Elvis Cridlington is the ultimate buffoon, thus it’s hard to imagine anyone would entrust him in life with a situation as serious as firefighting. Much as poor Chris Skelton suffered from the sharp end of Gene Hunt’s tongue, Cridlington bears the brunt of Station Officer Steele’s despair. Perhaps achieving something in death which he failed to do whilst living, throughout the course of the Great Fire of Pontpandy, Elvis does indeed prove himself a hero and is awarded a medal of bravery by Station Officer Steele.

A close confidant of Fireman Sam, Penny Morris is the nearest equivalent to Liz White’s Annie Cartwright. Displaying far more sense than the majority of her male colleagues, Penny is a dependable ever-present force in Sam’s life.

This brings us to the one character who could turn this entire theory on its head, the enigma that is Norman Price. With the infamous red-headed scally proving to be the root cause of ninety-nine percent of all disasters in Pontypandy, Sam would appear destined to rescue the diminutive terror on a daily basis. Could it be our hero has already descended into the gates of hell? As seen in recent episodes of Preacher, is the firefighter caught within a continuous loop of saving Norman Price? This could go a long way to explaining Norman’s presence as a recurring fixture in Sam’s life. Yet, I’d rather offer a more bittersweet denouement to this supernatural take on children’s tv.

I know parents have long speculated, based solely on the reasoning they both sport rather fetching bright red hair, that Norman Price may be the product of a brief encounter between Fireman Sam and the boy’s mother, Dilys. However, I’d venture in their previous lives, it was in fact Sam and Penny who were mother and father to the young Norman. The family perished in a tragic accident, and as their three souls passed to the world of Pontypandy – they lost all memory of their former selves. Separated and on different journeys of discovery, once they have worked through whatever differences they struggled with in life – Sam, Penny and Norman will be reunited. After finding themselves led to the town’s strangely inconspicuous public house by Station Officer Steele, the trio will ascend beyond the realm of Pontypandy, and bask in whatever glory awaits them.