The Flaxton Boys

[Infomatiks]

Yep - every Sunday.

[omegamike1]

I remember this vividly, especially the theme tune. I'm 49 now. I remember one episode in particular where the boys found a buried viking helmet!! how exciting was that ;o) TV has gone down hill dramatically since those days. Glad I was a kid in the 60's and 70's and not now..... what a load of tosh on TV!

[Bevoin1970]

I seem to remember this being shown on a Sunday tea time, the Black Beauty, Folly Foot slot. I have no memories of it other than the name of the show. I was beginning to think I'd imagined it all, and yet here on YT I have discovered it, Brilliant!! Im not going mad after all. From a 50 year old strolling down memory lane instead of working... :-)) You just made my Friday with this, Thanks.

[Cool2BCeltic]

Remember seeing this when I was about 5 but didn't know at that time that the music was by a future favourite composer of mine, Prokofiev. The boys certainly got up to a lot on their holidays from whatever public school they attended, probably Eton or Harrow.

[stranglerkitty007]

I've always asked people if they remember this show,but not many do.I remember the picture in the hall with the moving eyes watching..very scary at the time.

[nebulosa1000]

@stranglerkitty007 Me too! Those eyes were really scary! That's about all I remember. And my friends don't...

[ancientraver19881989]

Takes me right back to Sunday teatime when I was about 5 years old - I grew up in the London area but live in Yorkshire now and have visited Ripley Castle a few times since I've been here - never thought all those years ago at the start of the 1970s that years later I'd visit Flaxton Hall! If you're my age you can also tell if someone's got a good memory or not by asking them if they remember the Flaxton Boys!

[luvselgar]

Fantastic! Brings back memories of Sunday afternoons and my Nanas and Grandads.

I'm a big classical music fan and can't hear the opening 'theme' (The finale of Prokofiev's 'Classical' Symphony. (No. 1)) without remembering this.

Thanks.

[grantg60]

I used to love this programme. I'm 50 now and sadly can't remember much about the storylines, but I can remember always looking forward to it.

[tom89zigman]

I loved The Flaxton Boys when I saw it as a kid. This was when I took notice of Peter Firth before seeing him in that movie Equus.

[VinnyMonster1]

I'd forgotten all about this until right now!

[IATM29]

Sid Waddell is not only a great Darts commentator but also wonderful creator of childrens classics like this. Great stuff again from Yorkshire Television

[trespire]

Glad I found this, could remember the music and the pair of them effortlessly zooming around the fields, but for the life of me could not recall the name of the series. Never seen kids run so fast, must be the Yorkshire pudding.

[Astricle77]

The first episode from series two has appeared on a Network DVD called Look Back at 70`s TV volume 4, one of sixteen shows from the 70`s spread over two disc`s and well worth the money. You can get it from Amazon.

[magic5527]

lovely memories mom used to do a sunday tea spread with sandwiches and cakes and jelly. Ever so glad i was brought up in the seventies and not now.

[suttonguy]

ahhh yes...i remember it well,sunday afternoon telly in the 70s!  happy days!

[GOSMGR1]

Sunday teatime memories!

[53scottie]

my dad took me to Ripley Castle where the flaxton boys was filmed. I have been back countless times and it always reminds me of him.

[djx64]

The 60's & 70's produced THE! most creative and innovative tv. If that wasn't the case you wouldn't get so many shows dedicated to the nostalgia of the those times.

[sargend]

This was shown in the early 70's in New Zealand- used to love the theme. I remember a later series set in WW2 with a great fly-by by a Spitfire in the Opening sequence

[2pikeman]

great memories of sunday afternoons ,glued to the telly watching this

[Tesiay]

I remember this show. Generations of boys; lots of get up and go they had. And one of the boys usually had a hot mother.

[hiho59ish]

halcien days......hope the spellings right ...lol....yep i'm 51 myself and as a kid loved this show.....it was acting and simple as , just great t.v.........

[dudu4life]

I'm 33 and Nigerian. This got shown back home every thursday afternoon in the 80's. Been looking for it myself.

[moogsy147]

I've been looking for this for ages - remembered tune but couldn't remember the name . I'm 46 and this takes me right back to when I was a young boy. GREAT MEMORIES!!!

[Danehill]

Great show. Thanks for the memories.

[MrClarkey01]

I have been asking loads of people my age if they remember this, but nobody does. Good memories.

[dermot51]

they lived in a gaff called Flaxton hall

[MrScotsaway]

To davepx:

That was the day of my Confirmation at age 7 in Glasgow!

