The Ford Anglia has made notable appearances in various forms of media over the years. One of the most famous instances is its inclusion in the Harry Potter film series, where a blue 1962 Ford Anglia 105e Deluxe plays a prominent role. The car, enchanted by Arthur Weasley, becomes the Weasley family’s flying car and is featured in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (2002) and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004).
Apart from the Harry Potter series, the Ford Anglia has also been featured in other films, TV shows, and books. It appeared in the British crime comedy film “The Lavender Hill Mob” (1951) starring Alec Guinness. It was used as a getaway car in the heist.
‘Z Cars’ was a British television series centred around a police force based in the fictional town of Newtown, England. The television series ran for 16 years between 1962 and 1978 and was one of the BBC’s most successful dramas. With 801 episodes the police drama featured many household names including Stratford Johns, Frank Windsor, James Ellis and Brian Blessed. The television show ‘Softly Softly’ was also a spin off of ‘Z Cars’. The police officers were part of the mobile uniformed division and the program featured many cars including the Ford Anglia 105e which appeared in the very first episode which was broadcast in January 1962. The car also appeared in the popular British TV series ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘The Darling Buds of May’ during the 1990s.
Fans of The BBC television comedy show ‘The Young Ones’ will remember that it featured a bright yellow Ford Anglia 105e which belonged to Vyvyan. Written by Ben Elton, the show starred Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Christoper Ryan. The show ran for 26 episodes between 1982 and 1985. The yellow Ford Anglia 105e can be seen in a number of episodes including Series 1 Episode 3 entitled ‘Boring’ and Series 2 Episode 6 entitled ‘Summer Holiday’. The car registration was 1707ML.
In 1983, British television was revolutionised with the arrival of breakfast television. 17th January 1983 saw the appearance of BBC ‘Breakfast Time’ and just two weeks later, on the ITV network, ‘Good Morning Britain’ appeared on the 1st February 1983. ‘Good Morning Britain’ was produced by TV-Am and was broadcast between 6am and 9.25 am. The show was a mix of news, current affairs. The original line up included Michael Parkinson, David Frost, Angela Rippon, Anna Fordand Robert Kee. The show also broadcast fitness routines with ‘Mad Lizzie’ Webb in competition with ‘The Green Goddess’ Diana Moran on BBC ‘Breakfast Time’.
The TV-AM network originally struggled to gain viewers with at one point only attracting 100,000 viewers. On April Fool’s day 1983, Roland Rat, a puppet created and voiced by David Claridge joined the ranks of the ailing TV-AM and with two months the viewership at grown to 1.8 million viewers. During the school holidays, Roland Rat had his own show between 9am and 9.25am. Roland Rat was irreverent and full of fun. He lived below King’s Cross railway station in ‘The Ratcave’ and he also had another home at ‘Ratcave 2’ under the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. Roland Rat often appeared with Errol the Hamster, Kevin The Gerbil, Little Reggie, Fergie the Ferret and Roland’s father Freddie. In the show, Roland had a car called the ‘Ratmobile’ which was a bright pink 1953 Ford Anglia 100E.
The Ford Anglia is mentioned in various books, particularly those set in the mid-20th century or featuring a nostalgic theme. It serves as a symbol of the era and is often used to evoke a sense of nostalgia.