Aye, there have been about four series of "The Vital Spark" (Now moored at Inverary), but none of them did justice to the book of stories...I think Roddy MacMillan was the best TV Peter Macarlane(Para Handy)......everyone had nicknames in my youth, but it was considered insulting to refer to someone by his nickname directly to his face. In the book Para Handy is always called Peter or Captain by his crew.
You can read it on line, this is a small section Para Handy