Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord

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Spellbinder:
Land of the Dragon Lord
Spellbinder; Land of the Dragon Lord 1997 Intertitle.png
Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord's intertitle
Genre Adventure, fantasy, science fiction
Created byMark Shirrefs
John Thomson
Directed byNoel Price
Starring Lauren Hewett
Anthony Wong
Ryan Kwanten
Leonard Fung
Heather Mitchell
Music byIan Davidson
Country of originAustralia
Poland
China
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producer Kris Noble
ProducersJanusz Czech
Denis Kiely
CinematographyDanny Batterham
EditorPippa Anderson
Running time24 minutes
Original release
Network Nine Network
Release1 September (1997-09-01) 
24 October 1997 (1997-10-24)
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.

Contents

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]

Plot

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.

Filming locations

Land of the Immortals

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.

Land of the Moloch

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.

Cast and characters

Kathy, Mek and Ashka in The Land of the Dragon Lord (book cover) Spellbinder-Dragon-Lord-1.jpg
Kathy, Mek and Ashka in The Land of the Dragon Lord (book cover)
Kathy and Automatons in The Land of Immortals (book cover) Spellbinder-Dragon-Lord-2.jpg
Kathy and Automatons in The Land of Immortals (book cover)

Main cast

Recurring cast

Episodes

No.
in series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"The Trans-Dimensional Bamboo Boat"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson1 September 1997 (1997-09-01)
2"Ashka"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson2 September 1997 (1997-09-02)
3"The Dragon Lord"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson3 September 1997 (1997-09-03)
4"Oracle"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson8 September 1997 (1997-09-08)
5"Marooned in a World of Monsters"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson9 September 1997 (1997-09-09)
6"Attack of the Thirty-Metre Warrior"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson10 September 1997 (1997-09-10)
7"Josh, the Water Spirit"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson15 September 1997 (1997-09-15)
8"Sun Becomes a Star"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson16 September 1997 (1997-09-16)
9"Designation Day"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson17 September 1997 (1997-09-17)
10"The Oracle is Dead"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson22 September 1997 (1997-09-22)
11"The Only Child in the World"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson23 September 1997 (1997-09-23)
12"Girl for Sale"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson24 September 1997 (1997-09-24)
13"To Live Forever"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson29 September 1997 (1997-09-29)
14"Barbarians at the Gate"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson30 September 1997 (1997-09-30)
15"The Best-Laid Plans..."Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson1 October 1997 (1997-10-01)
16"Graveyard of Machines"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson6 October 1997 (1997-10-06)
17"The Hunter and the Haunting"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson7 October 1997 (1997-10-07)
18"Stop the Moloch!"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson8 October 1997 (1997-10-08)
19"Escape from the Palace"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson13 October 1997 (1997-10-13)
20"Kathy Meets... Herself"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson14 October 1997 (1997-10-14)
21"The Doublecross"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson15 October 1997 (1997-10-15)
22"On The Trail"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson20 October 1997 (1997-10-20)
23"The Two Joshes"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson21 October 1997 (1997-10-21)
24"Who's Who?"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson22 October 1997 (1997-10-22)
25"The Disappearing Act"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson23 October 1997 (1997-10-23)
26"A Wedding Surprise"Noel PriceMark Shirrefs and John Thomson24 October 1997 (1997-10-24)

International showings

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)

DVD release

The DVD set was made available on Friday 4 May 2007, and contains the entire series over 4 discs.

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References

  1. "1997 Award Winners: TV programming and promotion". The New York Festivals. Archived from the original on 9 February 1998. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  2. The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 14, no. 1, February/March 1996: pp. 2, 20, 23, 37.
  3. "BoyzChannel and girlzChannel Lineups (2000)". 14 July 2011.
  4. "TV Schedule for Retro TV HD". TV Passport. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  5. RTÉ Guide, 3–9 January 1998 edition and subsequent dates
  6. "අප අමන්දානන්දයට පත්කළ තවත් විදෙස් මාලා නාටක කීපයක්". 18 September 2017.