Sub Officer John Hallam

Sub Officer John Hallam was a fictional character is LWT's long running firefighting drama series London's Burning. He was played by actor and short film producer Sean Blowers from 1986-1996 and starred in nine series.

John Hallam was the rank of Sub Officer which meant he was second in charge of Blackwall Fire Station, this was the setting of the show, and immediately gained fans for his rather moody downbeat nature. Hallam was shown almost from the start to be a good leader and a highly respected officer in the London Fire Brigade. Usually his comical scenes would be trying to keep hypachondriac Firefighter Bert "Sicknote" Quigley and Firefighter Leslie "Charisma" Appleby from rowing or trying to difuse their often childish and obsessive behaviour. Hallam was also very quickly reflected as an extremely fit man with great physical capabilities and the this combined with his quick thinking resulted in him saving many lives over the years in the show.

From the first Series, transmitted in 1988 onwards, Hallam had a very good relationship with Sidney Tate, the Station Officer at Blackwall and thoroughly respected his guvnor. He, like the rest of the watch had great admiration for the many years Tate had served for. Hallam was also great friends with Mike Wilson, affectionately known by Blue Watch as "Bayleaf" due to his long time association with being the mess-manager. They often discussed personal matters and in particular Mike's estranged wife Karen. Hallam was married to Sandra, and they had two children but their relationship was always strained by Sandra's insessant nagging and her ongoing battle with him to take promotion. John and Sandra did love each other very much, but at times, it all became extremely painful viewing. Though mostly, their rows (which were very regular over the many series) were rather comical and usually over petty things.

Hallam first test came in Series Two (1989) when he was officer in charge temporarily at neighbouring Borough Street Fire Station. He was aware of racial abuse towards a young black firefighter called Maddox and was eager to have the ringleader thrown out of the Brigade. Maddox didnt have faith in the Brigade's Disapline service and they agreed, though Hallam was reluctant to, to forget the matter. Though one night, a practical joke on Maddox left him in serious danger, after being tied face down into a tank of water. Hallam spotted it when the bells went down and immediately rushed to his aid, performing CPR and ultimately saving his life. Hallam was later found guilty at an enquiry of negligence but fined three months pay.

He became a main player in trying to bring the watch back together after the tragic death of Firefighter Rowland "Vaseline" Cartwright and gained much more respect from viewers for his actions during a fire in a DHSS office, where he ran into the fire, without BA however, and dragged a burning man out who had set fire to himself. During that series, Hallam was called away to a training course in the Fire Service College, and was pranked by fellow student "Duffy". Duffy smeared lipstick marks on John's Y'fronts, prompting Sandra to believe he had been playing away. They eventually stopped rowing and she believed him.

Tate had to depart Blackwall towards the end of Series 3, after he failed a routine medical. Hallam was upset to see his boss leave, as were the whole watch. But he then decided the time was right to go for a promotion. He had an interview in Series 4 (1991) but unfortunately failed. He saw this as another knock back and became very frustrated with Sandra, who had bought a new kitchen unit on the assumption he was going to be earning more money. In the end, a botched job by Blue Watch led to a massive whole in the Hallam household for quite some time! Hallam woes furthered when new Station Officer Nick Georgiadis arrived, with his own styles of strict disapline and moral standards. There were alot of hostilities between the two men at first, as Hallam was extremely angry at being turned down for promotion then having a man arrive who appeared to be a "desk pilot" Though Nick soon gained alot of respect from John and the watch after many extremely brave rescues he undertook, getting stuck into incidents like everyone else. This was a far cry from Tate's abilities who was more of an old fashioned leader.

A serious fire at the end of Series 4 resulted in Hallam's first major storyline. He and Bayleaf were ordered by a senior officer to connect a hose line feed to a hydrant located under a lorry while at a massive timber warehouse blaze. While assembling equipment under the lorry, a wall collapsed, Hallam witnessing it. Both men were buried alive for hours. Bayleaf was knocked out, but Hallam was conscious through out. He struggled to come to terms with the event after being pulled out and became psychologically unstable. Not sleeping, for fear of flashbacks, and drinking more than he would usually. Nick was informed and removed John from the watch until he had counselling. John insisted he was fine, but Nick refused to have him back. Hallam broke down in Sandra's arms during the end of series 4 in a very poignant scene.

In series 5 (1992) John was off work for about a month for his counselling. He had several meetings with Anne Edwards who helped in relieving alot of the stresses John was bottling up inside. Hallam was never a man to show his true emotions, so he did change after sessions with Anne. He got over the trauma soon enough and was back at work soon after a spell at the Fire Service convalescent by the coast. He was thrown back into the sharp end while attending a major crash on a motorway and performed back to his best.

Series 6 (1993) saw the arrival of Leading Firefighter Geoffrey Pearce. He and Hallam got on rather well, and Hallam was the only member of Blue Watch who would give him any time. Pearce became very unpopular with the other watch members for stirring trouble, and his constant sucking up to Senior officers. He received a lecture of John though after making a big mistake during a fire at a disused hospital. Nick had fallen through one of the floors and been injured, and Pearce ran into the fire holding the BA board, which in turn shut down the whole system of sending crews into the blaze. Hallam was also very weary of Patti Pearce, Geoff's equally devious wife, and Sandra came to despise the woman. John started giving Geoff a life to and from work while Geoff was sorting out the new house he and Patti had moved into, but this temporary measure soon became a a regularity.

This series alos saw new career prospects for John, and after a subsequent short term transfer to Fire Investigation, he was offered a job by Peter Jonah, who was his FI colleague stepping down for retirement. Sandra was very keen for him to accept the post, which meant immediate promotion, but John was undecided and wasn't keen on giving up front line duty for a large stack of paperwork. Geoff was also keen he took the post, so he could then try for a Sub Officer post (he was a Sub at his previous station in Bristol).

