Fireman Sam (1987–2023) User Reviews (30)

Good for little kids who love firefighters

[VideoJordan · 7/10 · 3 December 2013]

I watched most episodes of this show with my son when he was 3 and 4 years old. While I loved the earlier stop motion version of Fireman Sam, my son roundly rejected it, instead preferring the shiny computer animated episodes. I think the computer animation lacks a little soul, but my son loved them.

My son was very interested in firefighting, and this is one of the few shows for little kids on the topic. So he loved watching it. The show was fairly entertaining for me.

Norman Price is the world's worst role model for a little kid. That said, he's so awful that my kids mostly griped about what an awful kid he is. That gave us a good starting point to talk about behavior.

Basically two series with completely different quality

[patrickfilbeck · 6/10 · 16 November 2021]

Fireman Sam is a two-sided affair. On the one hand, because the first 4 seasons are a long way from the later ones, but above all because the switch from stop-motion to CGI animations has given the series an extreme kink. In addition, the stories are designed to be more superficial and less value-oriented. So you can rate the first seasons with a very good 9 stars, the later with a lucky 3 stars, so that in the end (unfortunately) an overall rating of 6 points comes out; and that's still benevolent, because the CGI era is much more extensive than that of classic stop motion.

Fireman Sam

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 26 April 2005]

I think this is the same makers as Postman Pat, and if you liked that you'll love this. A local fireman named Sam works for the local fire service, and throughout the series him and his team help people. For example Sam helps the naughty Norman out of a deep dark hole/ cave in the ground, he gets his nephew and niece's kite off Bella's roof, he catches Trevor's tyre and many other "daring" rescues and services. I used to like the naughty Norman always skate-boarding and trying to steal his Mum's apples. His Mum always tried to get him away from the telly, she didn't realise he was a mischief. There was also the silly Trevor with his van, he always had a problem somewhere. So altogether, when I was young this was a very good kids show. Very good!

Nice little show for the kids (and parents)

[woodway77 · 22 July 2005]

This is a fun little show we discovered on our Comcast "On Demand" feature. It concerns the adventures of a team of firefighters in a small town in Wales. Fireman Sam is the main character, with several other folks in town contributing. One thing we appreciate about it is that it is not "diluted" for US audiences - the dialog contains several UK/Welsh specific phrases and terms, which my 6 year old son has had fun hearing, while learning how another culture expresses itself. The characterizations are standard but well-drawn; the firefighters are not superheroes, just brave and steady. There is the naughty boy who gets in scrapes and the average town folk who sometimes require the fire service. A good show for youngsters to view with characters they can understand, and very family-friendly without being sappy.

Good for kids.

[afonsobritofalves · 6/10 · 16 March 2019]

Despite the poor animation and poor performance of the actors, I thought it was good for kids and I have good memories of when I was a kid and I saw this series. I recommend.

another reasonable kids show

[treykrumel · 7/10 · 22 August 2018]

This show is pretty cool fireman sam especially nowadays its not as known but this is actually one of the most original kids series nothing much to say about this one other than good since its just a kids show.

Awful

[battlewithin · 1/10 · 23 October 2020]

This show, at least the modern CG seasons are pure garbage. Fires randomly start that wouldn't. People do the dumbest things. The voice acting is... not even acting; it's grown men trying to be kids-any other show would use boys or women. The scripts are terrible, the "animation" is atrocious. The plots are thin. It's annoying to watch for anyone with half a brain. Yes, it's a kid's show, but parents often end up watching the same thing as their (young) kids.

If I had a choice, I'd remove this from Netflix. But I can't and my 2yo loves fire trucks... I can only hope the poor quality is temporary.

