London's Burning (1986)
London's Burning is a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall. It was broadcast between 1988 and 2002 in the United Kingdom and was shown in Canada on digital television station CBC Country Canada. In the UK, Discovery's entertainment channel, DMAX have also shown repeats of the later series, mainly 11 through 14.
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Episode 1 - Episode 1
Release Date: 1996-12-20The episode begins with an explosion in a house to which Blue Watch is called and we meet their new watch member Jack Morgan, who is very secretive and quiet. A violent jerk sets his house on fire after his terrified wife locked herself in with the children. They are rescued, but he's blown away by an explosion. Hallam goes to see Jenny again. He quarrels with Sandra about her friends and it's obvious that they have come to live in different worlds. George and Kelly accompany their son Sean on his first school day. Sicknote gets a medal from the fire brigade, Jack visits his ex-wife Linda and their son Stephen. At the station Pitbull annoys everyone once more, but Jack stares him down. Blue Watch is then called to a big blaze at a restaurant, where a car has crashed through the front.
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Episode 2 - Episode 2
Release Date: 1992-12-27Clean-up is still in progress at the restaurant. The owner is a friend of Nick and asks him to cover up, but he refuses. Blue Watch is just attending a shout nearby, when a car catches fire and rolls away, while the owners are bickering. Back at the station, DO Chapman and Nick talk about Jack, while Pearce listens outside at the door. Sandra catches Hallam and Jenny together at a shopping centre. Jack takes Stephen out for a day. Sicknote visits his brother in prison, who suggests to stage a play inside the prison. Patti's parents appear at the Pearce residence to take half of the household that supposedly belongs to her after the divorce. He cracks up and throws them out. Billy and his Nan quarrel about his Mum once more and he decides to move out, sleeping in his car for the time being. Robbers try to get at the contents of a Security Van and set it on fire. Blue Watch has to find a way to get inside of the heavily secured van to get them out.
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Episode 3 - Episode 3
Release Date: 1993-01-03Nick goes to Cyprus to visit Evgenia and Costas. He wants to take them to London so that he can be with his son, but they oppose strongly. Jenny appears at the station to visit Hallam, causing the whole watch to stare and gossip. During a shout, George rides into a pothole, getting the pump stuck. Jack is taken to a boxing match by Jaffa and they meet George who coaches one of the young boxers. Billy is offered a bed by Recall, whose family has gone to Scotland, but he (Recall) soon starts to regret his kindness. Sicknote decides to stage "Macbeth" at the prison. Pearce adopts a boxer dog named Bruno for company. On Cyprus, Nick gets into a fight with Ariadne's husband Petros about the boy's paternity. During their next night shift, Blue Watch are called to a swimming pool where a short-circuit and gas explosion caused a huge fire. Jack dives to save a young man who is trapped in a flooding room. Billy watches how he knocks the panicking man out to save him. Evgenia finally agrees to go to London with Nick and little Costas.
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Episode 4 - Episode 4
Release Date: 1993-01-10Billy tries to persuade Recall to go out with him. Nick returns to Blackwall just as Blue Watch is exercising with their BA gear. Jack gets into a fierce argument with a S.O. and then with Nick about his attitude and missing respect towards superiors. Maggie is taken out to a restaurant by Derek, where he proposes to her. But she confesses that she is still married and doesn't know what to do. Off-duty, Sicknote starts to audition people for the cast of "Macbeth". Billy meets a new girl, Stephanie, at a club, while Recall gets invited to a drink by a nasty woman and flees. Next morning he realizes that Billy took the girl home - into the bed of his own son. He is furious. George and Kelly go to visit his sister Beattie who makes a living from operating a telephone sex line and refuses to reconcile with husband Cyril. Sandra catches Hallam on the phone to Jenny and brings him to confess his affair with the girl. Consequently he is in a very foul mood and first shouts at Pearce when they go to the station together and then at Nick , when they meet in the station office. Blue Watch gets called to a huge blaze in a factory where a pop music video is just being shot. Jack is on BA control, but abandons his duties to save Recall who got injured and Nick gives him a furious reprimand.
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Episode 5 - Episode 5
Release Date: 1993-01-17The fire in the factory hall is still ravaging. Hallam and Pearce are high up on the metal walkways to save some kids who had watched the pop video from above. A piece of iron gives way and Hallam slides down, unable to find a halt and crashes down several feet. He is taken to hospital. Recall is also forced to go to hospital and Laura comes from Scotland to visit him. Sandra also returns and learns that Hallam's chance for survival is 50-50. She breaks down in tears. The whole watch tries to cope with the accident, but at the end of the episode they learn that Hallam has died from his injuries.
