Raven (BBC TV series)
| Raven | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Children's game show |
| Presented by | James Mackenzie |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 200 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBBC |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | 16 December 2002 – 11 March 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Raven: The Secret Temple Raven: The Island Raven: The Dragon's Eye |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Raven is a multi-BAFTA-winning BBC Scotland children's adventure game show that aired on CBBC in the United Kingdom from 16 December 2002 to 11 March 2010 over the course of ten series, with three spin-off series. It was hosted by James Mackenzie in the title role, who conducts a group of children, known as warriors, over five days through a series of tasks and feats. At various stages in the adventure, the group loses the least successful warrior, until two go through to the final week to compete for the title of Ultimate Warrior.
Format
The show features three groups of six children (or warriors) whom complete in various challenges over the course of three (broadcast) weeks. Each group features for five days, and after the second day the warrior with the least number of lives has to face the Way of The Warrior. The remaining two warriors in each group feature in the fourth week to make up a final group of six.
Every warrior starts out with seven (later nine) lives, represented by raven feathers on a standard. They also receive a symbolic emblem that follows them throughout their group week. Losing a challenge meant a loss of life, but these could be replaced by winning seven (in the first three series, nine from series 4) rings. To lose all nine lives meant instant elimination from the contest.
If there is no automatic elimination, the warrior with the fewest number of lives and rings must face the Way of the Warrior, a complex and difficult series of obstacles that only four warriors ever completed. Should a warrior survive the Way, the next lowest scoring one is required to take it on instead. This process continues until somebody is eliminated.
Characters
Raven (James Mackenzie): Originally from the Island of Alaunus, Raven is an ancient, immortal Scottish warlord and the warriors' guide throughout the quest; his name refers to his ability to shape-shift, read the warriors' thoughts, recap what has happened previously, and both giveth and taketh away the warriors' lives from their standards. He has an elaborate style of speech, which has generated some catchphrases, including, "Are you ready? Then let the challenge... begin", and "may the luck of the Raven's Eye be with you". He always keeps a deadpan face when describing their demonic foes.
Nevar: A mysterious figure who wears a black-hooded cloak and an iron mask, introduced in the second series and whose name is the reverse of Raven. The forging of the six symbols long ago, which brought sorcery back to Raven's land, also brought the scourge of Nevar who attempts to spread darkness once more. His appearance is in some ways similar to the Death Eaters, from the Harry Potter series. He wears a silver mask much the same as the Death-Eaters.
All that can be seen of Nevar's true form is his eyes, which have red irises and red-pink, scorched skin around them. He is described as "the enemy of all that is good and true" by his arch-enemy Raven, and is responsible for the demons featuring heavily in the warrior's tasks in an attempt to impede their progress. He only appears in person at The Last Stand as Guardian of the Portal, where he does his best to stop the remaining warriors from winning. In Series 9 and 10's Last Stands, he has also shown he can teleport.
In Raven: The Island, Nevar's story was relayed by Princess Erina to Haryad. At that time, he had ruled the Island of Alaunus with his dark magic for four years, making Staffs of Power from the Enchanted Oak to arm his demons, in order to stop the warriors from reaching his fortress. Nevar was once a normal human, no more than an upstart baron with a band of brigands as his followers, and considered no more than an irritation on Alaunus. However, he became twisted and corrupt when he stole the Enchanted Oak and used it to create a Staff of Power for himself; as a result, each time he uses his Staff for evil, half of his remaining life-force is taken away, taking its toll on his mind and his body. His iron mask and his cloak hides his scarred, burnt face, marks given to him from a battle with Raven. Until the third series his mask resembled many small pieces of metal covering his face, before becoming a full metal mask in series four.
In Raven: The Secret Temple, Nevar is thought to have been slain, until the last ten seconds of the show, where he is shown to have survived the temple falling on him.
The Warriors
Warriors are given four, five, six or seven-letter names composed from letters selected from their real surnames and first names. Each warrior is given a standard with their lives and treasure rings on it. They often feel very nervous when this happens.
There are always at least 6 warriors in each of the 3 weeks, including the final week. Sometimes there might be 7 in one week if there is an extra replacement warrior, and normally in nearly every week, with the exception of the final week, there are three male and three female warriors, however in Week 3 of Series 4 there were 4 male warriors and 2 female warriors. There are six different designs and colours to differentiate the contestants: a red outfit containing a sun, a beige outfit containing a cloud, a yellow outfit containing a mountain, a green outfit containing a tree, a blue outfit containing a wave, and a dark grey outfit containing a moon. In Series 1 there were no symbols and the colours were different (Mauve, Light Blue, Green, Black, Olive and Light Brown).