One of the best kids-oriented shows ever!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 4 May 2010]

When we were in primary school, Fireman Sam was something that my siblings and I used to watch without fail every day. At 18 I remember it with such fondness. It looked wonderful, was funny, educational and adventurous. I often laughed at Norman's naughty antics, and often sang along with the irresistibly catchy theme song. I marvelled at how the characters looked, the construction of the village PontyPandy itself and how colourful it was. I loved the fun and creativity of the stories, while they taught us very important things without it being forced down our throats. And the characters are endearing, Sam, Norman, Elvis, Penny, Basil and Norman's mum all to name a few.Plus John Alderton was perfect with the narration and voices. Overall, a great show! 10/10 Bethany Cox

Terrible!!

[Terrylynn912 · 1/10 · 13 March 2021]

This show is terrible! The same whiny kid Norman seems to start every fire and never learns his lesson. And the Elvis character is such a stupid fire fighter. Netflix needs to remove the show!

One of my first stop-motion children's shows and my favourite incarnation of Fireman Sam

[Stompgal_87 · 8/10 · 26 August 2014]

I have fond memories of watching this show as a child and as an adult I still enjoy watching it now. This original 1987 - 1994 series is the best (the 2003 - 2005 stop-motion and 2008 CGI series are nearly as good and have engaging if derivative plot lines) and not only do I own the entire collection on DVD (with the exception of the 20-minute-long Christmas special) but I have also watched it on Amazon Instant Video more recently. The most memorable episodes from my childhood are 'Norman's Tricky Day,' Camping,' 'Flat Tyre,' 'Chemistry Set,' 'A Spot of Bother,' 'Halloween,' 'Brass Band' and 'Trevor's Bus Boot Sale.' I didn't see the rest of the episodes until adulthood but most of them were as good as the ones I saw as a child.

The stop-motion animation is very well done and is produced in a similar manner to that in 'Postman Pat' what with well-crafted characters whose mouths don't move but have realistic hair and clothing nonetheless and the sets were made with such intricacy as well. The series as a whole is educational, informative and entertaining and focuses on a wide variety of scenarios such as an electrical fire in Bella's café in 'Telly Trouble,' Trevor being trapped on the roof in 'Brass Band' and Sarah sinking in quick sand in 'Lost in the Fog' while the topic of fire safety strongly features in 'Safe with Sam.' There is an appealing range of characters such as the prim and proper Station Officer Steele, the incompetent Elvis Cridlington, the heroic Sam, Sam's well-behaved niece and nephew Sarah and James and the mischievous Norman Price. Other things I liked about this show were its setting and production in Wales (where I grew up), all characters except Bella and Steele speaking with Welsh accents and, to a lesser extent, the music, especially the theme tune and the music played when the firefighters set out for the emergencies although I liked the sing-songs from Bella, Elvis and Trevor too.

While there are plenty of positives with this show, I have also noticed some flaws. Bella's voice in the first episode 'The Kite' was inconsistent but I put it down to John Alderton experimenting with her voice. Secondly Bella, Dilys and the children do not evacuate from the café when the television catches fire and thirdly I couldn't get how Bentley the Robot could rescue Penny from the burning locker room without getting damaged.

Overall despite the flaws I mentioned in the above paragraph and not having seen all episodes in my childhood, the original 'Fireman Sam' is still the best incarnation of its kind and is of sentimental educational value. 8/10.

Kids like it, I found it a little harder

[loveagoodstory · 4/10 · 1 September 2013]

This programme has a lot of nice elements. The dreamy village setting is nice, the messages of guidance are clear and the story lines easy to follow. Our young children like it a lot. Which means I end up watching it a lot, too :-) If I could, I'd change a few things. The utter hero-worship of Sam, modest though he is, is too much; the kids always end up wanting to be him. Also, he's a rescue service of every kind, if a fuse went in the telly they'd "ring Fireman Sam". But toughest is Norman's harshly horrible voice which is the most unpleasant kid's voice you've ever know mixed with the most OTT caricature of Welsh.

None of these things are crimes and the good of the show very much outweighs the bad. It's just when you've watched twenty or thirty of them in a summer, they start to grate just a tiny bit...!

