Raven: The Island
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| Raven: The Island | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Children's Game Show |
| Starring | James Mackenzie Lindsay McKenzie Michael Mackenzie |
| Voices of | Jo James |
| Theme music composer | David Brockett |
| Country of origin |  Scotland |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Scotland |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original airing | 2006 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Raven: The Island is a BBC Scotland children's adventure game show, and the first spin-off to the main series, Raven. It comprises one series, initially airing in 2006 on the CBBC Channel, and then during CBBC on BBC One. In this series, warriors compete as teams and attempt to complete the many challenges on the island of Alaunus, retrieving timepieces in the hope of defeating the evil Nevar.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Raven: The Island sees the island of Alaunus, Raven's homeland as a child, come under control by the evil force of Nevar and his demons. Raven has been exiled from the island, and so his close and trusted friend, Princess Erina, assists Raven's young warriors in their quest, with the help of her sprite companion, Haryad. Their only hope of restoring the Island lies with the three teams of four warriors, who must travel to the island and towards the ruined fortress that once belonged to Erina's father, collecting timepieces along the way that Nevar, unable to destroy them, has attempted to hide in perilous traps and challenges. Using the timepieces, together with an upcoming solar eclipse, they must then enter the fortress and take an acorn from the Great Oak, stolen and locked away by Nevar to cut new Staves of Power for his elite demons, so that a new tree may be planted away from the island, far from Nevar's dark domain.
[edit] Format
Raven: The Island features a set of different challenges for the warriors, but differs in that the warriors are split into teams; in Raven: The Island, this consists of three groups of four. These teams have different animal associations and colour clothing; the Lions wear green clothing, the Wolves wear blue clothing, and the Eagles wear maroon. Each team also has a team leader, and follow separate paths to the fortress, undertaking different challenges along the way.
This series does not provide the concept of lives or rings: should a warrior fail a task by being caught by a demon, or fail to navigate an obstacle in a challenge, that warrior is instantly eliminated and plays no further part in the quest, and cannot be returned or brought back (in contrast to collecting rings in Raven, or exchanging jewels in the second spin-off, The Secret Temple).
[edit] Characters
Raven (James Mackenzie): Raven makes appearances in this series, but does not guide the warriors as frequently as in Raven, or The Secret Temple. He converses with Princess Erina on the warrior's progress, and talks to Cyrus to gain information about matters such as the upcoming eclipse, and the timepieces.
Princess Erina (Lindsay McKenzie): Raven's close and trusted friend. She carries a Staff of Power with her (topped with a crown carving) and is helped by a tree sprite named Haryad. Erina lives on the Island of Alaunus, which used to belong to her father before Nevar took it over with his dark magic, and is the one who leaves signs and clues to guide the warriors to Nevar's fortress. She cannot meet the warriors herself until the quest is over, for her life force, and that of her Staff of Power made from the ancient Oak, would guide demons straight to them.
Haryad (voiced by Jo James): Erina's companion is a tree sprite - the spirit of the Great Oak that Nevar has stolen - who appears as a blue ball of light, and reports the warriors' progress back to her.
Cyrus the Astronomer (Michael Mackenzie, James Mackenzie's father): An old and wise astronomer who works out when the eclipse is due; he also discovered the many magical properties on Alaunus, such as the Time Wells and the Pearls of Wisdom, when sorcery returned to the island. His great knowledge has been passed on to Erina, and he is seen explaining such matters as the eclipse, and the nature and location of the timepieces, to Raven.
Nevar: The main antagonist of all the Raven stories, Nevar has seized control of Alaunus by capturing the Enchanted Oak, from which the Staves of Power for Raven, Erina and his own were cut. He has locked it within the Ruins of the Castle of Alaunus, which he now controls, and has begun to cut Staves of Power for his black robed Elite Demons, slowly causing the death of the Oak. Erina states that he once was an upstart baron, with a band of brigands as his followers, considered nothing more than an irritation on Alaunus. However, once he cut himself a Staff of Power from the oak, he became a sorcerer, and created the demons which have plagued Raven and his warriors since the show first began. His one goal is to destroy his arch-enemy, Raven, who is responsible for destroying his appearance when they fought after Nevar's first attempt to rise to power, before he fled and hid his face behind an iron mask and black hooded robes. If Nevar were to destroy Raven, the Kingdom would be doomed for all time.
[edit] Warriors
Twelve warriors started the quest, with four to each team. As with the main Raven series, each warrior is given their own warrior name, comprising a mix of letters from the first name and surname. Each team has a distinct animal association, and different colours for their outfits.
The teams and warriors are listed below, with yellow cells indicating the warrior escaped the island safely.
| Lions | Warrior Name | Real Name | Exit Point | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delra (Leader) | Bradley Daniels | Fortress: Enchanted Oak | Escaped safely. | |
| Goram | Niamh Gordon | Fortress | Knocked from obstacle course. | |
| Kaysa | Scott Mckie | Fortress Surroundings | Caught by Thrall Demons. | |
| Norso | Lorna Ferguson | River of the Rising Moon | Missed footing during challenge. |
| Wolves | Warrior Name | Real Name | Exit Point | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corso (Leader #2) | Connor Woods | Fortress: Enchanted Oak | Escaped safely. | |
| Tanla (Leader #1) | Tanesha Hanley | Mount Zoat | Did not attempt the abseiling challenge. | |
| Bayle | Abby Bell | Fortress Surroundings | Caught by Thrall Demons. | |
| Jenso | Augustus Jenkins | River of the Rising Moon | Caught by Thrall Demons. |
| Eagles | Warrior Name | Real Name | Exit Point | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanel (Leader) | Tristan Ellis | Fortress: Enchanted Oak | Escaped safely. | |
| Simlo | Chloe Smith | Fortress Causeway | Caught by demon after failing to correctly recite a spell which would have neutralised it. | |
| Cared | Charlotte | Bog o' Balor | Missed footing during challenge. | |
| Masam | Osmaan | Bog o' Balor | Missed footing during challenge. |
[edit] Challenges
Each team follows a different path using one third of the map of Alaunus that Erina has given them, and each faces different challenges along the way.
