Parallax (TV series)

Last updated

Parallax
Parralax01.jpg
Genre
Created byPaul Barron
Starring
Composers
  • Tim Count
  • Keith van Geyzel
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producers
ProducerPaul Barron
CinematographyPeter Falk
Running time25 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Nine Network
Release5 August (2004-08-05) 
10 September 2004 (2004-09-10)

Parallax is an Australian children's television series that screened on the Nine Network. It is a 26-episode series funded by the Film Finance Corporation Australia and supported by Lotterywest. The series was filmed in various locations around Perth. These include Kings Park, East Perth, and many beach and South West forest locations. [1]

Contents

The series is about a boy named Ben Johnson, who discovers a portal to multiple parallel universes, and explores them with his friends: Francis Short, Melinda Bruce, Una, Due, Tiffany and Mundi as well as newfound sister, Katherine Raddic.

Cast

Main cast

Guest cast

Significant objects and locations

Stave
A kind of baton that most Guardians possess. It has various functions including communication over different worlds to other stave holders, a radio, manipulation of electronic devices and most importantly, the ability to shoot lasers which kill Welkin and Krellicks
Orb
A smooth, white sphere. There is one orb for every world whether it be hidden or in possession of the resident Guardian. When not in its original world, if a person with full Guardian blood touches the orb, whatever happened in the world before the removal of the orb will play like a movie on its surface. When the orb is in its original world the person will be transported to the Reading Room thus the orb being its 'keys'. The orbs also act as a defence to the Welkin and Krellicks hiding the blood of a Guardian.
Reading Room
The central repository of all knowledge of the Parallax. It keeps records of all the bad and good times of the stories and creatures in the Parallax. Although it is not a control room. The weather can't be changed and an election can't be fixed. Also the central hub of all world transportation.
Golden Stave
Only comes into being when a normal stave is taken to the Reading Room. Able to control the "Wheel of Knowledge". Can also manipulate certain times and events to an extent.
Purple Water
The key to Betti's blandishment. Betti pours it into the water supply of a world. It reacts with a person who does not fit into the 17.65% personality average of that world and turns them into water vapour. For example if in Hippie World there is a businessman and he drank the purple water he would be blandished.
Francis Cam
The form of communication through the Parallax. This is started by Techno World Una and Hippie World Francis. It is a link between four worlds, Techno, Forest, Ben's and Hippie World. The Francises in each world each have a camera with the exception of Techno World which is patrolled by Una. The Francis Cam is used to report Betti sightings, Spy Boy etc.
Purple eyes
Betti and Spy Boy's alternate eye colour. Their eyes turn purple when they're not telling the truth or if they're getting angry. Its true purpose is not yet known.

Worlds

Main worlds

Ben's World
The red world, in which the series starts. Could be considered as the "normal" world. Links to Katherine's World through an old drain and Techno World through a chicken shed. When pushing different points on the parallax at the old drain characters can also travel to Forest and Desert Worlds. There is also a portal in Mr Dawes's shed that links to Garden World when the right combination is used (1-1-11).
Katherine's World
The blue world, where Ben finds a sister he never knew existed, as well as his biological father. A very formal and organised world with many strict laws. Links to Ben's World via two large rocks and Hippie World by going in between two bookcases at a library. When pushing points on the parallax at the two rocks you can travel to Forest World. There is also a portal on the nearby beach. It leads to the tent owned by Betti in Desert World.
Francis' Hippie World
The yellow world. This is a very 'mellow' world filled with Hippies, literally. The only known portal here is through an old Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi van located in front of the house of this world's Francis (A.K.A. The Werrinup Thief), which links to Katherine's World, and Forest World via the right combination.
Una's Techno World
The silver world, first thought to be a hi-tech rubbish tip. Everyone lives well and the world is very advanced in technology. The town's motto is "Tomorrow's technology, at yesterday's prices." The portal to get to Ben's World is located at the hi-tech rubbish tip. The other portal is located at an abandoned office building and becomes accessible when a password is typed onto a computer, links to Garden World.
Mundi's Forest World
The green world, Ben accidentally stumbles upon this world when he trips onto the Parallax symbol. A world that takes care of its environment, its Werrinup is built on towers above the forest floor to minimise human impact on the eco system. This world is infested by Krellicks and its people are protected through the height of their structures. The tree portal links to Ben's World, Katherine's World, or Techno World, though only when the right combination is hit on the symbol. The rock portal that links to Forest World is located outside of Mrs Dawes house on the forest floor. It is currently though guarded by the Krellicks and used as a nest.

Other worlds

Desert World
The orange world, a lifeless place of sand and stone. Ben's mother sends him to this world as a test. One portal is located over a rock mound and goes to Ben's World via the right combination on the Parallax (7-1). The other portal is at the corner of a tent owned by Betti. It links to Katherine's World. It's later discovered that Desert World is also Otto's original homeworld, before it was destroyed by Betti.
Garden World
The pink world, Betti shows Katherine this world as an example of her goal in the Parallax. This world is in its own way perfect, the people who did not fit in have been effectively blandished. One portal is located through a do not enter door, and links to Techno World. The other is at a forked tree and leads to Ben's World.
Bush World
The brown world, this is the world in which Otto, the lost guardian has escaped to. Only one portal is known. It is in the middle of a river and links to Forest World. The other portal was meant to be down the river.
Swamp World
Only seen briefly when Ben accidentally stumbles into this place via the Reading Room. No portals through this world are known.

Side Doors

There are portals known as Side Doors which are like normal portals but are for singular trips and once you go through it you cannot go through it the way you came out. Ben and Katherine noticed other portal lights when Ben pressed a button on the stave in the Reading Room. They then asked Mrs Dawes if she knew about Side Doors but she sent them to her brother, Mr Dawes. He told them about Side Doors and the condition if you use one. There is only one known Side Door which is Mr Dawes' shed and it links to a seat in Garden World.

