of fire engines emerging from the station that blurred out. Characters Station Officers Sidney Tate (James Marcus; movie, series 1–3) (also Temporary Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO)) – Tate was a fatherly figure for the watch. He was married to Nancy (a LFB control officer) and their only child had died years earlier. They occasionally fostered a disabled child, Paul, from a local foster home at Christmas. Having been in the Brigade for many years, he saw himself as old-fashioned and was sometimes at odds with modern regulations. The new ADO, Scase, did not approve of Tate's more pragmatic methods, especially when Tate defied his orders at a 'shout'. Tate was forced to retire from the service at the end of series 3 after failing a routine medical. Although the character never appeared again, Tate was referred to a few times in the subsequent series, particularly by Sicknote and Bayleaf, who wondered what he would make of the progress the Brigade was making. (And once by his replacement SO Georgiadis: "I am not 'Good Old Uncle Sid!'") Nick 'Zorba' Georgiadis (Andrew Kazamia; series 4–11) (also Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO)). Nick took over from Tate as Station Officer in Series 4. He got his nickname due to his Greek-Cypriot origins. Nick was a disciplinarian, and was not impressed by some of Blue Watch's lax ways upon his arrival. However, he proved to be very caring and compassionate as he settled into the station, and like Tate, became something of a father figure to the members of the Watch. Nick's traditionalist family tried to arrange a marriage for him, but he resisted. He had an affair with his married cousin Ariadne. She died from injuries she incurred in a fall but their unborn son survived. Distraught, Nick initially struggled to cope with her death and his new son. He later met Dutch firefighter, Marianne, when she was at a demonstration show in the UK, and after a stop-start romance they eventually moved in together. Nick was promoted to ADO in Series 11, but had some trouble adjusting to the role and was never convinced that Chris Hammond was the right station officer for Blue Watch, especially after he found out that Hammond was being hounded by gangsters for an unpaid debt. Before he could take the matter up with DO Chapman, Nick was killed at a cinema fire when a ceiling collapsed on