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About the only growth area in science-fiction and fantasy
series in the late eighties and early nineties seemed to be in children's
programming. There were half-a-dozen or more, while the adults had Red
Dwarf, and not much else. This sorry showing, made in 1991, was a
futuristic drama, set after the collapse of civilisation, where pockets of
humanity have formed isolated communities that live in fear of outsiders.
It's easy to see why; the first outsider to make it intact onto a
particular community's island rambles on about finding the last Olympic
torch. The remainder of the story concerned the outsider, an old man, and
his wish to pass on the 'treasure' before he died. The children he speaks
to are bound to a promise to achieve this, and they set out to find the
torch.
The BBC sold it to the public solely on its star cast of
Judi Dench, husband Michael Williams, and their daughter Finty Williams.
It was an understandable move, because there wasn't much else to sell it
on. Although listed as a Children's Foundation Production, it was in
reality a co-production between Edinburgh Film & Video Productions,
Ceskoslovenská Televize, Televizija Slovenija, and The Missing Piece,
with ET2, ETB, TVG, TVAM, TV3, BSB, BBC, and filmed entirely on location
in Greece and Yugoslavia - a case of too many cooks...the result is a
soggy stew.
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Based on a novel by Jill Paton Walsh
Adapted by William Corlett
Director/Producer: Robin Crichton
Music: John Moore
A Children's Film and TV Foundation
Production for BBCtv
6 colour 30-minute episodes
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The Guardian
The Nikathlon
The Poseidon
The Raft
The Slave State
The End Of The World
24th April - 29th May 1992
(BBC1)
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