Through The Dragon's Eye

Infobox Television
show_name = Through the Dragon's Eye


caption = Opening Credits of Through The Dragon's Eye
show_name_2 =
genre = Children's Fantasy
creator =
writer = Christopher Russell
Christine Russell
director =
creative_director =
developer =
presenter =
starring = David Collings
Simon Fenton
Marlaine Gordon
Carolyn Pickles
voices = Sean Barrett
Charles Collingwood
narrated =
theme_music_composer =
opentheme =
endtheme =
composer = Roger Limb
country = UK
language = English
num_seasons =
num_episodes = 10
list_episodes = Through The Dragon's Eye (episodes)
executive_producer =
co_exec =
producer = Sue Weeks
supervising_producer = Sophie Neville
Di Millward
asst_producer =
co-producer =
editor =
story_editor =
location =
cinematography =
camera =
runtime = 10 x 20 mins episodes
network = BBC
picture_format =
audio_format =
first_run =
first_aired = 1989
last_aired = 2008
preceded_by = "Geordie Racer" (1988)
followed_by = "Sky Hunter II" (1992)
related =
website =
production_website =
imdb_id = 0379670
tv_com_id =

"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.cite web | author=Ben Clarke | year=2008 | title=Lookingandseeing.co.uk - Look and Read/Through the Dragon's Eye| format=html | url=http://www.lookingandseeing.co.uk/site/Look_and_Read/Through_The_Dragon%27s_Eye | accessdate=2008-04-11]

Some fans have pointed out that Through the Dragon's Eye bears some resemblance to the Chronicles of Narnia.cite web | author=Ben Clarke | year=2008 | title=Lookingandseeing.co.uk - Look and Read/Through the Dragon's Eye| format=html | url=http://www.lookingandseeing.co.uk/site/Look_and_Read/Through_The_Dragon%27s_Eye | accessdate=2008-04-11] The villain 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.

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).cite web | author=IMDB | year=2004 | title=International Movie Database - "Through the Dragon's Eye" (1989) | format=html | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379670/ | accessdate=2008-04-11] 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 Pelamar). 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 Pelamar - 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.

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 (the name given to the innhabitants 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.

Episodes

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:

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.cite web | author=Ben Clarke | year=2006 | title=Lookandread.myby.co.uk: Look and Read - Through the Dragon's Eye| format=html | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070612071644/www.lookandread.myby.co.uk/stories/eye/index.shtml#Notes | accessdate=2008-04-11]

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.cite web | author=BBC | year=2001 | title=BBC School Shop: Look and Read - Through The Dragon's Eye| format=html | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060515203348/www.bbcschoolshop.com/search.asp?isbn=503475&submitted=1| accessdate=2008-04-11]

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/lookandread/index.shtml BBC - Cult - Classic TV - Look and Read]
*
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070206054058/www.lookandread.myby.co.uk/downloads/music/LR-1989-ThroughTheDragonsEye.mp3 Theme Tune, sung by Derek Griffiths] (MP3 File: 19 seconds, 151 kb)

Fan Pages:
* [http://www.lookingandseeing.co.uk/site/Look_and_Read/Through_The_Dragon%27s_Eye Lookingandseeing.co.uk - Fan Page]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070612071644/http://www.lookandread.myby.co.uk/stories/eye/index.shtml Old Fan Page - being replaced by above site]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/az/sugarbabylon/dragon.html First Chapter of Through the Dragon's Eye]