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Episode 6 - Episode 6
Release Date: 1993-01-24Everyone is still trying to deal with their grief about Hallam's death, especially Pearce who saw him falling, but couldn't save him. Sicknote phones Bayleaf and asks him to come to London for the funeral. Blue Watch is called to a hospital, but it turns out to be a hoax call. Nick goes to talk to Sandra, who confesses that she wishes Pearce had died and not Hallam and doesn't want him to be one of the pallbearers. Nick understands, while it does nothing to make Pearce feel better about the whole thing. In the quietness of the station office, Jack tells him that he has also lost a colleague during a shout and knows how it feels. Everyone attends Hallam's funeral.
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Episode 7 - Episode 7
Release Date: 1993-01-31Life in Blackwall goes back to normal. Evgenia sprains her ankle and Nick calls the station to say that he's staying at home to look after the baby, but Sicknote is horrified at the thought of Pearce being in charge, so he tells Jean to babysit so that Nick can come to work. Pearce hopes that he'll be made Sub Officer now, but Nick tells him that DO Chapman has already appointed a new Sub. He watches from the station office window how Jack gives Pitbull a heavy punch. Blue Watch is called to the hospital again, but it's another hoax call. Nick checks the security guys who have filmed the area with their surveillance cameras. They catch the man who made the hoax calls and he says, that he was "bored". Nick reprimands Jack indirectly about punching Pitbull. Pearce thinks of selling the house to pay Patti off and get away from Blackwall. Jenny goes to talk to Sandra, taking the blame for the affair with Hallam. Stephen is sent to boarding school by Linda and her new husband. Kelly and George try to get Beattie and Cyril back together. During the next shift, Blue Watch has to fight a blaze after a TV imploded and rescue a paraplegic man from the upper floor.
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Episode 8 - Episode 8
Release Date: 1993-02-07Blue Watch is in for a nice surprise, when the new Sub Officer turns out to be a woman - Carole Webb. Billy takes an immediate dislike to her and they bicker. Her crew gets called to a health club where women got trapped in their sauna. Carole sends Billy through the ventilation to open the door from inside and the women coo over him. Recall gets elected spokesman for the firefighters of Blackwall and Laura complains, that she continually feels second-best, threatening divorce. We meet Carole's husband Gerry, a disabled ex-firefighter, who drinks too much and is upset about her career in the brigade. Sicknote rehearses Maggie and Derek in "Macbeth" and Jean encourages Maggie to get her divorce and grasp the chance with Derek. Cyril and a greaseball named Elkins propose a business deal to George to open a health club. Pearce questions Carole's experience on active duty and considers a transfer to be Sub Officer himself in the country. A bunch of joyriders set cars on fire and throw a molotov cocktail into a derelict building. When Blue Watch arrives at the scene, they interrupt their work and cause havoc. Jack and Recall are inside the building, when the hose goes dry after one yob disconnected it from the pump. Billy gets provoked into a fight, but Carole saves him.
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Episode 9 - Episode 9
Release Date: 1993-02-14Nick lets Carole lead an exercise, but the men are not too impressed by her order to crawl from one pump to the other via the ladders. The watch is called to a big fire in a garage and Carole finally gets a chance to prove her worth by reanimating a hurt man with Nick's help. Stephen comes to visit his Dad at the fire station and Recall can just about manage to hide him from Chapman's sight. He tells Jack tht he's run away from boarding school and Carole allows him to stay at the station for the day. Chapman asks Nick to attend a conference of the fire brigade. He isn't happy but agrees, granting Carole the chance to really prove herself as Station Officer for a while. Jack brings Stephen back to Linda and they argue about boarding school. Jack kisses her, but they are interrupted by Stephen. Laura returns to Scotland and Recall knows deep inside that it's over. Blue Watch is called to a closed garage, where spillage made a dog sick and Nick asks his men to put on chemical protection suits just in case. But the owner of the garage appears and explains that it's nothing dangerous. The first performance of "Macbeth" starts and Maggie is half-dead with stagefright. Cyril shows George the building where he wants to install his gym.
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Episode 10 - Episode 10
Release Date: 1993-02-21Jean gets an excellent review for "Macbeth", but Sicknote's direction is slagged off and he is upset. At the station, Carole takes charge as Station Officer. They get a new watch member, an Australian guy named Chris Newman, who gets nicknamed Skippy. Nick goes to attend the conference and meets the beautiful Dutch fire fighter Marianne. Carole and Jack get closer, but the alarm bell sends them to a shout. The pump gets stuck in a traffic jam, and Pearce, in the other pump, doesn't wait but goes up into a high building with his men to sort out the reported smoke. On arrival, Carole reprimands him, but the whole action is very disorganized and another S.O. reprimands them both. The smoke alarm turns out to be a barbecue on the roof. Pitbull abuses a black firefighter who's bringing the computer for the station. Pearce talks to the black guy who knows Carole and finds out about her husband. Jack tells Recall about the colleague who died on a shout. Skip goes out with Billy and Stephanie, but Billy gets overexcited when he sees Lauren with another man. Nick is just having a drink with Marianne, hoping to get to know her better, when ACO Baxter picks her up for dinner.
