The Adventures of Black Beauty

- Season 1

(1972)

A spirited black horse escapes from a dealer and is found ailing by Vicky Gordon, who quickly falls in love with him. Vicky's father, the new doctor in town, treats the horse's illness and refuses to surrender him until he's well. The owner agrees to let the horse stay a few days before he takes him to be sold. When the owner falls ill the doctor hurries on horseback to save his life. Soon after, the man gives the horse to the doctor.

Vicky and Kevin discover Desmond, an escaped convict, hiding in the stable. He threatens to harm Beauty unless the children aid in his getaway. Desmond though shows his better nature when Kevin is injured.

A young miner steals a pony sold for slaughter and with Vicky's help hides it at Dr. Gordon's. The owner soon finds the pony and makes trouble for the young pair.

Vicky, Kevin, and Black Beauty encounter two workmen who decide that stealing the horse is a way to a better life. Where they choose to hide Beauty is unfortunately the site of some dynamite blasting, leading to a race to rescue the him.

While riding Black Beauty, Vicky and Kevin encounter a threatening recluse at the Abbott farm. Despite being warned by everyone to stay away, the children persist in trying to solve the mystery. When a runaway horse endangers young David Abbott, the children get their answer.

Dr. Gordon and Vicky rescue a former army horse whose end seems near. Robbie, over protected by his grandmother, becomes friends with the Gordon children after moving nearby. Robbie becomes enchanted by the new horse Soldier.

Beauty is at risk from a spoiled young woman who is used to getting everything that she wants. In order to save Beauty, Vicky enlists the help of a secret society sworn to protect the interests of horses.

Vicky discovers a young man, wounded in a duel. She takes him back to Dr. Gordon but the family is soon caught up in a dangerous and treachorous plot that places them all in peril.

Kevin and Robbie find an old helmet with a wing and lose the wing on the way home. An archaeologist from a nearby dig dismisses the helmet as a reproduction of little value, but when Robbie finds the wing it is promptly stolen. Later the thief is caught trying to steal the helmet, but the wing is nowhere to be found.

Dykes, the thief, escapes custody and heads back to the excavation site to look for the missing gold wing. Robbie also thinks he knows where it is and rides Black Beauty to the area. While looking he falls into a mud pit that is about to cave in. Beauty goes for help.

Black Beauty starts showing unusual behavior and Dr. Gordon suspects rabies. After Beauty attacks two men including the new constable, she is ordered destroyed. But Vicky hides her horse, nothing is as it seems and Black Beauty had a good reason for her behavior.

New gamekeeper Ted Hewitt sets out snares and traps on Lord Eddington's estate to protect game and catch poachers. This doesn't sit well with Dr. Gordon, who, with daughter Vicky, pays him a visit. While the men talk, Vicky learns the man's wife, Beth, is pregnant and doesn't seem well. She refuses to take it easy so Vicky visits often to help with her chores. When Beth collapses, Vicky must run for the doctor and gets caught in a snare. Beauty must get help.

Vicky's friend Colin returns from school and informs her his grandfather's estate is to be auctioned. The young people learn of a family secret that if discovered, may provide the funds to save Colin's heritage. But they are in a race against time.

Kevin and Robbie become friends with Andy, an unfunny clown while Vicky tries to help Dan tame Mr. Collin's horse Thunder. It turns out Andy's skills and comedy are tied to working with horses.

Vicky discovers a young Tom Honeywell hiding in the church cemetery, on the run after leaving the army. The local recruiter confiscates Black Beauty until Tom returns and Kevin is tricked into enlisting in an effort to help. It is up to Albert and Black Beauty to make things right.

Amy Winthrop's nephew steals Beauty after his aunt refuses to give him fifty pounds to get out of debt to a bookie who is threatening him. To save Beauty and her nephew, Amy must pawn her jewelry and hurry to the auction to bid on the horse.

A vagabond natural healer is on the run from several people who hold him responsible for regrettable outcomes. Vicky and Dr. Gordon step in to give him temporary sanctuary, which is fortunate when Beauty suffers a severe laceration.

While riding Beauty, Vicky bumps into an old woman out gathering mushrooms who many in town think is a witch. After she scares off Kevin when he tries to retrieve a kite from the roof of her cottage, he sets out on Beauty for another try and is injured, but makes his way to the cottage where the woman takes him in and tends to him.

Dr. Gordon has his hands full with a typhoid outbreak, but the children are concerned with an illness claiming Mr. Garner's ponies. Albert brings his favorite, Chalky, into contact with Black Beauty and soon Vicky is trying to do everything to save Beauty's life.

When Dr. Gordon interrupts a robbery, hooligans take first him, than Vicky captive. Needing his medical skills for one of their mates, they refuse to release them. It is up to Kevin, Albert and Black Beauty to rescue them.

Vicky and Kevin encounter a brother and sister on the run from authorities, claiming to be orphans. A reformatory is missing two children and when items begin disappearing from the house the true story comes out. Vicky and Kevin learn an important life lesson.

When the Gordon's neighbor Lady Faulkner discovers her racing horses are being drugged, their curiosity gets the best of them. After Dr. Gordon is attacked and Albert rescues the constable from a well, the pieces start to come together. But it's Black Beauty who delivers the decisive moment.

A secretive man moves into an abandoned cottage which engages Vicky and Albert's curiosity. Seemingly unrelated, the land and Beauty's paddock next to the Gordon family is being sold by contentious lawyer Weems. The missing Thackeray heir seems to be key to both incidents.

Dr. Gordon is arrested for a cottage burning that belonged to Mr. Skinner after he criticized it's condition. Vicky, Albert, and their friend Jill work to clear his name but need Black Beauty's help. Complicating matters is a mysterious man Duffield and a horse identical to Beauty.

Vicky and Beauty befriend an older woman living on the river whose son Albert is just out if prison. A series of valuable art thefts occur and Vicky discovers the stolen paintings on Maggie's houseboat. With things looking bad for Albert and his mother, Vicky, her friends and her horse search for the truth.

The arrival of entertainers in the village draw the Gordons and Albert into a custody fight. Mr. Groat is keeping his son Stan away from his grandfather Woolgar but the boy's deady illness causes Dr. Gordon to force a solution.