Dark Season
Encyclopedia
Dark Season is a British
science-fiction television
serial
for adolescents, screened on BBC1
in late 1991. Comprising six twenty-five minute episodes, the two linked three-part stories tell the adventures of three teenagers and their battle to save their school and their classmates from the actions of the sinister Mr Eldritch. It was the first television drama to be written by Russell T Davies, and is also noteworthy for co-starring a young Kate Winslet
in her first major television role.
, running the summertime activity show Why Don't You?
He had gained some television writing experience scripting the comedy dubbed version of The Flashing Blade
for the On the Waterfront Saturday morning children's programme in 1989 and the children's sketch show Breakfast Serials the following year, but his real ambition was to write television drama.
To this end, he wrote an on-spec script
for the first episode of Dark Season - originally titled The Adventuresome Three - and used the BBC's internal mail system to send it directly to the Head of Children's Programmes, Anna Home. Impressed with the script, Home asked Davies to write the second episode, and when Tony Robinson
decided to take a break from producing Maid Marian and Her Merry Men
, a slot opened up in the Children's BBC schedules for late 1991 and Home decided to use Dark Season to fill it, commissioning Davies to write the remaining episodes of the serial. The series was filmed in and around Mytchett in Surrey, including the long-closed Robert Haining Secondary School, in the summer of 1991. Studio material was shot at the BBC's Ealing Studios
.
Transmitted at 4.35pm on Thursdays from 14 November to 19 December 1991, each episode would be repeated the Sunday morning following first broadcast. Viewing figures varied from 3.6 to 4.2 million per episode. Davies also penned a novelisation of Dark Season for BBC Books
, which was released concurrently with the transmission of the serial and was advertised after each episode. He would later go on to write a second children's science-fiction serial for the BBC, Century Falls
, in 1993, before forging a long and successful career in adult television drama. Dark Season was re-shown on BBC One in 1994, and in 2002 was also repeated on the CBBC Channel
on digital television
, cropped to 14:9
widescreen
with the loss of the top and bottom sections of the original picture.
Dark Season was released on DVD
by 2|entertain Ltd on 24 July 2006. Upon this release, it received a British Board of Film Classification
rating of PG.
With the reluctant help of their teacher Miss Maitland they apparently defeat the threat of Eldritch, who disappears. However, the second three episodes tell of the actions of Miss Pendragon, who works for Eldritch and is attempting to revive the massive, secret Behemoth computer from its long-hidden location beneath the school.
At the end of the BBC novelisation, there are indications that Davies had ideas or interest in a potential third adventure using the same characters. A single paragraph describing the opening of an amusement arcade concludes with "...but that's another story."
. The episodes were merely numbered, all sharing a gradually-revealed common plot. To a degree, the six episodes may be divided into two stories of three episodes each. The apparent conclusion of the first story at episode 3 seemed so complete to BBC executives that they were, according to Davies, "a bit shocked". This, in part, stemmed from the fact that he had not sold the programme to them as two three-part stories—"in case they told me not to do it!". Nevertheless, by the conclusion of episode 6, it becomes apparent to the viewer that all six episodes tell a conjoined story of Marcie's opposition to Mr. Eldritch, though split across two seemingly unrelated tales. Both incidents occur at least in the same school year, but perhaps over an even shorter period of time.
, which Russell T Davies revived in 2005. Most notably, Marcie occupies a similar narrative space to the Doctor
, with Reet and Thomas as her companions. Nevertheless, this broad structural similarity to Doctor Who has been categorically denied by Russell T Davies as intentional. Davies has claimed that the only direct reference to so-called "classic" Doctor Who is a scene in which Reet uses a yo-yo
to test gravity.
Nevertheless, elements from this production have been seen in Doctor Who fiction which post-dates Dark Season.
The earliest reference was a direct mention of Marcie in Davies' 1996 Doctor Who – The New Adventures
novel Damaged Goods
. Later, when Doctor Who was again being produced on television, Davies trapped Rose Tyler
behind a door that refused to open In "The End of the World
" — just as he had done with Reet in Episode Six of Dark Season. When challenged by their rescuers not to go anywhere, both characters offered the same response: "Where am I gonna go, Ipswich?". Dark Season would again be recalled in 2006, when the similarity between the setting of Dark Season and the 2006 episode "School Reunion
" received frequent attention. Though Davies did not write the script for "School Reunion", he requested its relocation from an army base to a school, evocative of Dark Season.
