. Remember, Remember (10 June 1973)
13. Keep the Home Fires Burning (17 June 1973)

Additional information

Location filming for The Flaxton Boys took place at Ripley Castle, four miles north of Harrogate. The castle owner, Sir Thomas Ingilby, credited the series for a dramatic rise in visitor numbers, turning the establishment from a local into a regional attraction.^[5]

The memorable theme tune for the series was provided by an excerpt from Sergei Prokofiev's Classical Symphony. Episodes were originally broadcast early on Sunday evenings, at the time the traditional "family" timeslot in the UK for historical drama made for children but with appeal to an adult audience also.

Comic strip versions of series three and four appeared in Look-in in 1971 and TV Comic from July 1973 to June 1974, respectively.^[6]

The Flaxton Boys continued to be repeated on various networks both in the UK and overseas until the early 1990s. It is understood that the series is fully extant in the Yorkshire Television archives, but until 2015 only one episode, The Meeting, had been released on VHS or DVD (on the UK Look-Back on 70s Telly - Issue 4 DVD). The complete first series was released on DVD by Network DVD in July 2015.^[7]

References

External links

• Detailed overview and history of The Flaxton Boys at Television Heaven