Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord | |
---|---|
Genre | Adventure, fantasy, science fiction |
Created by | Mark Shirrefs John Thomson |
Directed by | Noel Price |
Starring | Lauren Hewett Anthony Wong Ryan Kwanten Leonard Fung Heather Mitchell |
Music by | Ian Davidson |
Country of origin | Australia Poland China |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Kris Noble |
Producers | Janusz Czech Denis Kiely |
Cinematography | Danny Batterham |
Editor | Pippa Anderson |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Nine Network |
Release | 1 September – 24 October 1997 |
Related | |
Spellbinder |
Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord is a fantasy adventure /science fiction television series, and a sequel to Spellbinder . Both series deal with travelling between parallel universes. It was also novelised by the creators, Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson.
The series was filmed on location in Australia ("Kathy's world" and another parallel world similar to hers), China ("Sun's world") and Poland ("Ashka's world", as well as two other parallel universes). The show was a joint production between studios in the three countries, although the script and concept came from Australia, and the spoken language is English.
The series is fast-paced and there are usually new challenges for the characters in each episode, which are solved through cleverness and wits. As with most children's shows, most of the adventure is headed by children (Kathy is in her middle-teens), although Ashka, Kathy's parents, and the scientist Mek are adults.
In 1997, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord represented Australia in the finals of The New York Festivals international television programming and promotion competition in the Children's Programs (Ages 7–12) category. [1]
When Kathy decides to explore an unusual boat that she discovers next to a lake, she is accidentally pulled from her home in Australia into a parallel universe. The new world she finds herself in is populated by ethnic Chinese, who possess advanced technology, including a talking computer called the "Oracle" that runs the empire.
Kathy spends most of her time trying to evade dangerous people in different parallel worlds, return to her own world, and reunite with her family. She is further antagonised by Ashka, a cunning and manipulative woman who has escaped from prison in her own world (for her crimes in the first series) and who seeks to gain advantage for herself.
The series also depicts a journey Sun takes to Kathy's world, where he is no longer protected by his empire, and people do not respect his authority.
Filmed in Poland, most of it in Nieborów, with the Arkadia palace serving as Lem's and Guin's residence, and the Temple of Diana in the palace's park as the Doctor Elvo's home. The scenes in which Kathy is being taken to school were filmed in the Old Town of Warsaw and Łazienki Park.
Parts of the series were shot on location in Poland, with the Wieliczka Salt Mine used for underground locations, while the village and the scrap yard were filmed near Kraków.
No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Trans-Dimensional Bamboo Boat" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 1 September 1997 |
2 | "Ashka" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 2 September 1997 |
3 | "The Dragon Lord" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 3 September 1997 |
4 | "Oracle" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 8 September 1997 |
5 | "Marooned in a World of Monsters" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 9 September 1997 |
6 | "Attack of the Thirty-Metre Warrior" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 10 September 1997 |
7 | "Josh, the Water Spirit" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 15 September 1997 |
8 | "Sun Becomes a Star" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 16 September 1997 |
9 | "Designation Day" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 17 September 1997 |
10 | "The Oracle is Dead" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 22 September 1997 |
11 | "The Only Child in the World" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 23 September 1997 |
12 | "Girl for Sale" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 24 September 1997 |
13 | "To Live Forever" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 29 September 1997 |
14 | "Barbarians at the Gate" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 30 September 1997 |
15 | "The Best-Laid Plans..." | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 1 October 1997 |
16 | "Graveyard of Machines" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 6 October 1997 |
17 | "The Hunter and the Haunting" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 7 October 1997 |
18 | "Stop the Moloch!" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 8 October 1997 |
19 | "Escape from the Palace" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 13 October 1997 |
20 | "Kathy Meets... Herself" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 14 October 1997 |
21 | "The Doublecross" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 15 October 1997 |
22 | "On The Trail" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 20 October 1997 |
23 | "The Two Joshes" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 21 October 1997 |
24 | "Who's Who?" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 22 October 1997 |
25 | "The Disappearing Act" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 23 October 1997 |
26 | "A Wedding Surprise" | Noel Price | Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson | 24 October 1997 |
The original Spellbinder series was first shown in the US in 1996 on The Disney Channel, [2] joining with an earlier Australian science fiction series called Ocean Girl . However, after 1997 The Disney Channel decided not to get the 2nd season, as well as renewing Ocean Girl (which Disney helped finance OG seasons 2 and 3). However, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord was picked up by the FOX Family Channel and the series started airing on 15 August 1998 with the channel's launch. FOX Family Channel cancelled the show shortly afterward. Although FOX Family Channel had said that they would show all the episodes later on, they never did. However, its spin-off network girlzChannel resumed the series when it launched in October 1999, running the series until May 2000. [3] In 2019 Retro Television began airing the complete series [4]
It was shown on satellite and cable channel The Children's Channel in the United Kingdom and terrestrially in Ireland on RTÉ Two in 1998. [5]
It was shown in Sri Lanka by the state-owned Rupavahini with Sinhala sub-titles and under the name "මායා බන්ධන", [6] which is the literal translation of "Spellbinder". It became an instant hit among the kids and teens and is still cherished by many in nostalgia.
The series was also aired in Bangladesh by Bangladesh Television.
The series started in Russia in 1998. Different channels were showing Spellbinder 1 and 2 several times.
In France and Mauritius, it was aired as "Les Maîtres des Sortilèges" (The masters of spells)
The DVD set was made available on Friday 4 May 2007, and contains the entire series over 4 discs.
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