By far the strongest links between the serials are found in Davies' 2008 Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", which recycles elements of the 'Behemoth' in the 'CyberKing'. In both "Dark Season" and "The Next Doctor", the lead female villains are tricked into enthronement & entrapment inside a monster of their own making, which they accept as their destiny, but this leads to their downfall.
, who had a long and highly esteemed reputation in producing BBC children's programmes, having for many years produced the popular school-based teen drama Grange Hill throughout the 1980s and directed classic children's serials such as Moondial
(1988).
The three stars were 19 year old Victoria Lambert as the 13 year old Marcie, Ben Chandler as Tom and Kate Winslet
, in her first major professional acting role, as Reet. There were several supporting actors who were well-known names on British television: Miss Maitland was played by Brigit Forsyth
who had starred in the popular sitcom Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
in the 1970s, and Miss Pendragon was played by Jacqueline Pearce
, who was well known for her role as the villainous Servalan
in the late 1970s / early 80s BBC science-fiction series Blake's 7
, and known by Cant from working with her on the serial Moondial
. According to an interview with SFX magazine
, Davies said that Pearce was delighted that her character was supposed to be a lesbian, but refused to dye her hair, hence the turban.
.
Television Heaven's review concluded by saying, "By turns amusing, aware, suspenseful, exciting and imaginative, 'Dark Season' stands as an almost criminally overlooked example of children's genre television of the highest quality, and also as an early indication of a future major creative talent in the form of Russell T Davies taking his first steps on the long and winding creative road to a glittering future."
Head writer of series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Gareth Roberts
, found career inspiration in Dark Season. He has said that Dark Season "was exactly what I wanted to do at the time—write a cracking kids' sci-fi show."
Not all modern reviews have been quite so glowing, however. When the opinions of average viewers were solicited by the BBC for their Cult website, a respondent named "Dan" summed up the panel by saying, "All in all a bit of a mixed bag". Viewers cited general enthusiasm for the acting of the regular child actors, and praised the presence of generally strong ideas, but were disappointed by some of the adult actors. Jacqueline Pearce was a particularly divisive influence for the group, with one describing her as someone he "can watch open an envelope", another taking "guilty pleasure" at her "high camp", and the third failing to "see the point of Jacqueline Pearce".
Likewise, DVD Times called it "an enjoyable story", but also criticized the split of the plot into two halves as "clumsy". It further bemoaned a "tendency towards handwaving and gobbledygook to resolve the plot(s)".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science-fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
for adolescents, screened on BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in late 1991. Comprising six twenty-five minute episodes, the two linked three-part stories tell the adventures of three teenagers and their battle to save their school and their classmates from the actions of the sinister Mr Eldritch. It was the first television drama to be written by Russell T Davies, and is also noteworthy for co-starring a young Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
in her first major television role.
Background
Russell T Davies was a BBC staff Producer working for the children's department at BBC ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, running the summertime activity show Why Don't You?
Why Don't You?
Why Don't You? or Why Don't You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go Out and Do Something Less Boring Instead? was a cult BBC children's television series broadcast in 42 series between 20 August 1973 and 21 April 1995. It went out on weekday mornings during the school holidays...
He had gained some television writing experience scripting the comedy dubbed version of The Flashing Blade
The Flashing Blade
The Flashing Blade is a French television serial made in the late 1960s, which was broadcast in the UK on BBC children's television during the 1960s, with several re-runs in the 1970s....
for the On the Waterfront Saturday morning children's programme in 1989 and the children's sketch show Breakfast Serials the following year, but his real ambition was to write television drama.
To this end, he wrote an on-spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
for the first episode of Dark Season - originally titled The Adventuresome Three - and used the BBC's internal mail system to send it directly to the Head of Children's Programmes, Anna Home. Impressed with the script, Home asked Davies to write the second episode, and when Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
decided to take a break from producing Maid Marian and Her Merry Men
Maid Marian and her Merry Men
Maid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994...
