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Rockface (TV series)

British television drama series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ7355212 ↗
Source-derived summary

Rockface is a British television drama series, principally written and created by Nicholas Hicks-Beach and Shelley Miller, that first broadcast on BBC One on 13 March 2002. The series, set in Glenntannoch, a fictitious town in the Scottish Highlands, centres on a mountain rescue team led by Dr. Gordon Urquhart (Clive Russell). The major rescues and incidents featured within the series were based upon real life rescues conducted by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue service. Prior to filming, the cast underwent training to gather knowledge of the skills required to become a real-life mountain rescue team, under the guidance of trainer Mick Tighe.

Rockface ran for two series; the first series of six episodes broadcasting in 2002 on Wednesday evenings; with a second series of eight episodes following in 2003 on Sunday evenings. Strong critical reception and reasonable viewing figures lead to a second series being commissioned before the first had finished broadcasting. The final episode was broadcast on 27 July 2003. Notably, despite being listed for release, the series has never been made available on DVD. An interactive website, including games based upon the series as well as cast profiles and computer wallpapers and screensavers, was launched online shortly before the series' television debut.

Production

Prior to filming, the cast undertook several days of mountain rescue training, under the guidance of trainer Mick Tighe.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Rockface (TV series)” as british television drama series. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2002, 2003—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Rockface, series and British can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as british television drama series. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7355212. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2002 and 2003.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Rockface (TV series)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Rockface (TV series) primary sources, Rockface (TV series) archive and Rockface research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rockface (TV series)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Rockface (TV series)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.