The Queen's Nose
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| The Queen's Nose | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's |
| Created by | Dick King-Smith |
| Developed by | BBC Film and General Productions Ltd |
| Starring | Victoria Shalet Paula Wilcox |
| Theme music composer | Carl Davis |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | London |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | May 1, 1995 – December 16, 2003 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Queen's Nose is a book written by Dick King-Smith, that was adapted into a successful BBC television series.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
It is about a girl called Harmony Parker who finds a magical 50p coin, which grants wishes every time the nose on the face of Queen Elizabeth II is rubbed.
After the third series Harmony throws the coin into a lake in order to give another child a chance to find it and use its powers. This is slightly different from the account in the book of the same name, in which rubbing the side of the coin that the Queen's nose is pointed at, will grant a wish, rather than rubbing the nose itself. In series 2 Harmony wishes for a giant Igloo it then melts slowly throughout the episode resulting in the series finale of the melted igloo. Harmony does not throw the coin into a lake in the book, but out onto Wimbledon Common. The remaining series follow the adventures of the other children. The series had a moral thread running through it, namely teaching children not to be greedy and always use their power for good.
[edit] The television series
The novels were adapted into three television series by the BBC which were broadcast during the CBBC slot between 1995 and 1998. The first series won the Royal Television Society 1996 award for best Children's Drama,[1] and the third series winning the Indie Awards 1999 prize for Digital Cinematography.[2]
In 2000]the BBC revived the series with new stories, but without the main character Harmony, with a further four series being made between 2000 and 2003. Many viewers felt that the departure from the novels and the loss of the main character, played by Victoria Shalet, diminished the series.[3] The later series did however still feature other members of the Parker family in various roles. Harmony's sister Melody, played by Heather-Jay Jones, stayed on until the penultimate series. The Queen's Nose is still being repeated regularly on the CBBC Channel as of 2007.
The Queen's Nose has also been broadcast in Germany, under the name Die Magische Münze (The Magic Coin).[4]
[edit] Cast
- Harmony Parker - Victoria Shalet (series 1 - 3)
- Melody Parker - Heather-Jay Jones (series 1 - 6)
- Mr Arthur Parker - Stephen Moore (series 1 to 2, 4 to 5)
- Mrs Audrey Parker - Paula Wilcox (series 1, 2, 4, 5)
- Granny - Liz Smith (series 2)
- Aunt Glenda - Nerys Hughes (series 3)
- Uncle Ginger - Donald Sumpter (series 1 to 3)
- Himself - Gary Mabbutt (series 1)
- Gregory - Callum Dixon (series 1, 2, 3, 6)
- Tom - Anthony Hamblin (series 1, 2)
- Sam - Ella Jones (series 4, 5, 6)
- Sophie - Dominique Moore (series 4, 5, 6)
- Mrs Dooley - Annette Badland (series 4, 5)
- Dino - Vicki Lee Taylor (series 3)
- Melody's Agent - Paul Danan (series 6)
- Jake - Jordan Metcalfe (series 7)
- Gemma - Lucinda Dryzek (series 7)
- Chief - David Sterne (series 7)
- Wesley - Sonny Muslim (series 7)
- Duncan - Nicholas Gleaves (series 7)
- Nick - Brock Everitt-Elwick (series 7)
- Carla - Juliet Cowan (series 7)
- Ben - Pablo Duarte (series 6,7)
- Mr Marsh - Bill Bingham (series 7)
- Darren - Angelo Andreou (series 7)
- Frank - Martin Jarvis (series 7)
- Pansy - Grace Atherton (series 4, 5, 6)
[edit] Owners of The Queen's Nose
- Harmony Parker (series 1 to 3)
- Sam (series 4 to 6)
- Jake (series 7)
[edit] Video
Series 1, 2 and 3 have been classified by the BBFC for video release, although so far it appears that only the first two episodes of the first series were released on VHS in 1998 by Carlton Home Entertainment (now known as Granada Ventures/ITV DVD)
