Blue Watch is one of four operational watches (or shifts) used at fire stations throughout the UK (the other watches are red, white and green). Members of Blue Watch at Blackwall are the primary focus of London's Burning.
Over the show's run, 36 permanent members of Blue Watch were seen; George Green was the longest lasting character, appearing in all episodes, except for two in Series 13 and the original television movie. The shortest lived in the series were Chris 'Skippy' Newman and Craig Ross who both lasted only six episodes. Andreas 'Ethnic' Lewis and Kenny 'Rambo' Baines only appeared in the pilot. Bert 'Sicknote' Quigley was the last survivor from the pilot movie. Firefighters from other watches or stations, such as Jaffa Parrish or Clingfilm, occasionally stood in at Blue Watch for absent regulars. 'Liver Salts' was a former member of Blue Watch and visited the station a few years later. Fireman Anderson joined Blue Watch at the end of the movie but was not seen again.
Seven members of Blue Watch died on duty (Lewis, Cartwright, Hallam, Georgiadis, Walker, Quigley, Mackenzie), four retired due to injury or ill health (Tate, Parrish, Newman, Blake), six left the fire brigade (Sanderson, Cross, Wilson, Ray, Morgan, Barratt), and six transferred to other stations or divisions (Appleby, Ingham, Stevens, Reid, Medhurst, Hammond). Five left for unknown reasons (Baines, Webb, Sharpe, Coleman, Silver). Four firefighters made appearances in London’s Burning after they had officially left Blue Watch (Ingham, Appleby, Wilson and Medhurst).
When Kevin Medhurst won a pedigree greyhound in a poker game, he named it Blue Watch.
Composition of Blue Watch, 1986-2002[]
Movie | Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SO | Tate | Tate | Tate | Tate | Georgiadis |
Sub | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam |
LF | Cross | Cross | Cross | Cross | Cross |
FF1 | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson |
FF2 | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley |
FF3 | Lewis | Sanderson | Sanderson | Sanderson | MacKenzie |
FF4 | Baines | Green | Green | Green | Green |
FF5 | Appleby | Appleby | Appleby | N/A | N/A |
FF6 | Cartwright | Cartwright | Cartwright | Parrish | Parrish |
FF7 | Ingham | Ingham | Ingham | Ingham/Stevens | Stevens |
FF8 | Medhurst | Medhurst | Medhurst | Medhurst |
Series 5 | Series 6 | Series 7 | Series 8 | Series 9 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SO | Georgiadis | Georgiadis | Georgiadis | Georgiadis | Georgiadis |
Sub | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam | Hallam/ Webb |
LF | Cross/ Mackenzie (tempoary) | Pearce | Pearce | Pearce | Pearce |
FF1 | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson | Wilson | Morgan |
FF2 | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley |
FF3 | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie |
FF4 | Green | Green | Green | Green | Green |
FF5 | N/A | Reid | Reid | N/A | |
FF6 | Parrish | Parrish | Appleby | N/A | |
FF7 | Stevens | Ray | Ray | Ray | Ray |
FF8 | Medhurst | Medhurst | Medhurst | Medhurst | Newman |
Series 10 | Series 11 | Series 12 | Series 13 | Series 14 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SO | Georgiadis | Hammond | Hammond/ Coleman |
N/A | Callaghan |
Sub / Watch Commander | Webb | Pearce | Pearce | Pearce | Pearce |
LF / Crew Commander | Pearce | Barratt | Barratt/Sharpe | Sharpe | N/A |
FF1 | Morgan | Morgan | Sharpe/Barratt | Clarke | Mooney |
FF2 | Quigley | Quigley | Quigley | Benjamin | Benjamin |
FF3 | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie | MacKenzie/Ross |
FF4 | Green | Green | Green | Green | Green |
FF5 | Blake | Walker | Walker | Silver | Mead |
FF6 | N/A | Fields | Fields | Fields | Fields |
FF7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
SC | Georgiadis | Coleman |
London's Burning |
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London's Burning • Episodes • Series |
Blue Watch • Supporting characters • Cast |
Writers • Producers • Directors |
Appliances • Stations • Firefighting terms • London Fire Brigade |
Books • DVDs • VHS • Quotes • Errors |