Still it received attention beyond German-speaking countries and consequently the successor Jack Holborn involved international producers and was dub filmed in English.

Also being threatened by director Philipp (Diether Krebs) that the sinews of his feet would be cut just in order to prevent him from running away, it occurs to him it is now or never and off he goes.

A farmer called Bartolin (Shmuel Rodensky) gives him shelter but underestimates the boy's skills and carelessly bets him his horse.

Getting hungry he accepts a meal provided by swindler Emanuel (André Lacombe) and his likewise rogue wife Theresa (Reine Barteve).

After Silas awakens in a boat on a river he sees Philipp trying to steal fresh milk from a blind girl.

On the road again, he makes new friends - he saves merchant Sandal (Hans Helmut Dickow) and later also his son Japetus (Armin Schawe) from harm.

The BBC took the series from Cori Film Distributors and split it into 12: 24min episodes starting on 16 May 1984[1] with repeats in 1986[2], 1987[3] and 1988[4], during the summer school holidays.