15 minSeason 1 • Episode 13
LatestAn Ocean liner called Vienna is to come into Bigg City Port but Lillie Lightships needs to refuel, if there isn't a light Vienna can't come. Supplies are low, Ten Cents and Sunshine try to find oil for Lillie but they only find one which Zorran has and he won't give it to them, He says it's for Vienna. Sunshine knows where to find a light barge. Zip and Zug get the wrong end of the stick and trap Ten Cents and Sunshine by using a fire barge. Both fleets are waiting anxiously for Vienna but there is no light. Luckily Warrior saves the day by setting his garbage barge alight for a light for Vienna. Ten Cents and Sunshine wait for the tide to set them free. Vienna comes to Bigg City, the tugs do their job and she goes on her way.
TUGS is a British children's television series first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. The series dealt with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who compete against each other in the fictional Bigg City Port. The series was set in the Roaring Twenties, and was produced by TUGS Ltd., for TVS and Clearwater Features Ltd. Music was composed by Junior Campbell and Mike O'Donnell, who also wrote the music for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. Due to the bankruptcy of production company TVS, the series did not continue production past 13 episodes. Following the initial airing of the series throughout 1988, television rights were sold to an unknown party, while all models and sets from the series sold to Britt Allcroft. Modified set props and tugboat models were used in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends from 1991 onwards.
Production
Miniature harbor so detailed you'll forget it's not CGI.
Writing
Surprisingly complex morality for talking boats.
Direction
Mitton's shadowy dockside cinematography slaps.
Creators
Robert D. Cardona, David Mitton
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
All TUGS models and sets were sold to Britt Allcroft and repurposed for Thomas episodes — look for Bigg City Port buildings appearing as background dockyards from 1991 onwards.
The show's cancellation after one season created one of animation's most obsessive lost media cult followings, with fans still hunting the original 35mm film masters for remastering.
GB
