The Flockton Flyer

The Flockton Flyer was a children's TV series made by Southern Television for the ITV network. It was a popular programme, which ran to two series, and provided early screen appearances for upcoming actors such as Peter Duncan and Gwyneth Strong, as well as some well-known 1970s classical and situation comedy actors. The on-screen title for series 1 was "The Flockton Flyer", but for series 2 it had become "Flockton Flyer". This may have been a result of complaints from some railway enthusiasts, who pointed out that it is convention that locomotive names do not start with the definite article "The". However, whilst locomotive names do not take the definite article, train names often do so (for example, The Flying Scotsman or The Blue Train), and in the programme the locomotive carries engine nameplates, and also a train-name headboard, all marked with the same Flockton Flyer name.