Ghost Train was a children's television programme broadcast on ITV, between 1989 and 1991, produced by Tyne Tees Television

Tyne Tees Television

Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...

 in association with various ITV regional stations including Border Television

Border Television

Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...

, Television South West

Television South West

Television South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...

, Ulster Television

UTV

UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

, Channel Television

Channel Television

Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...

 and Grampian Television

Grampian Television

Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...

.

Storyline

The series concept involved presenter Frances Dodge inheriting a ghost train from her grandmother. With the help of fellow presenters, Paul J Medford and Sabra Williams, she sneaks the train from the grasp of the evil Barry Mafia (Joe Hall) and makes her escape. Inside is a startled Gerard (Angelo Abela), the aliens' favourite broadcaster, and a camp sounding talking sheep, named Nobby (a puppet operated and voiced by Simon Buckley). However Barry Mafia is after them, aided by the Mafiaettes.

As Barry hatched several schemes, the trio of friends used the train as a platform for special guests, live performances from pop music artists, and introduced various cartoons including Scooby Doo and The Real Ghostbusters

The Real Ghostbusters

The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...

. At the end of season two, Barry finally regained control of the Train, but would lose it back to Frances in season three. The series ended on a cliffhanger, with the crew exiled to an alien planet.

Nobby would resurface in another Tyne Tees-produced Saturday morning show Gimme 5

Gimme 5

Gimme 5 was a children's television programme broadcast on Saturday mornings on ITV from 1992 to 1994. The programme was a live two-hour show which included live guests, cartoons, competitions and games. For series 1, it was presented by Jenny Powell, Lewis MacLeod, Matthew Davies,and Nobby the...

, but this did not resolve the cliffhanger.

Sunday spin-off

A spin-off Sunday morning series, Ghost Train on Sunday was produced in 1990 by Border Television

Border Television

Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...

 and presented by Shauna Lowry

Shauna Lowry

Shauna Lowry is a television presenter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is probably most famous for being the reporter on the popular BBC series, Animal Hospital and ITV 1's Style Challenge. She also presented the National Lottery and presented coverage of Northern Ireland's celebrations on...

.

Transmission guide

• Series 1: 22 editions from 1 April 1989 - 26 August 1989
• Series 2: 19 editions from 21 April 1990 - 25 August 1990
• Series 3: 22 editions from 6 April 1991 - 31 August 1991

External links

• Ghost Train on Paul Morris' SatKids