The Onedin Line

The Onedin Line
Genre	Drama
Created by	Cyril Abraham
Starring	Peter Gilmore Anne Stallybrass Jessica Benton Howard Lang
Theme music composer	Anthony Isaac
Opening theme	Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia by Aram Khachaturian
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	91 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Anthony Coburn (pilot episode), Peter Graham Scott
Running time	49-51 minutes
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	15 October 1971 (1971-10-15) – 26 October 1980 (1980-10-26)
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The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.

The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886^[1] and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, named after its owner captain James Onedin. Around this, it depicts the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner Robert, a ship chandler, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore (mostly lower- and upper-middle-class). The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steamships. It shows the role that ships played in such matters as international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.