The emblems were first introduced in Series 2, in Series 3 the designs changed and again in Series 4 the designs of the emblems changed and stayed the same from onwards to series 10. It is explained that the symbols were forged long ago from gold in order to vanquish the darkness that once shadowed the land. On completion of the final symbol, light and sorcery returned to the land before the evil Nevar appeared, who tried to return the land to darkness.
Ultimate Warriors
The winners from each series are known as an Ultimate Warrior. Their prize is a warrior's "heart's desire" - in certain cases this proved to be a holiday of some sort - and from series two, the Ultimate Warrior was also presented with a Staff of Power. In reality, they do not get to keep this; in later series, the three finalists each won a trophy, which was not shown in the programme.
| Series | Winner | Real Name | Emblem | Second | Emblem | Third | Emblem |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamar | Mark McLaughlan | Green* | Intho | Mauve* | Brhea | Brown* |
| 2 | Grema | Emma Grace |  |
Varna |  |
Kinia |  |
| 3 | Jaddo | Jamie Woods | |
Worjo | |
Brena |  |
| 4 | Linma | James Findlay | |
Dejan | |
Kinsa |  |
| 5 | Arnor | Lorna Wright | |
Kyson |  |
Molyn | |
| 6 | Kenat | Katie MacKinnon | |
Nejad | |
Rohak | |
| 7 | Versad | Adam Weavers | |
Hanso | |
Danil | |
| 8 | Pargan | Megan Pardoe | |
Phidel | |
Druan | |
| 9 | Dyrel | Emily Anderson | |
Bertar | |
Tridic | |
| 10 | Sarjed | Jessica Reddy | |
Limonn | |
Coprov | |
* Emblems not used in this series.
The Challenges
The many tasks and feats in which the warriors have to compete vary from series to series, some having been tweaked over time, and some only used in certain series. They test a variety of virtues, such as strength, agility, and teamwork, depending on the challenge. Warriors play games to win treasure rings, and should they fail the challenge, they will forfeit any rings gained playing the challenge, as well as lose one of their lives. Challenges that have been played in each and every series are Way of the Warrior, Deep Loch, Leap of Faith, and Riddle Bridge.
The Last Stand
In series 1, the Dark Pools wisdom challenge was played to decide the two who would go through to the final, and a similar game was used as the final challenge of the series to select a winner. However, the second series introduced the Last Stand as the final challenge. Played at the end of each week, it is used to determine which warrior will go through to the final, and in the final week, to determine who wins the whole series. Like many challenges, it has changed over the course of the series.
In series 2 and 3, the two warriors in first and second position play against each other to collect and assemble four components of a key from the battlefield without being blasted by Nevar's lightning. Each warrior has the same number of lives as are remaining on their standard, and being blasted will make them lose a life; they are eliminated if they lose all their lives. The winner is the first to use their constructed key to open the portal and go through to the next stage of the quest. A second round is then played with the loser of the first round racing against the warrior in third place.
From series 4 onwards, the Last Stand was changed into an assault course for the three remaining warriors, their remaining lives and rings determining the relative time they are released from their starting cages. Once released from the starting cages the warriors retrieve a lever, they must then use this lever to knock down the inflatable objects that are in their way, after this the warriors must engage the lever into the slot which will vanquish the first demon that is stood before them. Once vanquishing the first demon the warriors must collect a circular disk, they must scale a wall and crawl under a net before matching the symbols on the podium, this will allow them to pick up a cylinder containing symbols, which they must attach to rope; after climbing up a waterfall and sliding down with the cylinder, it must be placed correctly in the slot to activate the portal to escape. After one warrior has taken out all their demons, Nevar attempts to attack the two remaining warriors; when two warriors have gone through the portal, his next shot causes instant elimination to the remaining warrior. In the final, the first warrior through the portal wins and the other two are blasted by Nevar.
After series 4 little alterations were made to the Last Stand. From series 5 - 7 its current configuration, they must drag a key across an overhead maze to unlock a cage containing puzzle pieces, which are assembled to vanquish the demon in their path. Retrieving a lever, they must scale a wall and crawl under a net to engage the lever in the slot, vanquishing a second demon. This will allow them to pick up a cylinder containing symbols, which they must attach to rope; after climbing up a waterfall and sliding down with the cylinder, it must be placed correctly in the slot to activate the portal to escape. After one warrior has taken out all their demons, Nevar attempts to attack the two remaining warriors; when two warriors have gone through the portal, his next shot causes instant elimination to the remaining warrior.
