TV SERIES · 1971– · UK
The Onedin Line
8 archived facts 1 topic 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
8 Interesting Facts About The Onedin Line
- #001
Peter Gilmore (James Onedin) and Anne Stallybrass (Anne Onedin) married in real life as well as on The Onedin Line. They had a country cottage in Dartmouth, Devon, which they named Onedin House. It was used as a filming location for the series.
- #002
The series is set between 1852 and 1886.
- #003
The series was praised for its locations and its use of original historic ships. It dealt with everyday drama, romance and business relationships as well as the social and economic issues of the period, such as slavery.
- #004
Two of the ships used in the series are still in service and sailing today: the Norwegian sailing ships SS Christian Radich and Statsraad Lehmkuhl.
- #005
The schooner Charlotte Rhodes was built in Denmark in 1904 and was used in the series until 1976. Moored in Amsterdam in 1979, the ship was destroyed in an arson attack.
- #006
The BBC series ran for nine years from 1971 and depicted the rise of a fictional Liverpool-based shipping line from 1852 to 1888. Scenes were shot at Exeter Quay as well as in Dartmouth and Falmouth.
- #007
In the third season, the character Robert Onedin is played by a different actor.
- #008
In a 2004 interview with the Dutch magazine Impuls, actor Michael Billington (Daniel Fogarty) recalled that filming was not done on the open sea but only a few miles off the coast for convenience. They would set out early in the morning and return late in the evening. The Charlotte Rhodes, the ship they used most, also had an engine to improve its manoeuvrability. He said this would leave you feeling ill for days not from seasickness but from breathing in the engine fumes.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work