Roar (TV series)

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Roar is an American television show that originally aired on the FOX network in the summer of 1997. The show followed the exploits of Conor (played by a young Heath Ledger) and his band of followers as they tried to unite the tribes of Ireland in the 4th century against domination by the Roman empire.

1 Show details
2 Episode list
3 Other media
- 3.1 Books
4 External links

[edit] Show details

[edit] Creation and purpose

The show was created by Shawn Cassidy and seemed to be an attempt to cash in on the success of the syndicated programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. However, the show was not very well received in the US and lasted for only one season (8 of the 13 ordered episodes were aired).

[edit] Alignment with history

One of the major villains from the program was Longinus, played by Sebastian Roché. Longinus was immortal because he was cursed by God for interfering with His plans. Longinus was the centurion who stabbed Jesus Christ with his spear during the Crucifixion. This spear, the Spear of Destiny, was the only weapon that could release Longinus from his curse. The show freely mixed Christian mythology, Celtic mythology, Druidism, and smatterings of history.

[edit] Show notes

The orchestral Celtic soundtrack was composed by Jon Ehrlich.
Whilst the original airing of the show in North America did not broadcast all of the episodes, when syndicated to Canada and the UK, all episodes were aired.
"Roar: The Complete Series" was released on DVD on September 19, 2006. The 3-disc set includes all thirteen episodes, even those which were never aired in the United States. This is similar to the DVD set of Firefly, another cancelled Fox series.

[edit] Episode list

Episode #	Date aired	Title
1- 1	14 July 1997	Pilot
1- 2	21 July 1997	Projector
1- 3	28 July 1997	The Chosen
1- 4	4 August 1997	Banshee
1- 5	11 August 1997	Doyle's Solution
1- 6	18 August 1997	Red Boot
1- 7	25 August 1997	The Spear of Destiny
1- 8	1 September 1997	The Eternal
1- 9	unaired	Tash
1- 10	unaired	Traps
1- 11	unaired	Daybreak
1- 12	unaired	The Cage
1- 13	unaired	Sweet Bridget

[edit] Other media

[edit] Books

Two books were written based on the Roar universe. Published in 1998 and written by Sean Kiernan, Roar: A Novel (ISBN 0-0610-5914-5) gives a backstory leading up to the pilot episode, and Roar: The Cauldron (ISBN 0-0610-5936-6) tells the story of Conor's quest to find the legendary Cauldron.