A long row ensued when Hallam turned down the job in Series 7 (1994) and Sandra then became obsessed with training for a job of her own. John didn't like the fact she became very successful in a short period of time and many rows over her working shifts occurred. Their relationship became even more strained when Patti Pearce made a pass at John one night while John fixed her fuse box. Hallam naturally rejected her advances and Geoff was instant to blame Patti. Whilst at another station on stand-by, Geoff told John why he had to transfer from Bristol- it was because Patti had slept with Geoff's Station Officer and the embarassment became too much to handle. Hallam had a quiet time for a while though showed his agressive side during a demonstration that blocked his appliance en route to a call. Somebody later died in the fire because the Pump Ladder hadnt been able to reach the fire, and Hallam accused the demo leader of murder! It was a very frustrating shift for Blue Watch.

In series 8 (1995), Hallam became quite clear he had no more interest in taking promotion and settled for being Sub Officer for many more years to come. He had spells of Acting up Station Officer when Nick was away due to his wife Ariadne's tragic death. But Hallam still couldn't grasp and hold onto the same authority as Nick gains, but he settled for that and performed to his standard. During series 8, he and Sandra were growing increasingly apart, and rows became more frequent. They never seemed to see each other due to clashing shifts and John was becoming rather attached to a student writing a stress thesis on him called Jenny Matthew. After a huge row with Sandra, he stormed off to see Jenny and they slept together twice. Hallam felt very guilty after and ended the affair. He planned on telling Sandra towards the end of the series but in the end, she confessed to nearly sleeping with her boss so he didn't. He thought it would be best to say no more about it and they got their marriage happily back on track.

Sandra's shifts became more intense during Series 9 (1996) and she wanted to invite several work friends round, including the boss she nearly slept with. John was not happy, and again the rowing had started again. This was primarily down to John's jealousy and him not being able to have any of the watch over. Jenny Matthew continued to pester John, even after he had ended the brief affair in the previous series. But Jenny sat down to talk to John whilst in a shopping centre. Sandra returned from a shoe sales shop to find them talking and John looking very uncomfortable. Sandra then became highly suspicious of something not right going on.

Geoff became aware of the affair that had taken place and was constantly winding John about it- he even hinted to the watch something was happening after Jenny made an unexpected and unwanted visit to John at the station. In the next episode, episode 4, Jenny phoned John to talk, he was reluctant to. Sandra was getting ready to pack for a business trip and overheard the conversation. Then she pretended to come downstairs and went to the laundrette. John phoned Jenny back. When Sandra returned, John was upstairs getting ready for the night duty, and decided to phone the number John dialled. Jenny answered, prompting Sandra to hang up. Then she confronted John. They had a violent row, and she angrily slapped him when he tried to deny all knowledge. The row led into the kitchen and John brought up the incident with Sandra's boss. She hit him again and demanded the truth, John horribly told her what had happened and told her she was to blame before storming off to work. He and Geoff had a massive argument in the car on the way to Blackwall, with a slanging match of abuse. The argument arrived with them at Blackwall, and Nick was quick to try and difuse the situation. Then John snapped at him, accusing him of buggering off to Cyprus every five minutes and slammed into the Sub's changing room.

That night, Blue watch were called to a major fire at a warehouse being used to film a pop band video. A major fire soon escalated through the ventilation system. Through the confusion, Hallam and Pearce were told of four young girls who had entered the building earlier to watch the video, and after clearing the band from the blazing stage, they re-entered the building in search of the missing teenagers. Whilst inside, they soon became lost amongst the intricate layouts of gantries and pipelines. They had to get from one side of the building to another, and the only way was to cross a gantry linking both sides. They crossed it one by one, and it violently shook. Bolts started coming loose but it held up while they crossed.

They soon found the girls, and decided to go back the way they came, after an explosion blocked their intended escape route. During the commotion, Hallam dropped his radio, meaning they now had no communication with the outside. They climbed back up over the ladders and started taking the girls across the gantry one by one. While Pearce was helping the second girl to cross, the supporting chains cracked and started to bend. Bolts were falling out of the connectors and the gantry swayed eratically. Hallam bravely grabbed it as Pearce tried to get the girl to cross. As Hallam tried to free her, the gantry tore apart taking him with it. He held onto the bars and yelled to Geoff to help him. He then slipped further down to the end bars, dangling 80 foot above the basement. Geoff could do nothing, and John plummeted 50 feet, but landed miraculously on some metal netting. Pearce wondered what his next move should be as Hallam painfully tried to move his body round. It suddenly snapped, and he plunged further down, crashing through a glass roof and landing in the basement, buried under a heap of wood, metal and glass. Pearce got the two girls out and told the other two to wait for assistance. Outside, he told Nick what had happened and Nick and several teams entered the basement in BA, to free Hallam and get him to hospital. He was quickly located, and found to be alive but unconscious. The crews carried him out and into a waiting ambulance.

On arrival at hospital John was rushed into theatre, and had emergency operations on his severe internal injuries which included a fractured skull. He was placed onto a life support machine soon afterwards and Sandra rushed down to London to be by his bedside. Pearce struggled to cope with the guilt of the events and kept having flashbacks of the moment John fell. John's condition rapidly deteriorated and he tragically died after a stroke. His death left many people devestated and brought a viewing nation to tears. John's funeral was not a Brigade funeral as Sandra didn't approve of them and the huge attention that comes with them. John was cremated soon after his death and received huge praise for his actions by Nick and ACO Baxter. As commemeration to his brave actions on October 6th 1996, a plaque was put up near to the scene of his fall and a memorial service was held in rememberance of a great man.

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