Silversun

infobox television
show_name = Silversun
format = Childrens Science fiction
runtime = 22 minutes
starring = Ryan Corr
Cherise Donovan
Angus McLaren
Sarah Walker
country = AUS
network = ABC TV
num_episodes = 40
imdb_id =|

"Silversun" is a science fiction children's television series made in Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The show features the adventures of the adolescent members of the crew of the "Star Runner," an interstellar spaceship carrying a cargo of 550 cryonically suspended colonists to their new home, "Silversun".

In the year 2052, the "Star Runner" and its crew are two years into their 90-year journey to a livable planet 45 light years from Earth. The crew's goal is to get the "New Settlers" safely to the Silver Sun and begin a colony there. Because of the 90 year length of the journey, the crew are mostly teenagers who will take over command of the Star Runner as the adults get older.

The ABC began showing "Silversun" on October 11, 2004 at 5:00pm daily as part of its "ABC Kids" lineup. The final episode of the first season was broadcast on December 3. So far there has been one season of forty episodes, each at twenty-two minutes. The program was originally aired on the Seven Network in two groups of twenty episodes, and then shown again without a mid-way break on the ABC.

The series was then later re-run, commencing on April 3rd 2005 at 8.35am to be shown every Sunday morning thereafter. The "cliff hanger" ending was shown on January 1st 2006. At present time, the ABC has no plans to create another series of the popular teen drama.

Cast

*Thomas Blackburne - "Tane Wilson"
*Angus McLaren- "Degenhardt Bell"
*Cleopatra Coleman - "Zandie Brokow"
*Ryan Corr - "Sheng Zammett"
*Karli Dinardo - "Cinnamon Everson"
*Cherise Donovan - "Leonella Reiss"
*Eloise Mignon - "Mara Lomax"
*Michelle Pettigrove - "Lillian Reiss"
*Orpheus Pledger - "Tycho Everson"
*Teague Rook - "Steve Everson"
*Jesse Spence - "Karen Everson"
*Jeremy Stanford - "Commander Aaron Cyriax"
* Sarah Walker - "Pancha McCaskill"

Regular Guest Stars

*Michael Harrison - "Cadet Julian Strega"

Trivia

Although some episodes in the first season were self-contained, a majority dealt with problems occurring on board the "Star Runner" based in plots that spanned a number of episodes. These included the illegal re-animation of the character Zandie by the rogue crewmember Degenhardt in the earlier episodes, the crew's encounter with a wormhole, the infection of Commander Cyriax by an alien parasite, his subsequent cure through the use of a harvest clone of him discovered in suspension among the settler pods, and the clone's accidental awakening to full consciousness. The final episode was the culmination of a number of episodes comprising one of the most intricate and suspenseful plots so far encountered in the series, ending in a cliffhanger presumably to be resolved in the next season.

Much of the programme revolves around the relationships and issues experienced by the young crew as part of the normal process of growing up. There are, however, some occasional interesting ideas of an ethical and/or science fictional nature presented in the show - such as the question of whether the commander's clone should be treated as human or not, the unique human problems encountered by a crew on a lifelong voyage to the stars, and an encounter with a pulsar whose pulse cycle is in phase with the brainwaves of the crewmember Pancha, to her detriment.

See also

* List of Australian television series

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/silversun/ The ABC's "Silversun" home page]
* [http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-26934/ "Silversun" entry at TVTome.com]