A funny show to teach kids about fire safety

[Beta_Gallinger · 2 August 2007]

I can remember first seeing this stop-motion animated kids' programme when I was very young, probably shortly before or after its demise. Like most other shows I can remember from my childhood, I liked this one a lot. I can also recall still watching reruns of it several years later. It has been over a decade since then, but I remember accidentally coming across the show on TV once a few years ago, and even if that hadn't happened, I would still remember it very well!

Fireman Sam was a firefighter who lived in Pontypandy, a town in Wales. Other main characters in the show included Sam's fellow firefighters (Station Officer Basil Steele, Penny Morris, Trevor Evans, and Elvis Cridlington) along with several other townspeople. He was a hero to the town, and certain people in the community often needed the help of Sam and the other firefighters, whether it was for a fire or something else, including Norman, a mischievous kid who often found himself in trouble due to his lack of self-control.

"Fireman Sam" was an educational programme which could teach kids about safety. To make it entertaining as well, the show was also rich with adventure and humour. A lot of the laughs came from Norman's mischievous ways. Another highlight was the very catchy theme song. For all those reasons, the show is very memorable, and I'm sure many kids today could enjoy it just as much as those who watched while they were kids in the '80s or '90s! I'm sure there are still reruns of the show played, so it's not one of those kids' shows that have been forgotten, fortunately.

Annoying

[iamlegend-44560 · 1/10 · 12 April 2021]

Little boy Normans voice in the animated show makes me want to fill my ears with cement and smash my tv, unwatchable because of it.

This review is for both the 2000s stop-motion version and the CGI version

[Stompgal_87 · 8/10 · 25 October 2014]

When I found the IMDb page for what they call the 2004 'Fireman Sam,' I assumed it was for both the new stop-motion version and the CGI version. At first I thought both series were not quite the same as the original series but I was intrigued to watch them for the new characters and story lines.

The 2000s stop-motion incarnation isn't quite as good as the original but better than the CGI series. The stop-motion animation is more advanced than that in the original due to the characters' mouths moving with the dialogue. All the original characters returned with changes to them such as the fire crew's uniforms being blue instead of black/navy, Penny Morris having short blonde hair instead of reddish brown hair in a bun and Sarah, James, Dilys and Norman wearing modernised outfits. Dilys's shop may be bigger than it was in the original series but at least the front is pretty much the same. Bella's café is also the same as it was in the original albeit its differences of the pizza oven and the exterior. The original characters' personality traits are the same as they were in the original but this time around Sarah and James, alongside Bella, Station Officer Steele, Mike and Helen Flood and Tom Thomas do not speak with Welsh accents like they did in the original series and the CGI series. Further to the characters, I like Mandy's personality being a cross between Sarah and James's good behaviour and Norman's naughty nature, Helen is caring and motherly if a tad strict and Mike is just as incompetent as Elvis. My favourite episodes in this series were 'A Real Live Wire,' 'Norman's Invisible Friend,' 'Neighbourhood Watchout,' 'King of the Jungle,' 'Fiery Finale,' Twitchers in Trouble' and 'The Big Freeze' since most of them covered fire and safety hazards that were not fully covered or not mentioned in the original series. The theme tune is different but this series uses a couple of the same pieces of incidental music (Trevor's bus music and the rescue mission music when the firefighters set out for their emergencies) as in the original albeit their altered instrumentation.

