Tugs (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series aired in Japan with Japanese voice-overs.
• Redubbed and heavily edited footage later aired as part of the American children's series Salty's Lighthouse in 1997.

Format and production

Tugs was filmed in 1987 and 1988 at Shepperton Studios, Middlesex, using live-action models mounted on wheeled chassis and pulled through water with transparent string. The Clearwater Periscope lens system allowed filming at the models' eye level. Remote controls were tested for movement but proved too heavy; they were instead used for eye features and cranes. Each fifteen-minute episode (four exist as twenty-minute versions on video) is narrated by Captain Star, voiced by Patrick Allen. The two fleets compete for contracts to dock and tow vessels such as ocean liners and schooners, as well as transport stone, munitions, and logging fell.

Cast and characters

The Star Fleet, styled after the Crowley Maritime Corporation, are the protagonists led by Captain Star. Its members include Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J., Top Hat, Warrior, Hercules, and Sunshine. Boomer, a tugboat who believes himself jinxed, briefly joins after being found at sea but is sold after causing accidents; his fate is unknown. Grampus, a naval submarine purchased from the Navy, also works for the fleet. The Z-Stacks, antagonists modeled on Moran Tugs of New York City, are led by Captain Zero and include Zorran, Zebedee, Zak, Zug, and Zip. Boomer briefly works for them after being sold by the Star Fleet but is cast out after his explosives barge detonates.

Merchandise, music, and home video releases

Merchandise from the early 1990s includes Ertl models of Ten Cents and Sunshine (the only two produced from the planned full Star Fleet set), photo books, two hardback annuals, a dot-to-dot book, jigsaw sets, a bed cover, a board game, collector's edition thimbles, a card game, and a publicity pack. Japanese releases included models, videos, books, and an LCD game. The music was composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell on synthesizers, with Pete Zorn playing saxophone on the theme.

VHS releases in the UK and Japan between 1988 and 1993 contained three fifteen-minute or two twenty-minute episodes; a 65-minute compilation of four episodes appeared in 1993. No DVD series release has occurred, though footage appeared on a 2005 Salty's Lighthouse DVD. In April 2024, Tugs: The Exhibition released a limited edition of the episode "Sunshine" on DVD with behind-the-scenes photos and a script booklet. Two further releases, "Pirate" and "Trapped", were confirmed for April 14, with plans to release all episodes as singular releases.

Preservation

In 2012, the original models were purchased on eBay by a group of fans and later formed TUGS: The Exhibition, a non-profit trust. As of 2020, the exhibition owns most of the leading and supporting cast models, alternate faces, and props, though Top Hat, Grampus, Lord Stinker, Little Ditcher, the rail barges Eddie and Frank, and Sally Seaplane are missing. In March 2022, the group became the first officially licensed by the rights holders. The exhibition is housed in a railway coach at Butterley station, Midland Railway – Butterley, Derbyshire, open to the public at special weekends.