Mirror, Mirror (TV series)

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Mirror, Mirror

Genre	Time travel / Drama
Running time	24 min.
Creator(s)	Hilary Bell and Posie Graeme-Evans
Starring	Petra Jared Michala Banas Nicholas Hooper Jeffrey Walker James Ashcroft Nicholas Hammond
Country of origin	Australia & New Zealand
Original channel	Network Ten
Original run	September 30, 1995 –December 23, 1995
No. of episodes	20

Mirror, Mirror, a 1996 co-production between Australia and New Zealand, is one single complete story given in a serial form — in the same way that a complete story is sometimes given in a television mini-series. "Mirror, Mirror" lasts for 20 episodes altogether, with all of the episodes (chapters) continuing immediately on from the previous episodes in a serialised fashion, including having a cliffhanger between each of the episodes.

1 Cast
2 Plot
3 Books
4 Sequel
5 External links

[edit] Cast

Petra Jared — as "Jo (Josephine) Tiegan"
Michala Banas — as "Louisa Iredale"
Nicholas Hooper — as "Nicholas"
James Ashcroft — as "Tama"
Jeffrey Walker — as "Royce Tiegan"
Nicholas Hammond — as "Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne"
Peter Bensley — as "Andrew Tiegan"
Judith McIntosh — as "Catherine Tiegan"
Michele Amas — as "Primrose Iredale"
Gerald Bryan — as "Joshua Iredale"
Bernard Kearns — as "Old Nicholas".

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

When Jo Tiegan is shopping with her father in 1995, she notices an antique shop which she feels a compulsion to go to. There she sees a beautiful oval mirror, which she is given by the elderly owner of the shop — who comments that the mirror is meant for her. Jo is delighted, and the mirror is placed in her bedroom. That night, Jo is stunned to see the image of another girl in the mirror, instead of her own reflection, and it is obvious that the other girl can see her just as clearly. Jo and the other girl, Louisa Iredale, are able to 'introduce' themselves to each other by writing their names down for the other girl to read. After Louisa is called away to dinner, Jo is accidentally pulled through the mirror into Louisa's bedroom (in the year 1919). This leads to the discovery, by Jo and Louisa, that they can visit each other's times, through the mirror, any time they want to do so — provided that the mirror is situated in exactly the same place and that the mirror's alignment and orientation are identical within the mirror's frame, at corresponding moments in 1919 and 1995.

In 1919, Louisa's father is a New Zealand politician, and their family house is a mansion with servants. Jo, the daughter of the Australian school principal at a New Zealand school, lives in a school residential building which happens to be the same house as Louisa's family home, and the girls also even have the same bedroom as each other, although the room's decor for Jo in 1995 is totally different to the way the room's decor is for Louisa in 1919.

When Jo and Louisa meet, there is instant rapport between the two girls and they become firm friends, and life changes for them both as they become caught up in a web of intrigue.

Following Jo's unexpected journey through the mirror, a hazardous situation occurs during an archaeological dig in a well at Jo's school, when a container they discover in the well is damaged and two of the students working nearby are accidentally sprayed with toxic waste. The affected students become extremely ill, and, when it is discovered that the container has the date 1919 on it, Jo is worried that her friends' sickness is her fault because of going through the mirror to 1919.

Back in 1919, Jo asks Louisa to help her find the container so that they can move it, to prevent the later disastrous events happening in 1995. The well is located in the yard of a neighbouring house which is rented by a British visitor to the area, Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne. Jo and Louisa enter the yard and look down the well - following which they become aware of a teenage boy watching them. The boy is Nicholas whom Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne had brought from Russia to New Zealand, under the guise of caring for the boy until the dangerous situation in Russia abated. Although Nicholas is grateful to Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne for his help, he is extremely worried about his family, whom he has not heard about for a long time - and he is worried about the lack of information he receives whenever he asks Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne about them. Nicholas is also upset that Sir Ivor refuses to allow him to leave the house, or to have any friends of his own age.

