James Garbutt

When the Boat Comes In is a British television period-drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981.

The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken town of Gallowshield in the North East of England in the 1920s and 30s.

The memorable traditional tune “When The Boat Comes In” was adapted by David Fanshawe for the title theme of the series. Fanshawe also composed the incidental music.

The BBC revived the series in 1981, with this fourth series telling the story of Jack Ford as he returned to Britain penniless, after six years spent bootlegging in the United States and set up in London. The series ended with Ford shot and killed while attempting to deliver guns to the partisans in the Spanish Civil War.

The series’ creator James Mitchell also wrote three tie-in books to the T.V. show: When the Boat Comes In, When the Boat Comes In: The Hungry Years and When the Boat Comes In: Upwards and Onwards. The final book brings the reader up to date with the end of the second series of the TV show.