Through The Dragon's Eye
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| Through the Dragon's Eye | |
|---|---|
 Opening Credits of Through The Dragon's Eye |
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| Genre | Children's Fantasy |
| Written by | Christopher Russell Christine Russell |
| Starring | David Collings Simon Fenton Marlaine Gordon Carolyn Pickles |
| Voices of | Sean Barrett Charles Collingwood |
| Composer(s) | Roger Limb |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 10 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Sue Weeks |
| Supervising producer(s) |
Sophie Neville Di Millward |
| Running time | 10 x 20 mins episodes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 1989 – 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Geordie Racer (1988) |
| Followed by | Sky Hunter II (1992) |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Through The Dragon's Eye is an educational BBC Look and Read production, which was first aired on BBC Two in 1989 and has been shown regularly ever since.[1]
Some fans have pointed out that Through the Dragon's Eye bears a strong resemblance to the Chronicles of Narnia.[1] The villian of Through the Dragon's Eye is called Charn, who bears the same name as a fictional land in The Magician's Nephew, one of the Chronicles of Narnia.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story involves three children named Jenny, Amanda and Scott who are painting a mural on a school wall in Acton, London (Through the Dragon's Eye was filmed at Derwentwater Primary School, Shakespeare Road in Acton, London).[2] The dragon in the mural winks at the children and they are transported to a land called Pelamar where the dragon, named Gorwen, asks the children to undertake a task to save the magical land.
In order to save Pelamar the children, with Gorwen's help, must recover the pieces of the Veetacore (the life source of Pelemar). Until they succeeded, the land of Pelamar turns increasingly barren and inhabitants start to fade away. The "baddie" of the story is Charn, "The Evil One", who wants to hijack the Veetacore for his own evil purposes.
The instructions for reconstructing the Veetacore are written in a book, and the children must use their reading skills to help the Veetacore keepers, thus showing the young audience the importance of reading. The art of reading has been lost in Pelemar - this is a sore point with Doris, but the Veetacore keepers do start learning to read as the series progresses. The inability to read also afflicts Charn, allowing Jenny to display a written message to her friends, when Charn forbids her to divulge his presence.
[edit] Characters and Cast
- Amanda Jackson (played by Marlaine Gordon): one of the children that is transported to Pelamar, Amanda goes with Boris, Scott, Rodey and Gorwen to try and find the lost Veetons. The most resourceful.
- Jenny (played by Nicola Stewart): the second child who is transported to Pelamar, Jenny stays behind to help Morris and Dorris to read the Book on the Veetacore (None of the Pelamots (Inhabitents of Pelamar) could read). Jenny is by her own admission not a strong reader, but she gains confidence as the series progresses.
- Scott Bates (played by Simon Fenton): the third child and only boy who is transported to Pelamar, Scott goes with the rescue party to find the lost veetons. Scott had the idea that Jenny and Amanda should write everything down that happened on a part of his notebook. He wrote his version of events as well.
- Boris (played by Timothy Lyn): the orange Veetacore Keeper who goes with Amanda, Scott, Gorwen and Rodey to try and find the lost veetons. Boris had a magic cricket bat, which enabled him to fly. Most of the time he came across as not particularly bright, but he occasionally displayed unusual intelligence- he learnt to read well with the help of Scott, and helped Amanda find the first Veeton.
- Doris (played by Carolyn Pickles): the purple Veetacore Keeper, and the only female one, who stays behind to help Jenny re-build the Veetacore. Doris is melted by Charn, while she tries to contact Gorwen the Dragon, but is later rescued by Gorwen when he returns to fight Charn. Doris is at first very unwilling to let Jenny help her mend the Veetacore, but softens over the series.
- Morris (played by Michael Heath): the green Veetacore Keeper who stays behind to help Jenny and Doris re-build the Veetacore. Morris has lots of green pets, including a caterpillar, called Frug who in the last episode turns into a giant butterfly. Morris is more welcoming of Jenny. He is briefly melted by Charn in an attempt to shield Gorwen, but is soon rescued.
