Bernard's Watch
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Bernard's Watch was a television programme for children broadcast on CITV. It told the story of a boy who had a magical watch which allowed him to pause and resume time. This made for all kinds of strange, time-related adventures - often with Bernard solving a sticky situation using his watch.
Andrew Norriss wrote the first six series, which ran from 1996 to 2001, and later wrote a book based on the television episodes. In 2003 the programme was re-invented (as "Bernard"), with a new actor playing the lead role. These adventures were generally set at Bernard's school and centered around Bernard getting the better of both a group of girls from his class and his very strict teacher. This series, while entirely detached from the original, also added extra power to the watch that was not though possible first time round - if you stop time with it whilst physically holding a second person, time stops for them as well and lasts until the watch is restarted.
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[edit] Story
Bernard received his watch from a magic postman because he was often late for school and was terrible at keeping time. Although it may seem marvellous, Bernard's watch has strict rules. Bernard is not allowed to commit crimes using the watch and cannot use it to be greedy. When Bernard's watch was stolen, the postman blamed him for the misdeeds committed with it and took it away, before returning it to Bernard after hearing his side of the story.
The only people who know about Bernard's watch (other then Bernard and the Postman) are: his cousin Lucy, his best friend Kate and later his girlfriend Rebecca. Later in the run, Sam often uses the watch for various means and a group of elderly ladies learn about the watch, but do not appear within the series again. Throughout the entire run, quite a few characters know that Bernard has a watch, but not about the power it holds (although Bernard comes close to exposing this on quite a few occasions).
Contrary to common belief, Bernard's watch can turn back time: two examples are present in the series. In one, Bernard breaks the watch and the postman keeps sending him back in time until he does not break it; in the other example is when Lucy discovers the watch, notices that it is running fast, and tries to turn it back. However, if one turns the watch back in time, one cannot remember ever doing so, and continues doing it over and over again thus creating a "time-loop".
[edit] Cast & crew
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Bernard Beasley | David Peachey (1996-2001) Ryan Watson (2003-?) |
| Mrs. Beasley | Ruth Hudson |
| Postman | Jack McKenzie |
| Grandad Beasley | Barry Jackson |
| Narrator | Liza Goddard |
| Lucy | Elizabeth Mellor |
| Nicollette | Taylor Bourke |
| James | Kieran Hardcastle |
| Kate | Katie Pearson |
| Fergus | Chris Roebuck |
| Sam | Samantha Birch |
| Role | Crew Member |
|---|---|
| Director | David Cobham |
| Executive in charge of production | Valerie Ames |
| Sound recordist | John Hughes |
| Sound editor | Paul Watson |
[edit] Philosophical application
Bernard's Watch is also a theoretical concept used to investigate the logical constraints on the idea of an omniscient prototype. The theme central to this implies that a man in possession of 'Bernard's Watch' is capable of anything (provided that he demonstrates a sufficient level of tenacity in the pursuit of his goals) and would thusly investigate the ideas incurred by such an entity's interaction with reality.
A practical application of 'Bernard's Watch' would place an onus on the investigation of the nature of self-gratification by utilising various meta-ethical disciplines. What would a human being choose to do, and why? A popular theory is that behaviour would be subject to a number of discriminant phases.