Episodes

  1. One Big Happy Family
  2. A Rare Find
  3. The Artful Dodger
  4. Achey, Breaky Heart
  5. Lost in Paradise
  6. One Man's Rubbish
  7. Artes Veritas
  8. The Battle of Mundi's World
  9. The Big Sleep-Over
  10. The Martin Crimes
  11. The World According to Betti (writers: Paul D. Barron (creator), Lynn Bayonas [2] )
  12. The Curse of the Incredibly Bad News
  13. Decoy
  14. Too Many Chiefs
  15. Ex-Ben
  16. Dad Meets Dad
  17. The Krellick War
  18. The Reluctant Guardian
  19. Seek and You Shall Find
  20. Sand Witch
  21. My Favourite Martin
  22. Cheats Never Prosper
  23. Martinmania
  24. The Reading Room
  25. Clownin' Around
  26. It Ain't Over

Home media

Parallax: The Portal Opens, was released on 4 August 2005. It contains a condensed movie version, taking clips from the first 8 episodes. [3]

Related Research Articles

Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. The music often described with the term originally emerged in the early 1990s from the culture and sound palette of styles of electronic dance music such as acid house, ambient techno, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists in the style include Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog and the later duo Plaid, as well as earlier acts such as the Future Sound of London and Orbital.

Psychedelic trance, psytrance, or psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, darkpsy, forest, minimal (Zenonesque), hitech psy, progressive, suomi, psy-chill, psycore, psybient, psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres. Goa trance preceded psytrance; when digital media became more commonly used psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.

James Francis Cauty, also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo the KLF, co-founder of the Orb and as the man who burnt £1 million.

Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It was most prominently pioneered by the Orb and the KLF, along with artists such as Global Communication, Irresistible Force, Youth, and 808 State. The term was used vaguely, and eventually fell out of favor as more specific subgenres were recognized.

<i>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time</i> 2003 mystery novel by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.

<i>Spyro</i> Series of platform video games

Spyro is a platform game series originally created by Insomniac Games as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. The series features the adventures of the main protagonist of the title character, a dragon. Since the series' introduction in 1998, there have been numerous sequels and a reboot trilogy. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, later became known as Vivendi Games; the rights to the intellectual property were acquired by Activision after its merge with Vivendi in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Rayner</span> Fictional superhero

Kyle Rayner, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is depicted as being associated with the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which he has been a member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urnes Stave Church</span> Church building in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Urnes Stave Church is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parallax (character)</span> DC universe character

Parallax is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. It is the embodiment of the emotion of fear, and serves as the power source for the Sinestro Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Macy</span> American poet (born 1929)

Joanna Rogers Macy is an environmental activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is the author of twelve books.

ExitMundi.nl is a website with a collection of end of the world articles. The writing mixes scientific analyses and theories of apocalyptic scenarios with dark humour relating to the end of times. Theories presented cover a range of possible sources of human demise. The site is based in the Netherlands. Disease, nuclear war, asteroids, even fictional scenarios like zombies are laid out in detailed and thoroughly researched descriptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heaven (nightclub)</span> Gay club in London, England

Heaven is a gay superclub in Charing Cross, London, England. It has played a central role and had a major influence in the development of London's LGBT scene for over 40 years and is home to long-running gay night G-A-Y. The club is known for Paul Oakenfold's acid house events in the 1980s, the underground nightclub festival Megatripolis, and for being the birthplace of ambient house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Orb</span> European electronic music group

The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 1991 debut album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld pioneered the UK's nascent ambient house movement, while its UK chart-topping follow-up U.F.Orb represented the group's commercial peak.

<i>A Lizard in a Womans Skin</i> 1971 film by Lucio Fulci

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a 1971 giallo film co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci and produced by Edmondo Amati and Robert Dorfmann. It stars Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Monti, Anita Strindberg, Mike Kennedy, George Rigaud and Leo Genn. The film is an Italian-Spanish-French co-production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. G. Wells bibliography</span>

H. G. Wells was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His writing career spanned more than sixty years, and his early science fiction novels earned him the title of "The Father of Science Fiction".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House</span> House in Madison, Wisconsin

Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, commonly referred to as Jacobs I, is a single family home located at 441 Toepfer Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed in 1937 and is considered by most to be the first Usonian home. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. The house and seven other properties by Wright were inscribed on the World Heritage List under the title "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" in July 2019.

This is an index of Vatican City–related topics.

<i>Salvator Mundi</i> (Leonardo) Painting attributed in whole or part to Leonardo da Vinci

Salvator Mundi is a painting attributed in whole or part to the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated c. 1499–1510. Long thought to be a copy of a lost original veiled with overpainting, it was rediscovered, restored, and included in an exhibition of Leonardo's work at the National Gallery, London, in 2011–2012. Christie's, which sold the work in 2017, stated that most leading scholars consider it an original work by Leonardo, but this attribution has been disputed by other leading specialists, some of whom propose that he only contributed certain elements; others believe that the extensive restoration prevents a definitive attribution.

<i>Paulina Is Leaving</i> 1969 French film

Paulina is Leaving is a 1969 French drama film written and directed by André Téchiné, starring Bulle Ogier and Marie-France Pisier. It marked Téchiné's debut as a director. It remains Téchiné's less known film, since it was only very briefly released to theaters in 1975, six years after its premiered at the Venice Film Festival. It has neither rereleased nor ever transferred to video.

References

  1. "Parallax - Official Website". Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0917717/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_1 [ user-generated source ]
  3. "DVD Bits - Region 4 and Region 1 DVD news, reviews, resources, PC-DVD, hardware". Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007.