Who Pays the Ferryman

Who Pays the Ferryman?

1977 - United Kingdom

Who Pays The Ferryman? was the second major drama series from the pen of Michael J. Bird. 

Rooted in the tensions between old Cretan values and modern Greece, it tells how British ex-serviceman Alan Haldane's return to Crete after 30 years becomes the catalyst for a frightening chain of events. Haldane discovers that while he was on the island he fathered a child, who is now a young woman with a family of her own. Unable to tell them the truth he decides to settle on the island to be near his new family, unaware that there are others who are secretly plotting against him. 

The theme of undisclosed parentage was one to which Bird would return more than once in future writings, and the central story of an old-woman's "vendetta" is in every sense a Greek tragedy. Although not strictly a sequel to Bird's earlier series, The Lotus Eaters, there were many similarities. Set in the same part of Crete it features one recurring character in the form of the police chief played by Stefan Gryff. Also very much in the style of Lotus Eaters Bird offered diversions along the way in a couple of episodes unconnected to the main storyline. 

The soundtrack for the series, by Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos, became a phenomenon in its own right. It made the UK top ten twice and the soundtrack LP still comes up regularly for sale on E-bay. It was reissued on CD in 2000 by EMI Greece. 'Ferryman' ran for eight episodes beginning on 7 November 1977 and ending on Boxing Day.

Published on February 12th, 2019. Written by Dave Rice (2004) for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

Public Eye

Downtrodden private eye struggles to make ends meet.

Also tagged British Drama Series

Danger Island

A 12-year old boy overhears two sinister men plotting to assassinate their country's ruler.

Also tagged Drama Series

Anglo Saxon Attitudes

From Angus Wilson's remarkable post-war novel, Anglo Saxon Attitudes has a typically rich and interwoven cast of Wilson characters.

Also tagged British Drama Series

Andy Robson

Based on Frederick Grice's 1969 novel, The Courage of Andy Robson, about a young boy who is uprooted from his life in the pit community of Easington, in 1910, when his father is killed in a mining accident.

Also tagged Drama Series

Spindoe

A tale of cross border gang warfare - North versus South London and a lesson in no-honour among thieves.

Also tagged British Drama Series

The Baker Street Boys

Based on a group of street urchins whom Conan Doyle recruited on behalf of Holmes to perform various missions, take messages, search London following clues and going to places where the detective himself could not.

Also tagged Drama Series

Three's Company

US sitcom about a young man sharing an apartment with two girls - based on the UK's Man About The House.

Also released in 1977

Court Martial

Court Martial was a British made production co-funded by ITC (in the UK) and Roncom Productions (in the USA) which aired on ITV in 1965 and on ABC in 1966.

Also tagged Drama Series

Champion House

When their family business is threatened with financial ruin, a family go into bitter battle - with themselves.

Also tagged British Drama Series