When Nicholas eventually manages to escape from the house, he goes to Louisa's home, where he finds Jo's encyclopedia (which Jo had brought through the mirror to show to Louisa). Intrigued by the colour pictures, because only black and white pictures had been his experience up until then, Nicholas checks the book for information about the Russian Royal Family. To his horror, he reads that Nicholas II, the Tsar of Russia, and his family, had been killed. When Jo and Louisa come into the room, Nicholas demands that Jo tell him if the information he had read is correct, and asks Jo where she got the book. Jo confirms that the information is correct, and Nicholas reveals to Jo and Louisa that he is Alexei Nikolaevich, the son of the Tsar, and that it is his family who had been murdered. Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne's treachery is finally revealed. Instead of caring for Nicholas, Sir Ivor had actually kidnapped Nicholas in Russia and brought him to New Zealand so that he could 'sell' Nicholas to the highest bidder - Russian Bolsheviks who want to take Nichoas back to Russia with them so that Nicholas, the last surviving member of the Russian Royal Family, can be killed.

Jo asks her school friend, Tama, to assist her and Louisa and Nicholas. When Louisa and Tama meet for the first time, they instantly fall for each other - with the romantic bond between them deeping as the story progresses. There is also a romantic bond between Jo and Nicholas.

Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne who had earlier taken Nicholas' family signet ring (saying it was for the ring's 'safekeeping'), calls for Nicholas to be brought to him and then takes the ring from a desk drawer. Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne drops the ring into the container of toxic waste - in front of the horrified Nicholas, and warns Nicholas not to attempt to retrieve his ring from the container. Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne then leaves the room. Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne is holding a ball that night, to which members of the New Zealand's high society has been invited (including Louisa's parents).

With the help of Tama, and the technology of 1995, a neutralising agent for the toxic waste is discovered, and a sufficient quantity is manufactured to render the waste in the container safe. While waiting at the fence for a chance for Nicholas to go to the yard to pour the neutralising agent in the container, the two couples pair off, and Louisa and Tama shyly kiss each other. Music can be heard from Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne's ballroom, and Nicholas teaches Jo to dance the old way, during which Nicholas and Jo also kiss each other.

Nicholas, who requires his family signet ring as proof of his identity, tells Jo that the container of toxic waste is safe, as he has hidden it in the well. Jo is horrified at this and now considers Nicholas to be the person responsible for the harm which had befallen her friends at the school. Nicholas promises her that everything would be okay.

Back in 1995, Jo's parents are very worried because they cannot find Jo, and they decide to confront the elderly owner of the antique shop over the matter. They are surprised when the old man welcomes them and comments that they are expected. The elderly man tells them everything, including his true identity, and mentions that Jo was, at that moment, in 1919. They are very upset and annoyed when the old man states that he and Jo would marry (in 1919) and that Jo would not be returning to 1995.

Meanwhile, back in 1919, Nicholas pours the neutralising agent into the container. Although he is successful in neutralising the toxic waste, it will still remain harmful for years after 1919. However, it will be safe in 1995. Nicholas is able to travel through the mirror to 1995 and retrieve his ring. However, when he attempts to return to 1919 through the mirror with the ring, he discovers that he is unable to do so because the ring already exists in 1919. Nicholas is given two choices - he can return to 1919 without the ring (and, therefore, without him being able to prove his identity), or he can stay in 1995 with Jo. Love wins out and Nicholas stays.

[edit] Books

"Mirror, Mirror" (book cover)
Petra Jared as "Jo Tiegan" &
Michala Banas as "Louisa Iredale"

Louisa Iredale has a copy of Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass in her bedroom. This is an homage to Lewis Carroll's book, which also involves a girl travelling through a mirror, albeit to another world.

A novelised version of the "Mirror, Mirror" television story was written by Hilary Bell, one of the many co-writers of the television series, following the release of the series. However, although most of the book remained true to the series, there are some marked differences between the series and the novelised version of the story.

[edit] Sequel

Main article: Mirror, Mirror II (TV series)

A second series of 26 episodes, featuring a completely new story and set of characters, followed in 1997. The series, which was completely separate from the series this article is about, was titled "Mirror, Mirror II".

The only similarity between the two series was the presence of a time travelling mirror in New Zealand (the country in which both stories are based). Even so the rules for the mirror's mystical properties were completely different between the two series. For instance, during "Mirror, Mirror", the mirror could only be travelled through by children - adults were not able to do so — while in "Mirror, Mirror II", anybody could go through the mirror without any difficulty, including adults.

Also, "Mirror, Mirror" had but a single story arc (which was presented in serial form) — whereas "Mirror, Mirror II" was made up of several semi-continuous story arcs, and with almost every individual episode of "Mirror, Mirror II" corresponding to a new adventure^{[citation needed]}.