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Live action series from Australia seemed to be pretty
thick on the ground in the early 1990s. This particular offering was a
high-tech affair centred on the moons of the Jupiter system. It contained
glossy, faultless special effects, and space scenes that, because they
were manufactured on computer, were smooth, colourful, and ambitious,
marred only by cheap-sounding synthesizer music that threatened to swamp
the action.
Escape From Jupiter concerned a small colony of
humans on the moon of Io. Michael has never been to Earth - he was born in
space, and has spent most of his time on Io, where his father works for a
mining company. Kumiko is a computer genius, is the same age as Michael,
and her goal in life is to become a scientist. After one of Io's frequent
and destructive volcanoes erupts, destroying the mining colony, a group of
five children and their parents, including Michael and Kumiko, decide that
their only hope of survival is to head back to Earth in the only method of
transport available to them - derelict space station KL5. They convert it
into a makeshift spacecraft and start off on their desperate attempt at
escape, an attempt which is fraught with danger and seems unlikely to
succeed. But it's the only chance they have.
The thirteen-part series, made in 1994, received its
world premiere on the satellite station The Family Channel in 1994, not
even being shown in its country of origin until the following October,
before coming to the BBC's children's schedules in mid-1995.
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Written by: David Ogilvy and
John Patterson
Executive Producers: Kagari Tajima
and Ron Saunders
Producer: Terry Jennings
Director: Kate Woods
Music: Ian Davidson
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A Film Australia Pty Ltd/NHK Production in
association with the Australian Film Finance Corp Pty Ltd & Australian
Broadcasting Corporation
11th May - 3rd August 1995
13 colour 25-minute episodes
(BBC1)
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