Adventures of Stephen Brown

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Adventures of Stephen Brown is a science fiction series that is broadcast weekly on Six TV in the Southampton and Oxford areas, a free-to-view terrestrial RSL channel, with older episodes from its 2001 and 2002 seasons shown on the internet channel TV Chichester. Six or seven new stories appear each year and due to its tongue-in-cheek nature and lack of pretentiousness the show has built up a small cult following.

Usually consisting of 14 episodes per year, the series centres around the adventures of an alien being called Stephen Brown, portrayed by Ryan Brady who has recently replaced Chris Wilkes who was SB from 2000-6. He is accompanied on his travels on his spacecraft The Venturer by his loyal companions Harri (Sarah Wright), and the primitive Algy (Ben Johnson). They are joined by their faithful robot, Robo. Stephen's arch-nemesis is the criminal known as The Death, dressed entirely in black and sometimes accompanied by his thuggish follower Blocklon.

The current run of episodes has ended with the cliffhanger Kaos Theory Episode Two. Six TV is now screening other productions made by Beacon, including an ad-lib soap The Parsons, and blooper show The Beacon Files. Episode Three of Kaos Theory is planned to open the new series which is currently being filmed, with a tentative release date of Spring 2007.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Stephen Brown was born on the planet Rubart home of the Melastones As a child he was framed for the murder of his brother an event he blames on arch enemy The Death Stephen's father took him to Earth in his spacecraft The Venturer and re-married there having a daughter called Lizzie Stephen and Lizzie eventually recovered The Venturer and set off on their own adventures

The Venturer is an advanced spacecraft run by an intelligent computer called Robo Venturer normally travels in subspace but is capable of travelling through time The ship is also equipped with a teleport system which forms the method by which Stephen and his companions travel back and forth between The Venturer and the planets they visit

Amongst the many adversaries that Stephen Brown has faced there are the Tubcons a robotic army created by the maniac Savdro and the Terricins

As of writing (late July 2007) there are currently 370+ episodes the most recent being a 20th anniversary special story featuring several former companions of SB and several versions of him too Stephen Brown has recently discovered that The Death is in fact his brother placing a new tension on their relationship

[edit] Cast and characters

  • Stephen Brown - Ryan Brady (2006- )
  • Harri - Sarah Wright (departs mid-way through 2007 season)
  • Algy - Ben Johnson (set to depart early on in 2008 season)
  • The Death - Robert Hampton
  • Blocklon - Matthew Hampton
  • Robo - voice of Jeremy Field (replaced late 2007 season by Simon Sansbury)
  • Max Crawford - Scott Cook (joins end of 2007 season)
  • Sally Crawford - Hazel Walton (joins end of 2007 season)

There are often also various other characters in episodes. These are usually one-off characters who don't appear again. However they are often played by crew members or actors who have appeared in previous episodes as different characters.

[edit] Cast notes

Between 1987 and 1999 four different actors played the role of Stephen Brown. Chris Wilkes has played the part for the last six years up to 2006. Wilkes took a brief break from his role in 2004, with Matthew Lambourne playing Brown in his absence. Current SB Ryan Brady has been joined by Chris and former lead actors Stephen Launay and Joshua Ive in a special 20th anniversary story, "20:20 Vision".

[edit] Companions

Lizzie (Sarah Miatt) travelled with Stephen on The Venturer for many years. Emma(Jo Hearn) fell in love with Stephen before breaking his heart. Other companions include Sarah(Jenni Notley), Jimmy(Nick Wilkes) (rescued from London during the Blitz), and Astradis Kanasis aka Astra (Emma Giles). Stephen's current companions are Harri and Algy is a loyal primitive from a tribal race.

[edit] Production

[edit] Production credits

  • Title Music - Jonathan Leech
  • Title Sequence - Beacon Visual Design
  • Camera Operators - Stephen Launay, Matthew Hampton and Robert White
  • Boom Operator - Jonathan Leech
  • Financial Advisor - Warren Pike
  • Visual Effects - Daniel Cook, Scott Cook, Ben Johnson
  • Designer - Stephen Launay
  • Incidental Music - Mat Hasker
  • Script Editors - Paula Cartwright, Simon Doidge
  • Story Editor - Neil Miller
  • Producers - Chris Wilkes and Matthew Hampton
  • Assistant Producer - Daniel Cook
  • Directors - Matthew Hampton, Stephen Launay, Daniel Cook, Steve Churchett

[edit] Production notes

Southampton-based Beacon, a voluntary based video group which started up in July 1987, produce the series on a very low budget. The series was created by Stephen Launay.

Beacon has a membership of around 60, with an age-range of 17-mid 60s. The members take turns appearing in productions. Some of the members have acting experience, mainly on the amateur dramatics circuit, while most of the crew have at some point worked in local television.

The Adventures of Stephen Brown began as an audio tape serial in 1987. From 1990 onwards the series became transferred from audio to video, the last audio story being produced in 1999 when the audio stories were finally dropped.

[edit] Locations

The series is filmed mainly in the Locks Heath area, near Southampton. The club owns a small studio for interior scenes. The show has used many locations, including the New Forest, Lee-on-Solent, Portsmouth and longer trips out to Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight, St Malo in France and London.

The club has been fortunate to enjoy cameo appearances from celebrities over the years when they have been appearing in panto at the Kings Theatre, Portsmouth. Celebrities who have popped up in Stephen Brown over the years include Spencer Kelly (2001), Mark Raffety from Neighbours (2002), EastEnders' Leila Birch (2002), Tony Adams from Crossroads (2002) and Jansen Spencer from Neighbours (2003).

[edit] External links