The Newcomers (TV series)

The Newcomers
Genre Soap opera
Created by Colin Morris
Theme music composer John Barry
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 430
Production
Producer(s)
Location(s) Riverside 1, BBC Birmingham
Camera setup Video, multiple-camera setup
Running time 25 minutes
Release
Original network BBC One
Picture format 4:3 576i
Original release 5 October 1965 (1965-10-05) – 13 November 1969 (1969-11-13)

The Newcomers was a late 1960s BBC soap opera which dealt with the subject of a London family, the Coopers, who moved to a housing estate in the fictional country town of Angleton. It was broadcast in bi-weekly half-hour episodes from October 1965 until November 1969. It was initially produced by Verity Lambert.

In the series, a fictional light industrial manufacturing company called Eden Brothers decides to relocate to the rural location. There are conflicts with the older members of the existing community, as well as some lighter moments as urbanites encounter "country characters". Many of the relocated workers have trouble living outside the city. As the series progresses, problems on the factory floor spill over into the community. Throughout this the Coopers strive to raise their daughter and two sons, who are having their own issues.

The show was recorded principally in the BBC's West London studios, mainly Riverside 1, and also at BBC Birmingham Studios, with external scenes filmed in Haverhill, a town in South-west Suffolk, which itself expanded rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s through residents moving from London. The cast included several actors who later achieved wider fame, including Alan Browning (later seen in Coronation Street), Maggie Fitzgibbon, Judy Geeson, Jenny Agutter and Wendy Richard. In two episodes the group Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions were featured and appeared at the pub. (They were billed as "the New Dimensions"). They performed their new Decca 45 'I Just Can't Get Over You'.

The Cooper and Harker families were the initial focus of the series. The on-screen sudden death of the character of Ellis Cooper led to a gradual shift away from the Coopers, who by the end of the serial barely featured.

A change of the managing director of Eden Bros to Andrew Kerr heralded the arrival of his daughter Kirsty, played by Jenny Agutter, but only during her school holidays.

Only five complete editions are known to have survived:

Cast

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