The CGI series is my least favourite incarnation (I was somewhat appalled when I first saw a short clip from 'Floating Cart') but I watched a few episodes on Cartoonito and later on Amazon Prime Instant Video out of curiosity after having watched the engaging feature- length film 'The Great Fire of Pontypandy' and despite the characters being cheaply modelled and their movements being inconsistent (particularly in the earlier episodes) the backgrounds are nicely rendered and I found the story lines intriguing (I especially found 'Alarm on the Beach' cleverly written) if some of them recycled those from both stop- motion incarnations and other CGI episodes. For example 'The Great Guinea Pig Rescue' reminded me of 'A Real Live Wire' while 'Floodlights' and 'Santa Overboard' were similar. Other similarities in story lines were both adult and child characters competing with one another. One thing I dislike about this series is the absence of Bella but I like the new characters such as inquisitive toddler Lily and the wheelchair-bound and radical Hannah. The voice acting here is a mixed bag. Most characters have tolerable voices but those of Sarah, James and Norman are somewhat grating. Certain characters have had changes to their traits such as Steele becoming stricter yet unleashing his inner child at times, Elvis and Mike becoming more incompetent than ever before and Norman becoming more impatient and greedy.

Overall both series are not quite as good as the original but I like them for their story lines and new characters. 8/10 for the 2000s stop-motion series and 7.5/10 for the CGI series.

Awful show..

[Koopz · 1/10 · 13 November 2021]

The modern English version of Fireman Sam is a terrible rendition of the classic animated kids show. The series promotes nothing about teamwork with Sam been the only hero in every single episode (who is on duty 24/7) with the other fireman just used as comic relief or sidekicks in a ridiculously over-funded small country town fire department. The voice overs are terrible, the awful Normal Price is highly irritating and all the kids sound like adults doing bad impersonations. Over 90% of the town's fire problems would be solved if they just let Norman die... Also the kids constantly get away with doing highly dangerous or downright stupid stunts with just a minor lecture from Sam at the end and a silly promise not to do it again.

A Welsh institution

[alexkravchenko · 10/10 · 18 September 2021]

Another childhood classic that I grew up with, and still watch to this day, my life would never have been complete without Fireman Sam. The theme song is a real gem and well suited for an action-oriented children's program. A round of applause for Ben Henegan and Ian Lawson for the composition, Robin Lyons for the lyrics and Mal Pope for the vocals.

There are also so many likable characters (even naughty Norman Price), that I can't think of one I dislike, not to mention episodes (from the classic series, anyway). And we have to give the narrator John Alderton a pat on the back for managing to provide the right voice for a certain character.

I also approve of Series 5, for its inclusion of female voice actors, uprated Rescue Theme, and improved stop motion animation techniques (that's far from saying that the animation in the Classic Series is bad, which it isn't). And although the writing isn't quite as solid as it is in the Classic Series, it's still quite good. Series 5 is also proof of how a reboot of a classic TV show should be and should've stayed that way instead of going CGI. Wasted potential, if you ask me.

Garbage

[charliecoade · 1/10 · 4 October 2021]

Why haven't they employed kids to do the kids voices. So very annoying.

One of the best shows ever!!

[goodfellas_69 · 15 April 2003]

I remember this show from my countless hours of viewing in the early 90's (probably aged no more than 4 at the time). I saw it again recently and it brought back such memories...this show is an absolute classic. The theme song alone is great.If you liked postman pat or something like that then you'll love this.

Great Fires of London! Even Sam himself isn't able to save the day from his show's seasonal rot.

[davimaia-76303 · 5/10 · 5 January 2023]

Previously, the show had likeable characters, good animation, and good episodes. But the CGI series/seasons are just plain awful and one of the worst children's cartoons, Note: I will only be reviewing the CGI series/seasons.

For example, now Dilys (Norman's mother) has been completely redesigned! She looks almost nothing like her original design!

The only connections to previous seasons are: the names of the characters, the show still being set in Pontypandy (albeit with a different layout), the theme music, some of the character designs bearing a slight resemblance to how they looked in Season 5, and Sam still using his "Great Fires of London" !" catchphrase in seasons 6 and 7, but that's pretty much it.

This tries very hard to modernize Fireman Sam/Sam Tân.

CGI animation looks jagged, robotic, weird, scary, ugly, outdated, weak, etc.