Due to a change of location after series 7 the last stand changed drastically in series 8 until the end of the programme in series 10.
Series 8 Last Stand
- Two large ramps to carry letters for a word puzzle (in series 9 and 10 the word puzzle was changed to a shape puzzle forming a bridge that led to a shield)
- A shield with two emblem shape pieces for each warrior that fit in.
- A framework with ropes attached to form a maze to navigate through, followed by another two emblem shape pieces to collect each.
- Two diamond walls with a hand battering ram to smash through them, with the last two emblem shaped pieces beyond.
- A different ram hung from chains to burst open a final gate, after which the portal may be accessed.
Way of the Warrior
The Way of the Warrior is a difficult challenge played at the end of most days, used to test a warrior to the limits. The heavily-padded warrior must cross the golden path without falling or being hit by any of the sharp or pointed obstacles at any point. It consists of many obstacles designed to knock the warrior off the path, and the configuration up to series 7 was largely as follows, with various subtle changes made over the years.
| Series | Way of the Warrior | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Run | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Swinging Dummies | Boulder Hurl | Boulder Carousel | Narrow Beam with Rocks | Chain to Pull Down Drawbridge and one Treasure Ring | 3 Shield Section (With 4 Shields) | Spiked Barrel | Swinging Blades | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Swinging Dummies | Boulder Hurl | Boulder Carousel | Narrow Beam with 2 Rising and Falling Objects | Skull Swing to open Drawbridge | 3 Shield Section (With 4 Shields) | Spiked Barrel | Swinging Blades | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Swinging Dummies | Swing Rope to Balance Beam | Cross Balance Beam whilst avoiding falling rocks and Swing Off | Swinging Gate | Boulder Carosel | Narrow Beam with 2 Rising and Falling Objects | Skull Swing to open Drawbridge | 3 Shield Section | Spiked Barrel | Swinging Blades | Gnashing Teeth | |||||||||||
| 4 | Swinging Dummies | Cross Rope to Balance Beam | Cross Balance Beam whilst avoiding falling rocks and Cross second rope | Swinging Gate | Boulder Carosel | Narrow Beam with 2 Rising and Falling Objects | Skull Swing to open Drawbridge | 3 Shield Section | Spiked Barrel | Swinging Blades | Gnashing Teeth | |||||||||||
| 5-6 | Swinging Dummies | Rising and Falling Blocks | Swinging Gate | Boulder Carosel | Narrow Beam with 2 Rising and Falling Objects | Skull Swing to open Drawbridge | 3 Shield Section | Spiked Barrel | Swinging Blades | Gnashing Teeth | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Swinging Dummies | Rising and Falling Blocks | Swinging Gate | Boulder Carosel | Narrow Beam with 2 Rising and Falling Objects | Skull Swing to open Drawbridge | Swinging Blades | Spiked Barrel | 3 Shield Section | Gnashing Teeth | ||||||||||||
- A short tunnel, with two swinging sackmen, and a row of blocks on the path that rise and fall; a dropbox half-way opens above, releasing falling rocks.
- A gate that swings left-to-right, followed by a carousel of heavy leather balls that swing round at speed.
- An elevating leather ball and spiked barrel above a zig-zag balance beam path; at the end, the warrior uses a skull attached to a rope to aim for a target, opening the drawbridge in front.
From this point, a warrior must not make contact with any of the mechanical devices or they will lose the challenge; the shields may be touched, but if they push the warrior from the path, they are eliminated.
- Four swinging blades, followed by a large swinging spiked barrel that the warrior must squeeze underneath on ropes.
- Three shields that push in and out from the walls at different angles, followed by three metal jaws that open and close vertically.
After the walls, the portal may then be accessed. The move to Aviemore in series 8 facilitated a change to the challenge, which saw most elements altered:
- Three hanging horizontal logs to cross, a platform where the warrior must pass a swimging bolder without it knocking them off, followed by a platform, and another hanging log placed lengthways, before another short platform with two large skulls that move up and down.
- The left-to-right swinging gate returns, followed by a beam that the warriors must slide across, after this two skull shields which slowly move in and out must be crossed and then you may access the drawbridge. After the drawbridge
- A set of blades attached to rotating horizontal poles to navigate through, followed by the returning barrel section.
- The three shields, followed by the swinging axes.
Series 9 way of the warrior
- Three hanging horizontal logs to cross followed by a platform.
- A platform with a red swinging blade which may be touched.