[rabbithog]

@MrScotsaway I BET YOU STILL GOT YOUR CONFIRMATION MONEY AS WELL LOL

[geejay4ever]

many thanx for posting this. just for kicks, i called yorkshire to ask if they plan on releasing it on dvd. i was told no. actuallly, u cant buy the whole series. they will only sell u one, which is about 45quid an episode. ouch.

[Cool2BCeltic]

Looking at this I wonder if, when they were a bit older, these boys were considered for roles in Chariots of Fire.

[cambridgemod]

takes me back, life was so much better then than this bloody rat race now

[MrAstrolamp]

It IS the exact SAME recording I have as used in this later series - I 'phase tested' it and it IS the same version!

Is this available on DVD?

[MrAstrolamp]

I remember it well : The pedal car they had ; the bloke throwing his brandy on the fire, which made it spread and burn down Flaxton Hall.

I have got the music on record and it sounds the SAME recording.

[forestershall]

I remember working on the Studio Scenes of The Flaxton Boys in Studio Three at Yorkshire Television. Happy Days!

[digitalbroadcaster]

I don't remember that much about it except for some painting with moving eyes.

[ajp55a]

That bit was the only thing me and my brother ever talked about, ( again just last week) cant believe someone else got hooked on that bit, wow makes me laff. Was a bit scary at the time,

[digitalbroadcaster]

Surprising how many 40+ year old people have that unusual memory trigger to tap in The Flaxton Boys. I have done this for years and years and then , BAM! YouTube has it! YouTube is a fantastic system to bring back all those memories I would have never dreamed of seeing again. I'm 45 and living in Hampshire, UK.

[ty3165]

very very true

[ty3165]

bloody hell i typed this into youtube thinking nothing would be here and lo and behold it is,many thanks for this,what year is it please ?

[davepx]

This was 16 Nov 1969, apparently - series 1, episode 9

[dan123merch]

who remembers the baddy?

sir tarquin stilgoe his name ,and he lived at stilgoe lodge , funny the things you remember

[missyadams]

i think it was sir perguine stilgoe, a total creep who has a creepy henchman with a very weird voice.

[Nechromosones]

I loved Flaxton boys and remember the secret passages.Cannot wait to watch them all again

[mortegi]

Great posting. I thought I was going mad when I mention to friends "do you remember The Flaxton Boys?" reply BLANK faces....noboby remembers ecxcept me. Where is it possible to see episodes of this programme to buy.

[patickles1]

I had the same reaction with friends ,so Im glad I found It on here...I thought I had gone mad too! lol

[fulcrum100]

... was there a Spitfire that flew down along the river here in the opening sequence/titles?

[animatetime]

Yes but a later series...and generation

[BWFSabian]

I think it might have been a Hurricane.. There were more of them about so...

[pixiejanet1]

wow! i was only at this venue recently its Ripley Castle....:)

[ancientraver19881989]

re my above message id only seen the first few seconds when my flash player stopped working as the bit with the Flaxton boys running through the grounds I mentioned is actually on this at the end of this clip. Amazing I hadnt seen that since I'd think when I was about 6 in 1971!

[digitalbroadcaster]

Same here. It has always been a sketchy show for me (memory wise) and the only thing that REALLY stands out in that memory was a painting on the wall (portrait) with eyes that moved (peep holes) and the very dark and eery backdrop. Just wish my brain had a video tap facility!

[digitalbroadcaster]

ancientraver19881989: It's funny how mobile phone text messaging is easy to read on a phone but is as difficult as hell on a normal web message box. I text all the time (who speaks these days on phones?) but you certainly slowed my reading pace down. :o)

[ancientraver19881989]

This needs 2b on DVD it definitely all still exists. I've bin 2 Ripley Castle a few times 2 &neva thort when I used 2 watch this at Sunday teatime all those years back that I'd actually be @ Flaxton Hall 1day! A memory of mine from the show is that the boys used 2run down thru the grounds with the amazin Prokofiev music playin @ the beginnin. Sumtimes my great uncle(bn 1894)would come 2tea on sundays bak then which was sort of fittin as he used 2b a gardener in a stately home nearly 100 yrs ago.

[Mekanurg]

I remember this from Swedish TV circa 1970, when I was in primary school. It was my first introduction to that peculiar British love of Victoriana. It was a great adventure for a boy in those days,

[philomorphologian]

You've got the tape !! Thanks.

