The series was originally aired on ITV in the United Kingdom, and Isambard Productions Ltd produced 26 episodes in total.

In 1992, The Fremantle Corporation moved production to Australia with what was for all practical purposes an entirely new series with new characters and a plotline unrelated to the previous episodes.

The only connection to earlier works is the use of material from the final episode of the 1990–1991 production, reworked and with a voice-over explaining that Beauty had been released into the Australian wild.

However, this may be questionable because the Boer War, which ended in May 1902, is referred to as being fought in the present tense, which would narrow the potential setting considerably because Edward VII has already acceded.

Their daughter Victoria ("Vicky") has been staying with her grandfather when she has not been attending boarding school, during the two years her father has finished his medical studies in London.

But Jenny and Vicky are not deterred; and the stableboy and general hand, Manfred Groenwald, a young German immigrant, is still there and still willing to work.

Orphan Issabelle "Bella" Barret tries and fails to escape from the terrible conditions of an orphanage, after which she sets a mistreated black horse free.

Meanwhile, unsavory characters are about the land searching for gold that was supposedly lost aboard Astoria, and they soon realize Bella may be the key to their success.

(As aired in the UK; the series was dropped by the ITV network after its first seventeen episodes – shown on sixteen Saturdays after the first two were edited together – and the remaining nine were only shown piecemeal on a regional basis) (As aired in the US in two seasons, per TV.com) Questar,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Gaiam Inc.,[16][17] Morningstar Entertainment,[18][19][20][21] and perhaps others[22][23][24][25] have released a number of one-episode and two-episode VHS volumes and sets, all of which appear to be limited to the New Zealand production.

The series split and episode order for these DVDs is as for the "US airing"(shown above), minus the two "Specials", which were omitted from this DVD release.

The New Adventures of Black Beauty episodes included in The Best of Black Beauty are: Series 1 (1990–1991) all episodes included Disc 1: The Old World, A Horse Like Beauty, Breaking In, Ride a Black Horse, Deceptive Appearances, Fear of Water, Treasure Hunt, The Birdman Disc 2: Different Races, A Question of Justice, Horsepower, Horse Sense, Surprise, A Present for Beauty, The Sea Horses, Hope Disc 3: At Risk, Greed Fever, The Poisoners, Bush Symphony, The Convicts, A Friend in Need, Out of Sight Out of Mind, Deception, Call of the Wild (Part One), Call of the Wild Series 2 (1992) 8 episodes omitted Disc 4: The Fugitive, Recovery, Gymkhana, The Run Away, Horse Thief, Accident, Daylight Robbery, The Search Disc 5: Bella Remembers, The Fair, Eureka, Bella's Dilemma, Sweet Reward, The Petition, Held to Ramsom, The Exchange, Captured, The Wedding For the rest of the episodes in this set, see The Adventures of Black Beauty.