Penny on M.A.R.S. is an Italian teen dramedy television series that premiered on Disney Channel in Italy on 7 May 2018.[1] The series is a spin-off of the Italian series Alex & Co. The series is commissioned by 3Zero2 in cooperation with The Walt Disney Company Italy. The series premiered on 4 June 2018, on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom.[2] In April 2018, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on 18 February 2019.[3] The show's third and final season premiered on 17 February 2020, also in the United Kingdom.[citation needed]
Penny passes the auditions to enter the M.A.R.S. high school, one of the most exclusive performing arts schools in the world. The M.A.R.S. has strict rules and is very competitive, and Penny and her schoolmates have to pass a daily test. Penny has enrolled with a fake name to hide her identity as the daughter of Bakìa, a popular singer of the time, to acquire esteem in her own right separate from her mother's. Bakìa had previously enrolled her daughter in a boarding school in Switzerland so that she could have a "normal" childhood and not hinder her career.
The only one at the M.A.R.S. who knows her real identity is Camilla, Penny's best friend. Sharing a sister-like relationship until they fall for the same boy, Penny will also have to solve the mystery of who her father is.
↑ Mike Weber is played by Luke Walsh in Seasons 1 and 3, and by Damien Walsh in Season 2. Damien Walsh also plays Nick Weber in the first two seasons.
↑ Credited as Alton Terry in Season 1, Yonv Joseph in Seasons 2 and 3.
Production
In April 2017, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company Italy planned to produce an English language spin-off from the successful series Alex & Co.[4] The start of shooting for the 17-part first season was planned for Autumn 2017. Penny on M.A.R.S. was produced in English instead of Italian because it was believed that the series could be sold better internationally. The characters Penny, Camilla, Bakìa and Freddy Wolf from Penny on M.A.R.S. had performances in the special episodes (the last episodes) of Alex & Co., in which the spin-off series was introduced. On 29 June 2017, the spin-off series after the last episode of Alex & Co. was officially announced in a teaser, thereby also announcing the title Penny on M.A.R.S..[5]
The first table read for the first season was on 20 September 2017.[6] Shooting for the first season began on 28 September 2017, and ended on 15 December 2017.[7] The shooting took place in Milan and the surrounding area.[8] The backdrop of the Music Arts Reiner School (short M.A.R.S.) is the building of the design department of the Bovisa's headquarters of the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Soundtrack
The first album from the series was released on 4 May 2016, in Italy. It contains the following list of songs:[9]
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
1.
"We Are the M.A.R.S." (Olivia-Mai Barrett & Ryan Dean)
Giordano Cremona
Federico Mercuri
Marco Sissa
Colin Paul Buffet
3:00
2.
"Rain and Shine" (Olivia-Mai Barrett & Shannon Gaskin)
Federica Camba
Daniele Coro
Enrico Sibilla
3:14
3.
"Nobody's Perfect" (Merissa Porter)
Gaetano Cappa
3:16
4.
"Never Doubt I Love" (Olivia-Mai Barrett & Finlay MacMillan)
Abigail Hercules
David Roper
Richard Taylor
3:40
5.
"So Sure" (Olivia-Mai Barrett & Finlay MacMillan)
Steve Rushton
Tim Woodcock
3:24
6.
"Rain and Shine - Ci sarò, ci sarai" (Federica Carta & Olivia-Mai Barrett)
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