- A hanging log placed lengthways before another platform with two large skulls that move up and down.
- A swinging gate that moves left-to-right followed by a log that tips up and down.
- Two giant hammers which smash together.
- A set of blades attached to 3 rotating horizontal poles to navigate through.
- The swinging barrel returns followed by the three shields.
- The swinging axes return.
Victors
The challenge is considered very difficult; most warriors are eliminated when they are pushed off the path by the shields. Only four warriors have completed the challenge in the history of Raven, though none of them went on to become the Ultimate Warrior. From series 7, these warriors are listed on a board outside the entrance to the challenge. They are:
- Ishal (Series 2), leaving Dyasa to attempt the challenge. (Ishal repeated the challenge in the final week but failed at the boulder carousel)
- Varna (Series 2), leaving Kinia to attempt the challenge.
- Worjo (Series 3), leaving Brena to attempt the challenge.
- Kinsa (series 4), leaving Wenra to attempt the challenge.
No-one since series 4 has completed the challenge. The closest to do so was Danil of series 7 who, whilst crossing the final metal jaw just before the portal, grazed his leg against the side, and was eliminated from the final week, coming third.
Production and Awards
The series was first produced by BBC Scotland in 2002. For the first seven series it was shot in the grounds of Castle Toward 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Dunoon, near Toward Point and the village of Toward. The production includes many CGI effects throughout, including the appearance and disappearance of objects and characters (including contestants), rapidly encroaching lava flows, burning targets and fizzing gases, and the zoomorphism of Raven in the title sequence. The show has won two BAFTAs for Best Children's Programme, in 2003 and 2006 for Series 1 and 4.[1]
The first series in 2002 was executive produced by Nigel Pope who devised the format. Producer was Colin Nobbs who stayed on as the Executive Producer for Series 2 and 3. Matthew Napier produced 6 series in total, from series 2 through to series 7.[2] Series 8 to 10 were produced by Dougie Napier, who directed the previous two series. The set and games designers are Tom Barker and Liz Barron, who created the look and helped format the show as well as devising most of the challenges. The directors have changed between series:
| Series | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Ross, Bob Harvey |
| 2, 5 | Bill McLeod |
| 3, 4 | Paul Hineman |
| 6, 7 | Dougie Napier |
| 8 | John Payne (Weeks 1 - 3) Dougie Napier (Final Week) |
| 9, 10 | Dougie Napier |
Series 8, which introduced a number of changes to the programme, was produced under a slightly different production crew, including the director and editors; filming moved to Aviemore being based at Lagganlia Centre for Outdoor Education at Kincraig, rather than the previous location of Castle Toward.
Spin-off series
Three spin-off series have been produced. The first, Raven: The Island, takes place on the Island of Alaunus, Raven's homeland, taken over by Nevar and his demons. His trusted friend, Princess Erina, guides the warriors on their path. The series differs in that three teams of four warriors compete, and if a warrior is eliminated, they cannot return.
The second, Raven: The Secret Temple, features Raven taking four teams of four warriors to an Eastern land (actually filmed in India,[3] but never mentioned on the show as such) after his home was frozen by Nevar. He and Satyarani, a friend fashioned from the earth itself, guide the young warriors in the hopes that they will reach the Secret Temple to retrieve an elixir that will allow his homeland to return to its former glory. Unfortunately, Nevar has followed him there and is determined to stop his warriors from completing their quest.
The third spin-off series, Raven: The Dragon's Eye, has Raven travel with another set of 16 warriors to a forgotten kingdom governed by forest spirits, with the intention of locating and destroying a stone with immense evil power called the Dragon's Eye, protected from mortals by a rapidly weakening magical barrier, in order to prevent Nevar from obtaining it and using its power for his own needs. Raven, along with an enigmatic woodsman named Ervan, whose true intentions are unknown, and has an uncanny knowledge of the Dragon's Eye's power, assist the warriors in their task of reaching the kingdom and recovering the Eye before Nevar reaches it first. This series was filmed in October 2008 based at Lagganlia Centre for Outdoor Education, Kincraig and filmed around Aviemore.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ Detailed under "Any other information". "James Mackenzie, actor, Casting Call Pro".
- ↑ IMDb. "Raven (2002)".
- ↑ "The Shilpa factor takes off at the BBC as Raven goes to Bollywood". The Scotsman. 4 April 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ↑ "Amelia appears in BBC's 'Raven'". View From Online. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
External links
- Raven at the Internet Movie Database
- Raven at UKGameshows.com
- Official CBBC Raven Website
- The Raven's Eye Magazine
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