Guest actor: Dennis Gilmore as bully-boy landlord Ted Phillips.

Bob Carter, garage proprietor and volunteer engine mender, is forced to give-up his garage and move with his family to the old station at Flockton, on the branch line from Lane End, which had been closed years before by BR.

Whilst the family are moving their possessions to Flockton, by train, of course, they meet Bill Jelly, who offers to help with getting the railway ready to re-open.

Locations - Flockton station is Minehead. 6412 is seen in the opening shot, on the engine run-round loop, and in the engine siding there is a brief shot of "Victor". The family load their possessions onto the ex-Port of Bristol Authority wagons at Stogumber station. Probably the only time in history that a goat being loaded into the cab of a GWR pannier tank has been recorded on film for TV. Bill Jelly's hut is the one by Crowcombe Bridge.

A local farmer does not like the idea of the Flockton branch re-opening, and becomes obstructive.

The countryside is badly affected by drought. Friendship between farmer and railway is established when the Flyer helps to deliver water to the drought afflicted cattle.

Locations - Joe Pratt's farm is near Roebuck Bridge. Water is taken to the cattle from the ex-Pwllheli water tower that had recently been erected at the end of Minehead's platform. The tank wagon is one of two that had been donated to the railway in its early days. The scene at this end of Minehead station has been completely transformed in the years since the filming. The site of the old lido between the railway and the seafront has been redeveloped with houses. Seaward Way has been built; complete with a level crossing over the railway, Minehead signalbox (moved from Dunster) has been built. The old BR layout, where there was no track connection at Minehead between the two platforms, is a distant memory.

Bill Jelly becomes convinced the railway is haunted, and the others begin to wonder, too.

Flockton station is visited overnight by vandals, destroying many hours worth of restoration work. Bob sets a trap intending to catch the vandals.

Locations - Flockton station in the darkness was the subject of a night shoot. Light pours onto the platform from the windows, provided by huge floodlights rigged for the purpose. The set-up was also used for still photography, with Tony Nutley's night-time study of 6412 becoming a WSR poster and timetable cover. Bill Jelly's haunted home is near Crowcombe. There are daytime shots set in the main platform run-round loop at Minehead.

The Carters are getting ready for their railway nature trail to be opened, whilst Bob is fixing up phone lines along the railway.

Jan is out, signposting the nature trail, when she comes across an injured lady at the beach.

Meanwhile, there has been a pile-up at the level crossing, and the injured need the Flyer's help. Luckily, the new phones work, but that does not help Jan with her casualty.

Locations - The beach scenes were shot at Dunster. The pile-up was filmed at Roebuck Gate Level Crossing. During the shooting of these scene, a platform hoist mounted on a Ford lorry overturned, depositing the Producer, Cameraman and other crew members into the field at the base of the embankment. The Producer was able to return to work after being patched-up in hospital, but the cameraman's injuries were a bit more severe, and he had to be replaced. Frost's 'phone calls are made from Williton signal box.

A criminal gang hijack and rob a mainline train, which is then diverted by BR onto the old Flockton branch.

The Carters hatch a plan to capture the train robbers, but, not surprisingly, the gang don't want to cooperate.

Jan goes on horseback for the police, whilst her sister is taken hostage.

Locations - The Flockton scenes were taken at Minehead. There cannot have been many horses seen on the railway at this point, either before or since. The signal box interior is Williton. It is not easy to watch, as a signal lever is reversed, and the signal in the cutaway shot returns to danger! The DMU used would not function during the filming, although much work had been done to get it operational. So the DMU was propelled by 6412 when movement was required. BR driver and WSR volunteer Trevor Barnett was in charge of the DMU.

The confrontation between the Carters with the Flyer versus the crooks and the DMU was staged at the country end of Bishops Lydeard. There is much moving of pointwork, which had been taken out of use in 1970, when BR closed the signal box at this station. The points were scotched, clipped and padlocked under normal circumstances. The then WSR standard way of barring these points over, with an iron bar, is demonstrated. Although it is not shown in the finished programmes, the points were always securely clipped before any movement ran over them. The stalling of the getaway vehicle is on the board crossing near the shell of Bishops Lydeard Signal Box. Ex-Barry scrapyard Prairie Tank locomotives can be seen in the background, awaiting restoration.

After the long struggle to get the line ready, it is the day of the re-opening ceremony. The band is playing, the bunting has been put up, the sandwiches are cut. But where's the Flyer?

Commander Frost foolishly tries his hand at engine driving, and has to rely on horsepower for a rescue to save the grand re-opening.

Locations - Minehead is again Flockton, all dressed up with bunting and flag. The signalbox steps where Mr Jenkins is first seen are those of Williton. The Watchet Silver Band is in attendance on the platform. A timetable poster is pinned-up by WSR General Manager of those days, David Butcher. There is a shot of Harry Lee and Keith Hawkins listening as the band rehearses, and several WSR folks appear, including Barney Forsdike and Roger Stewart-Hindley chatting. Harry Lee appears later, on the pump trolley, with John Wood and characters Bob and Jimmy Carter.

Commander Frost's escapade ends at Crowcombe, after a brief scene where the gates at Leigh Wood Level Crossing can be seen, closed across the railway.

Again there is barring-over of disconnected points, this time done by Gwyneth Strong.

As the summer of 1976 drew to a close, it was evident that not all was well with the finances of the WSR. The County Council who had pledged a loan to the WSR Company to provide funds for the re-opening, became dissatisfied with the speed of progress and with the passenger income. Advances of previously agreed funds were cancelled, and the repayment of money already lent was demanded. These were perilous days for the entire project. The income from the facility fee charged to Southern Television for their use of the line and 6412 made a huge difference. The railway could well have folded at this stage. The filming made a valuable contribution to avoiding that potential disaster. It was a great relief to all concerned that Southern TV decided to make a second series of Flockton Flyer, and we were pleased to see the film crew return to West Somerset in September 1977.