, a slot opened up in the Children's BBC schedules for late 1991 and Home decided to use Dark Season to fill it, commissioning Davies to write the remaining episodes of the serial. The series was filmed in and around Mytchett in Surrey, including the long-closed Robert Haining Secondary School, in the summer of 1991. Studio material was shot at the BBC's Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
.
Transmitted at 4.35pm on Thursdays from 14 November to 19 December 1991, each episode would be repeated the Sunday morning following first broadcast. Viewing figures varied from 3.6 to 4.2 million per episode. Davies also penned a novelisation of Dark Season for BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, which was released concurrently with the transmission of the serial and was advertised after each episode. He would later go on to write a second children's science-fiction serial for the BBC, Century Falls
Century Falls
Century Falls is a British cross-genre series broadcast in six twenty-five minute episodes on BBC One in early 1993. Written by Russell T Davies, it tells the story of teenager Tess Hunter and her mother, who move to the seemingly idyllic rural village of Century Falls, only to find that it hides...
, in 1993, before forging a long and successful career in adult television drama. Dark Season was re-shown on BBC One in 1994, and in 2002 was also repeated on the CBBC Channel
CBBC Channel
CBBC is a BBC television channel aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. Launched on 11 February 2002, it broadcasts from 7am to 7pm on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite, occupying the same bandwidth as, but a different...
on digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
, cropped to 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
with the loss of the top and bottom sections of the original picture.
Dark Season was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by 2|entertain Ltd on 24 July 2006. Upon this release, it received a British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
rating of PG.
Plot
The first three episodes begin with Third Year secondary school girl Marcie and her two Fifth Year friends Tom and Reet becoming suspicious of the sinister Mr Eldritch, whose computer company arrives at the school and distributes free computers to all the pupils.With the reluctant help of their teacher Miss Maitland they apparently defeat the threat of Eldritch, who disappears. However, the second three episodes tell of the actions of Miss Pendragon, who works for Eldritch and is attempting to revive the massive, secret Behemoth computer from its long-hidden location beneath the school.
At the end of the BBC novelisation, there are indications that Davies had ideas or interest in a potential third adventure using the same characters. A single paragraph describing the opening of an amusement arcade concludes with "...but that's another story."
Structure
The programme is a defining example of the British television serialSerial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
. The episodes were merely numbered, all sharing a gradually-revealed common plot. To a degree, the six episodes may be divided into two stories of three episodes each. The apparent conclusion of the first story at episode 3 seemed so complete to BBC executives that they were, according to Davies, "a bit shocked". This, in part, stemmed from the fact that he had not sold the programme to them as two three-part stories—"in case they told me not to do it!". Nevertheless, by the conclusion of episode 6, it becomes apparent to the viewer that all six episodes tell a conjoined story of Marcie's opposition to Mr. Eldritch, though split across two seemingly unrelated tales. Both incidents occur at least in the same school year, but perhaps over an even shorter period of time.
Commonality with Doctor Who
Dark Season contained some similarity to Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, which Russell T Davies revived in 2005. Most notably, Marcie occupies a similar narrative space to the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
, with Reet and Thomas as her companions. Nevertheless, this broad structural similarity to Doctor Who has been categorically denied by Russell T Davies as intentional. Davies has claimed that the only direct reference to so-called "classic" Doctor Who is a scene in which Reet uses a yo-yo
Yo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
to test gravity.
Nevertheless, elements from this production have been seen in Doctor Who fiction which post-dates Dark Season.
The earliest reference was a direct mention of Marcie in Davies' 1996 Doctor Who – The New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel Damaged Goods
Damaged Goods
Damaged Goods is an original Doctor Who novel, released by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who books in 1996...
. Later, when Doctor Who was again being produced on television, Davies trapped Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
behind a door that refused to open In "The End of the World
The End of the World (Doctor Who)
"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
" — just as he had done with Reet in Episode Six of Dark Season. When challenged by their rescuers not to go anywhere, both characters offered the same response: "Where am I gonna go, Ipswich?". Dark Season would again be recalled in 2006, when the similarity between the setting of Dark Season and the 2006 episode "School Reunion
School Reunion (Doctor Who)
"School Reunion" is the third episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It first aired on 29 April 2006. The episode's narrative takes place some time after the events of "The Christmas Invasion"...