[edit] Lions
- Near Drune Hill: the team must use their map and identify stones using a riddle from their Rune Book to navigate their way forward.
- Edge of the Forest of Dawn Time: after hanging the scattered rune boards on the trees in the correct places, the warriors must use a riddle in their Rune Book to find the two runes that denote which two trees they must walk through to continue their quest.
- Forest of Dawn Time, Stone Circle: the warriors must rebuild a circle of stones, eight of which have runes on their faces. Using the Rune Book, they must then decode the word, which will turn the circle to point the correct way forward.
- Forest of Dawn Time: the team members must jump to grab bags moving up and down above their heads, and open them to see if they contain a timepiece or worthless rocks. They must also watch out for the approaching wood demons, as Nevar hopes to trap the warriors by keeping them too long in their quest.
- Drune Hill, Stone Trolls: one of the Lions must climb Drune Hill and collect three timepieces hanging from stone trolls on the cliff face.
- Vale of Melwa, Time Well: the Lions must use one of the three Time Wells on the island to generate a timepiece, by reassembling the five stones according to the riddle in the Rune Book.
- Og Wood, Archery: targets that open and close must be hit to secure each of the four timepieces, but they must be weary of approaching demons, who will be alerted once the first target is hit.
- Devlin's Water: the Lions work to reconstruct a boat, broken by demons, and use it to retrieve the single timepiece on a small island in the middle of the water.
- Shadow Wood: one Lion must climb an ancient watchtower, and walk over the narrow wooden plank connecting it to an adjoining tower, in order to collect a timepiece hanging from a stone gargoyle there, before making the return journey.
[edit] Wolves
- Forest of Dawn Time, Cairn Milestone: after rebuilding the shattered statue, whose face displays pictures, an arrow on the statue shows the true path forward.
- Forest of Dawn Time, Compass Stone: using a riddle in their Rune Book along with their compass, the warriors must correctly rotate the compass stone to find the correct two marker stones to continue their journey through.
- River of the Rising Moon, Thrall Demons: the warriors must travel upstream, avoiding the many thrall threads strung across the river's width that are connected to bells. If a warrior triggers a bell, they will alert the thrall demons to their presence, instantly ending their quest. This happened to Jenso, who touched one of the strings, and lost his place in the quest.
- Green Lady Wood, Archery: targets that open and close must be hit to secure each of the four timepieces, but they must be weary of approaching demons, who will be alerted once the first target is hit.
- Loch of Loarn, Giant Lilies: one of the Wolves must swim out to the giant lilies floating on the loch to retrieve timepieces, whilst avoiding the enchanted seed-pods, which will eliminate a warrior if touched.
- Mount Zoat: to continue their journey, each Wolf must abseil down the cliff face. Tanla, being scared of heights, did not want to do the challenge, and was eliminated.
- Triple Thorn Wood: the Wolves must work silently to retrieve timepieces that move up and down, and that have bells attached. If they make any noise or ring a bell, the demon sentinels in the centre of the wood will eliminate them from their quest.
- Megrin's Mire: the team must cross the deadly mire by stepping across toadstools, and may collect timepieces that hang above them.
- River of the Leaping Salmon: two timepieces can be retrieved from the sides of the stepping stone path that provides a way across the river for the Wolves.
[edit] Eagles
- River of the Leaping Salmon: the warriors must cross the river by rebuilding the bridge, placing wooden planks across stepping stones in the river.
- Grey Sky Mountain: the team must climb the perilous cliff face to continue their journey.
- Valley of the Rusted Sword, The Frozen Warrior: a warrior carrying a shield and stick is frozen on the path, and symbols on his shield must be translated using the Rune Book. Once read out, the warrior will come alive and point the direction they must take.
- River of the Diving Bird: a net at the far side of the river bank allows the warriors to straddle the river's stepping stones and catch the timepieces that are floating quickly downstream.
- Vale of Bryn Brahan, Bones of the Vanquished Warriors: to collect two timepieces, one blindfolded warrior must be guided through a field, littered with the remains of a mighty battle against Nevar during the last eclipse. If they touch any part of the debris, they will be eliminated.
- The Whispering Forest, Watch Tower: one Eagle must climb an ancient watch tower and cross a rope bridge to retrieve a time piece on a platform, before making the return journey.
- Cannoch's Crag: two Eagles must climb the Crag and collect one timepiece each, hanging from points on the cliff face.
- Loch Corra, Giant Lilies: one of the Eagles must swim out to the giant lilies floating on the loch to retrieve timepieces, whilst avoiding the enchanted seed-pods, which will eliminate a warrior if touched.
- Fergus Holt, Archery: targets that open and close must be hit to secure each of the four timepieces, but they must be weary of approaching demons, who will be alerted once the first target is hit.
[edit] Production
The initial sequences, before the warriors arrive on the Island of Alaunus, were shot at Loch Lomond in Scotland.[1] Most of the subsequent challenges were then filmed at Auchengillan International Outdoor Centre. [1]
The series was directed by Maria Stewart, who also directed the second spin-off, The Secret Temple. It was produced by Paul Hineman, director of the third and fourth series of the main Raven series.
[edit] References
- ^ Around half way down the list of photographs. Production Stills: Series 1 to 6 and Raven Island.