- Gorwen the Dragon (voiced by Sean Barrett): Gorwen is a green fire-breathing dragon who contacts Jenny, Scott and Amanda and transports them into Pelamar. Gorwen had already defeated Charn (see below) once before, but in the eighth episode he was forced to fight him again.
- Rodey (voiced by Charles Collingwood, puppeteered by Katie Hebb): Rodey was a talking mouse who could transform from the size of a human to normal mouse size at will, though when he enters a "High Fade Zone", as in Episode 1, he shrinks against it. Rodey could speak Widgen (the language of the Widgets (see below), which was how the Rescue Party communicated with the Widgets.
- Charn the "Evil One" (played by David Collings): Charn was the villan of Through the Dragon's Eye. He had already tried to take over Pelamar once before, but was defeated by Gorwen and banished. When the Veetacore was exploded he was able to come back to Pelamar, where he tries to come back to Pelamar and use the Veetacore for his own evil purposes. He did not appear until Episode 5- Jenny complains that the Veetacore house is cold, and we learn that it gets colder as Charn gets nearer. Charn, in the eighth episode fought Gorwen and was defeated (forever).
- The Widgets (played by Peter Bonner, Chris Burke, Samantha Burroughs, Willie Coppen, Melanie Dixon, Raymond Griffiths, Peter Mandell, Sandra Nicholson and Kate Purvis): The Widgets were small mischievous squirrel-like creatures who lived in a land called "Widge", next to Pelamar (Widge was where the veetons were scattered after the Veetacore exploded). They seem malevolent at first, when in the last episode, they inexplicably help Scott get the last Veeton.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Theme Tune
During the series, three different sets of lyrics (sung to the same theme tune) were used - one at the start of episodes 2-10 (a different song was used for the entire first episode) and another at the end of episodes 2-10:
| Lyrics #1 (used at the start and the end of episode 1) | Lyrics #2 (used at the start of episodes 2-10) | Lyrics #3 (used at the end of episodes 2-10) |
|---|---|---|
| North or South, East or West,
The Test |
North or South, East or West,
The Quest |
North or South, East or West,
It's Best |
[edit] Cult Popularity
"The most popular of all the Look and Read adventure stories, Through the Dragon's Eye captivated pupils in over 25,000 UK primary schools when first broadcast in 1989" - Video Sleve note.[6]
Through the Dragon's Eye was perhaps the most popular Look and Read series, and thanks to a retro revival of the programme, Through the Dragon's Eye is now the focus of some dedicated websites. In recent years, Through the Dragon's Eye has been repeated on BBC children's channel (CBBC), most recently in February 2008.
Through the Dragon's Eye was also available on video from the BBC, complete with a Teacher's Activity Book with notes and lesson plans and A4 posters.[7]
[edit] See Also
- Look and Read
- Geordie Racer (the next programme made in the Look and Read series)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Ben Clarke (2008). Lookingandseeing.co.uk - Look and Read/Through the Dragon's Eye (html). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ IMDB (2004). International Movie Database - "Through the Dragon's Eye" (1989) (html). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ vkrippen (2007). Youtube: Look & Read - Through The Dragon's Eye, Part 1 (Video). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ moosey88888888 (2008). Youtube: Through the Dragon's Eye - Episode 2 part 1 (Video). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ moosey88888888 (2008). Youtube: Through the Dragon's Eye Episode 2, part 2 (Video). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ Ben Clarke (2006). Lookandread.myby.co.uk: Look and Read - Through the Dragon's Eye (html). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ BBC (2001). BBC School Shop: Look and Read - Through The Dragon's Eye (html). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
[edit] External links
- BBC - Cult - Classic TV - Look and Read
- Through The Dragon's Eye at the Internet Movie Database
- Theme Tune, sung by Derek Griffiths (MP3 File: 19 seconds, 151 kb)
Fan Pages:
- Lookingandseeing.co.uk - Fan Page
- Old Fan Page - being replaced by above site
- First Chapter of Through the Dragon's Eye
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