" received frequent attention. Though Davies did not write the script for "School Reunion", he requested its relocation from an army base to a school, evocative of Dark Season.
By far the strongest links between the serials are found in Davies' 2008 Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", which recycles elements of the 'Behemoth' in the 'CyberKing'. In both "Dark Season" and "The Next Doctor", the lead female villains are tricked into enthronement & entrapment inside a monster of their own making, which they accept as their destiny, but this leads to their downfall.
Cast and crew
The director assigned to Dark Season was Colin CantColin Cant
Colin Cant is a British television producer and director, best known for his work in the children's department of BBC Television. Within that department, he was for many years involved as both a director and producer of the long-running children's drama series Grange Hill, and also directed...
, who had a long and highly esteemed reputation in producing BBC children's programmes, having for many years produced the popular school-based teen drama Grange Hill throughout the 1980s and directed classic children's serials such as Moondial
Moondial (TV serial)
Moondial is a British television serial made for children by the BBC and transmitted in 1988, with a repeat in 1990. It was written by Helen Cresswell, who also wrote the novel on which the series was based....
(1988).
The three stars were 19 year old Victoria Lambert as the 13 year old Marcie, Ben Chandler as Tom and Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
, in her first major professional acting role, as Reet. There were several supporting actors who were well-known names on British television: Miss Maitland was played by Brigit Forsyth
Brigit Forsyth
Brigit Forsyth is a British actress, who is best known for her roles as Thelma Ferris in the BBC comedy Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Helen Yeldham in the hit ITV drama/modern-day western Boon....
who had starred in the popular sitcom Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a 1970s British sitcom broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It is the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais...
in the 1970s, and Miss Pendragon was played by Jacqueline Pearce
Jacqueline Pearce
Jacqueline Pearce is a British actress.-Career:Jacqueline Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA and at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in Los Angeles....
, who was well known for her role as the villainous Servalan
Servalan
Servalan is a fictional character in the BBC science fiction television series Blake's 7, played by Jacqueline Pearce . She was the principal villain of the series...
in the late 1970s / early 80s BBC science-fiction series Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
, and known by Cant from working with her on the serial Moondial
Moondial (TV serial)
Moondial is a British television serial made for children by the BBC and transmitted in 1988, with a repeat in 1990. It was written by Helen Cresswell, who also wrote the novel on which the series was based....
. According to an interview with SFX magazine
SFX magazine
SFX is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy.-Description:SFX magazine is published every four weeks by Future Publishing and was founded in 1995. The magazine covers topics in the genres of popular science fiction, fantasy and horror, within the media of films,...
, Davies said that Pearce was delighted that her character was supposed to be a lesbian, but refused to dye her hair, hence the turban.
Reception
The show has received increased critical attention following both its release on DVD and Davies' announcement of his new programme aimed at the same target audience, The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
.
Television Heaven's review concluded by saying, "By turns amusing, aware, suspenseful, exciting and imaginative, 'Dark Season' stands as an almost criminally overlooked example of children's genre television of the highest quality, and also as an early indication of a future major creative talent in the form of Russell T Davies taking his first steps on the long and winding creative road to a glittering future."
Head writer of series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Gareth Roberts
Gareth Roberts (writer)
Gareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
, found career inspiration in Dark Season. He has said that Dark Season "was exactly what I wanted to do at the time—write a cracking kids' sci-fi show."
Not all modern reviews have been quite so glowing, however. When the opinions of average viewers were solicited by the BBC for their Cult website, a respondent named "Dan" summed up the panel by saying, "All in all a bit of a mixed bag". Viewers cited general enthusiasm for the acting of the regular child actors, and praised the presence of generally strong ideas, but were disappointed by some of the adult actors. Jacqueline Pearce was a particularly divisive influence for the group, with one describing her as someone he "can watch open an envelope", another taking "guilty pleasure" at her "high camp", and the third failing to "see the point of Jacqueline Pearce".
Likewise, DVD Times called it "an enjoyable story", but also criticized the split of the plot into two halves as "clumsy". It further bemoaned a "tendency towards handwaving and gobbledygook to resolve the plot(s)".
External links
- Dark Season at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- CenturyFalls.co.uk - Fan site detailing Dark Season and Century Falls