Animation errors exist in these seasons as well, like in the episode "Floating Cart" where Norman, Mike, Helen and their van disappear for a very short time, but still. This has been fixed (at least in the US version) Another example is in the episode "Sticky Situation", where right at the beginning of the episode, you can see a literal red line (probably used to make the animation) on the right side of the screen. How did no one in the animation department notice this until James A Williams did?!

Also, many characters have had their personalities switched.

Norman Price is the worst example, and the only one I'm going to give, he has become annoying, selfish, idiotic, whiny, obnoxious, obnoxious, stupid, bratty, and arrogant who does horrible things for little reason.

The voice acting is sometimes painful to listen to.

For example, children (UK only) sound terrible, as they don't sound like children, but like adults with high-pitched voices.

The worst example is Norman Price, as Steve Kymann does a terrible job voicing him, and his voice in the UK is just unbearable, as it sounds like a cross between Carl Wheezer and JarJar Binks, with a Welsh accent.

I could say a lot more, but I think this quote says it all: "And I can easily agree that CGI Fireman Sam is definitely one of those bad reboots! Why do I call this a reboot instead of just Season 6 onwards? Because Season 6 seriously feels like I'm watching a completely different show! The characters look and act different, the setting is different, the animation is different, the feel is different. One of the best things about Season 5 was because even though it was made a few years after the original series ended, that season felt like a sequel season to the show. Kind of like Samurai Jack Season 5. The characters were the same, the setting was the same, the humor was the same, and some elements from the original seasons were present in this season. But Season 6 has basically nothing connected to the fifth season, or the other four seasons, except for, Sam's catchphrase of "Great Fires of London!", the characters' names and theme song. That's basically it!"

• James A. Williams, from his "CGI Fireman Sam" rant video

Once he TIED JAMES TO A CHAIR AND GLUED A DOOR SO POOR JAMES WAS STUCK IN THERE!

It doesn't help that he spends a lot of screen time in many episodes of these seasons, even when he's not the main focus. The writers seem to have the motto: "When in doubt, always put Norman into the scene"

Pretty solid

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 30 March 2020]

The firefighting scenes are not overly realistic. This drama is more character driven

34 years?

[ThunderKing6 · 5/10 · 2 September 2020]

It's too kiddie and slow. It's nothing new.

Verdict: fire these animators.

Very entertaining for young kids

[dreadlk · 8/10 · 5 April 2022]

My Young Son loves the show. It may be "to slow" for some people but it certainly has a lot of moments that get my sons imagination really fired up. It's really a shame that Season 13 has been another victim of woke culture. My Son is asking me why Sam has become so clumsy now and is not leading the team like he use to.

I watched an Episode and realized that he now seems to play second fiddle to the new Female Police Chief who is also a Helicopter Pilot, Expert Horse rider and knows more about rescuing people than poor old Sam. Will this non sense ever end, they come in and PC the hell out of a show and then when it gets cancelled it's the kids that suffer.

Ruined by Netflix

[seannh · 5/10 · 13 February 2021]

Was a pretty decent show for kids for a number of seasons. The new version shown on Netflix is absolute garbage for no other reason than the voices. What happened? Are there only two voice actors left for the entire show?

VOUCE OVERS ARE TERRIBLY PERFORMED

[veronicabates · 1/10 · 1 November 2022]

My daughter watches Cartoon Network. I get the show is for children and is aimed at children. But what is with the awful voice overs? They're so cringy and ear piercing! For any ones little ones who watch Peppa Pig, you'll notice a big difference and even that show is annoying but at least easy on the ears. I understand the children of the show are meant to be mischevious and annoying but they don't have to have such silly voices. To think people actually get paid to perform like this? I could have done this myself and made a fortune and I'm no performer.

Can the show have actual realistic voice overs rather than the screech that is delivered from the kids and the some of the adult characters? It's a huge insult to the original creator of the original show.

One of the funnest show to watch as an adult!

[timusm · 10/10 · 15 December 2020]

I love watching Fireman Sam with my autistic neighbor! He introduced me to it and we watch it together. Very good stories and characters. Mmmmm..