[cinebird]

Yorkshire TV produced some real gems in the early seventies, 'Follifoot' was the stand out show amongst them all, but 'The Flaxton Boys' was a close second.

[Bevoin1970]

Brilliant ! I knew I'd heard of this show from way back but couldn't remember anything about it. neither could any one else. Im sure it was on Tea time on a Sunday ?? maybe. Thought I was going bonkers but now I have seen this I now know Im not ( dont think ! ) ha ha... thanks for posting. You have made me smile !!

[voogdr]

as I recall the them tune was the fourth movement from Prokofiev's "Classical" symphony

[mrspenn1611]

super piece of music, I remember the TV show well, , , happy days they were

[TheGrantobrien]

@voogdr Yes it is. I had forgotten the theme to the Flaxton boys, but over the years I've always liked the "Classical" symphony - now I know why!

[voogdr]

I remember it from the early 70s in NZ, even caught an episode in the Netherlands when our family was visiting....

[LAKUNSTA]

Thanks sidiboots1. Man I have been searching for this show. Watched it back in the 80s as a kid in Nigeria. WOW

[blazee012]

@LAKUNSTA Yep!! I remember this too my guy!! In fact, the ending tune stuck in my subconcious and always used to hum it to the exact note. I remenbered it was the tune to some mischievious boy show, but didn't remeber they were two boys. I had that vivid memory of him (them) running through the feilds. Used to love watching it way back in Naij in the 80's (Fond memeries). It wasn't till one day in my sisters car in Jand that i heard the tune on classic fm n just went nutz I hummed all the way

[cryptorchild13]

The 1st series was with Peter Firth as Archie Weeks and Jonathon Flaxton was played by David Smith... my dad :)

[viscountrapier]

Really. Splendid! I use to watch re-runs of the show when I was a little kid in the 80s.

[RadioNorthSea]

Many childhood memories are flooding back to me now. I was very disappointed that Peter Firth and (Your dad) David Smith were not in the second series as I didn't realise there were going to be different generations each series.

I remember your dad shivering rather a lot on one episode having being in the river or a pool or something. I also remember an oriental girl named Su Ling in an episode about Jack The Ripper and another which featured an old housekeeper named Flora.

[digitalbroadcaster]

All I remember was two boys,

Oops! I meant 'were two boys'.

[digitalbroadcaster]

Ohhhhh my gawd! I had a vague memory of this series from when I was a small boy (b.1964). All I remember was two boys, one who looked like a school friend of mine and some painting with moving eyes. I've spent years and years looking for info on it. But then comes sidiboots! Ha! Man! You are a STAR! How EVER did you get hold of THIS?!!! It has flushed through my schoolboy memories and stirred up even more now. Now all I can think of is my Primary School days. Excellent and thanks for it!

[xpeanutsx24]

The baddy was called Sir Peregrine Stilgo and the piece of music is Prokofiev's Classical Symphony number 1. Where on earth did this video come from!

[waldenhouse]

I knew Philip Maskery well at one time when we were kids, but have lost touch. Hope he sees this and gets in touch! This was filmed at Ripley Castle near Ripon North Yorkshire England.

[mudbutton2]

So many outdoor boyhood adventures! Kids nowadays don't know what they are missing, all this internets and such.  :)

[ERW104]

The first time I went to a concert featuring that Prokofiev I *knew* I'd heard it as a theme tune for something, and until this moment exactly where has been a mystery - thank you!

[Panthershadowz]

My goodness this takes me back

[eflabb]

The series was OK, quite idealised, I think I preferred Black Beauty & the excellent '70's sci fi shows Sky & Out of the Unknown. But the music, Wow. Thanks, Prokofiev!

[Blonde7362]

Used to watch this when I was a kid too! Loved the theme tune then and now...got anymore clips?

Thanks for posting!

[soocat]

I was begining to think I had dreamt The Flaxton Boys up,as no-one else I've mentioned it to can remember it! I loved it-each different series-would love to see a whole episode again-Sunday tea times were marvelous all those years ago...

[vordman]

Yeah, me too, but here's the evidence.

[TIMUK]

This is wonderful, totaly evocative of my tv habits back then!!! Does anyone who remembers this also recall either Red Gauntlet or, even more esoteric, a spy series set during the Napoleonic wars called Pagasuss - both odf which I think went out on weekdays?

[thesteveus]

They showed this in Australia in the early 80's, loved it.....

I remember the 1940's Spitfire opening credits but the earlier series set in about the 1890's was better as I remember........