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Episode 11 - Episode 11
Release Date: 1993-02-28Nick returns to Blackwall. Pearce tells him about Pitbull's racist abuse, about Carole's bungled shout and his wish to be Sub Officer. He also welcomes Skip, then reprimands Carole about the shout. The watch has a good laugh, when a biker turns up at the station, his hands and butt glued to the handlebars and saddle of his bike. Beattie and Kelly go to visit the new health club, while Billy visits Skip . During the next shift, Carole admits to the watch that her husband injured himself off-duty and not heroically on-duty as he always says. Blue Watch is called to assist the police, who are trying to save a young woman who intends to jump off a high building. Skip gets his chance to prove himself and scares everyone with his rather unorthodox but successful method. "Macbeth" is being staged in prison and Sicknote's brother escapes in the van with the costumes and props. Sicknote wants to take him back, but he runs off. Jean urges him to tell the police, when the cops ring at their door, arresting them for assistance! During night shift, Jack tells Carole the whole story of how his friend died because a Sub Officer gave wrong orders and his BA ran out of oxygen.
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Episode 12 - Episode 12
Release Date: 1993-03-07Nick talks to Jack about his dangerous, uncontrolled temper and suggests to get help to deal with the memories that haunt him. The suicidal girl comes to the station to thank Skip for saving her life. A cabbie's arm gets stuck in a drain after trying to fish out his fallen car keys and Blue Watch has to pull him out. Jack meets the barmaid Nicky at Jaffa's pub. There'll be an official investigation of Pitbull's racist abuse and Recall, as the firemen's spokesmen, agrees rather unwillingly to defend him. Pearce is terribly upset when Bruno goes missing and Clingfilm helps him to search the beast. Nick visits Ariadne's grave and talks to Yanni about life and love. George opens the fitness club with his business partners. Blue Watch is called to a house fire and when they are just finished, they see Clingfilm appearing in his camper, busy searching for Bruno, but Pearce doesn't really appreciate his efforts.
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Episode 13 - Episode 13
Release Date: 1993-03-14It's raining in Blackwall. Pearce thinks that the roof is leaking but actually it's Skip, lying on a pump, firing a watergun at him. Nick catches them out and tells them they'll get a visitor from the Dutch fire brigade. Bruno is meanwhile found at Borough St. Fire Station, but they refuse to return the dog to Blackwall, so Jack engineers a trade against a jet. The Dutch visitor is of course Marianne and the guys are stunned. Chapman also arrives to greet her. The guys can just about hide Bruno from sight, but Nick catches them out later and furiously reprimands them. Blue Watch is called to help a guy whose legs got squashed under a fork-lift and Marianne joins in helping in her Dutch uniform. Jack gives Carole a lift home, making Gerry furious. But on the next morning, she sees from the fire station that he has spent the night with Nicky at the pub and is upset. Pitbull is officially disciplined by the fire brigade, but Recall makes a good speech in his defense and he may stay. Sicknote suggests a memorial plaque for John Hallam. Blue Watch has to put out a fire and save a man who's trapped under a lot of metal bars and stuff. Jack seizes the chance to steal the jet back from a Borough St. Pump. Carole supports the trapped man, but he dies.
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Episode 14 - Episode 14
Release Date: 1993-03-21Blue Watch gets new custard-coloured uniforms that look simply silly. At a big alarm at London Arena, the other watches laugh at them and Sicknote drives them off with a jet. Billy continues chasing Lauren and gets beaten up by her pimp, so he goes to stay with Skip to nurse his wounds. Carole spies on Jack and Nicky, while Marianne and Nick go out together. Jean and Sicknote visit Sandra to talk about the memorial. Pearce goes to a job interview for Sub Officer in Hampshire, still haunted by his memories of Hallam's death. When the next shift begins, Nick sends Billy home off-duty because of his bruised face. Recall asks for a longer holiday to go to Scotland and visit his family. Blue Watch is called to a huge blaze at a fun fair, where tents and stalls are on fire.
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Episode 15 - Episode 15
Release Date: 1993-03-28Blue Watch is called to help a guy who's stuck on a tree. Skip finds out that he was leering at young sunbathing women and steals the film from the camera. The Health Club George had invested in, goes on fire. Kelly and Beattie are trapped in a room, but Blue Watch saves them. Nick suspects arson and Georg e counts two and two together. He drums up support from Jack and Jaffa and they go to beat up Elkins, who caused the fire to claim the insurance. There's a heavy fight with him and his bodyguards. Pearce goes to talk to Sandra about Hallam's death and his i ntention to sell the house and transfer to Hampshire to get away. She sort of forgives him that he was the one who survived. Sicknote and ACO Baxter hold a speech in Hallam's memory as the memorial plaque is unveiled. Marianne returns to the Netherlands. T he guys call each other into the station bathroom one by one, as Skip has developed the photos of the women. Jack almost gets to kiss Carole, but the alarm bell goes off and interrupts them. As the pumps speed along the motorway, they get involved into a heavy crash and a long bar crashes through the window of one pump.