Overview

A BBC children’s drama that premiered on 12 March 1986, The December Rose unfolds over six episodes as young chimney sweep Absalom “Barnacle” Brown (Courtney Roper‑Knight) stumbles upon a dangerous conspiracy among London’s Victorian elite and becomes the target of the menacing Inspector Creaker (Ian Hogg). Fleeing to the safety of a Thames barge, The Lady, under the care of kindly skipper Tom Gosling (Tony Haygarth), Barnacle adapts to life on the river and befriends the formidable Mrs McDipper (Judy Cornwell) and her daughter Miranda (Cathy Murphy). As Creaker’s gang closes in and a mysterious foreign vessel, The December Rose, docks with a perilous secret aboard, the story builds to a feverish climax in which Barnacle and his allies confront evil head‑on. Based on Leon Garfield’s novel, the series is rich with Dickensian characters and atmospheric location filming across Norfolk, Gloucester, Leeds and Hull