[chipsy1967]

And yet more trivia... The Flaxton Boys was created by Geordie darts maestro Sid 'Bristow reasons...Bristow quickens...Aaahhhhh, Bristow' Waddell! It also starred Peter 'Double Deckers' Firth as Archie Weeks.

Great stuff.

[jamiiejambo]

im writing this for my mum she t says this was her favorite programme it must be old

[thetazinator]

I have a video clip of the opening titles of The Flaxton Boys the one with the spitfire but can't place things on youtube as we have no dvd drive!

[nmos]

Magical! This was Yorkshire Television in its heyday, especially for children's tv. This was indeed transmitted Sunday teatimes and also starred a very young Peter Firth. Yorkshire was subsequently able to come up trumps again with something very special on Sunday afternoons in Follyfoot.

[frieda67]

Awesome!!!! I too remember this show from my childhood. I actually tried to search for this piece of music, or at least what it was called a few years ago, but received no response from anyone. Just remembered loving it all those years ago even as a child and wanted to hear it again! Thanks for posting it!

[barnfather]

Hi

its by a Russian composer called Procoviev

symphony for violin I think

J

[Batdud]

Yes its Symphony No 1 by Prokofiev, molto vivace part.

[applestead]

Absolutely fantastic. I thought i was the only one who remembered this programme. I'm sure it was on sunday afternoons that i saw this. definately brings back memories. I dare say if i saw an episode now, i'd think it was a load of old twaddle. But thanks for putting this on here.

[rivernith]

As Lodge939 says there was more than one series of The Flaxton Boys and each one was set in a different time. The one i remember best was set just after the end of the Second World War and featured a low flying Spitfire or Hurricane in the opening titles. The program reminds me of Sunday visits to my paternal Grandparents. It really brings back memories. Thanks for posting it.

[rivernith]

According to Nostalgia Central website the theme music is the finale from symphony no.1 in D op.25, classical symphony by Prokofiev.

[britecho]

Can anyone identify the theme music for me? Someone said earlier that it is by Prokofiev, but which of his works is it? Been trying to find out now for around the last 13 years or so!

[fokjock]

God this takes me back-quite haunting!

[tamaraom3]

many thanks for this!!

[compaq10111213]

one of the lads in it was the lad who played billy in the film kes, david ?

[fokjock]

The boy from Kes you're referring to was David Bradley.

[compaq10111213]

remember the name of the bad man in it?

sir tarquin stilgoe, of stilgoe lodge, was a right twat.

[STEViEmando]

I remember the series fondly. Generation after generation of Flaxtons. Yeah, I wish they'd find a way of bringin' this out on DVD too.

[cswilson07]

Great I have been looking for a clip of the Flaxton Boys for years.

If I remeber, each series should a new member of the Flaxton family and Flaxton hall.

So we followed the family through generations, right up to the 50,s or maybes the 60, .

I used to watch this on a sunday teatime before having to go to Choir practise.

Anyway thanks for this.

[maxwedge66]

Vaguely remember a kids show intro like this, but it had a cool Spitfire blasting overhead, was it from this show?

[lodge939]

I've always wanted to see The Flaxton Boys again, and like you PSnedden I saw The Witches in Bradford. I couldn't believe my luck!

I visit Ripley Castle, where the show was filmed, quite regularly in the hope I might find mention of the programme, but no such luck yet.

I wonder if it'll ever come out on DVD.

Allshallpass. I recall the evacuee series too. Each series was set in a different time.

[hayleyliam]

I suppose if enough people partitioned Yorkshire TV then maybe they will bring out a seasonal dvd, or better still a complete boxset.

[PSnedden]

A few years ago I travelled to the National Media Museum in Bradford to see an episode (The Witches) from this series. Now, after years of 'Flaxton Boys' googling, it's great to finally be able to watch a clip on the web. This show made a great impression on me as a kid but I'll always remember it for Prokofiev's music. Thanks for posting :-)

[allshallpass]

Wonderful find. I do remember the Flaxton Boys on a Sunday teatime and watched it on Yorkshire regional tv. I seem to recall a voiceover in a Yorkshire accent over the opening credits introducing the two boys. Were they evacuees perhaps or is my memory playing tricks?

Whatever, thankyou for posting.

IAN, Derbyshire

[bladesixhundred]

first time i have seen this in over 35 years, but i can still remember the characters and the theme tune - memory is an amazing thing...thanks

[dandideth]

brilliant blast from the past

[dandideth]

brilliant blast from the past

[dandideth]

Brilliant blast from the past.