Look and Read: Through the Dragon's Eye
Through the Dragon's Eye is a unit of the BBC schools TV series Look and Read from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, covering Language and Reading for primary school pupils.
This page about the Look and Read story Through the Dragon's Eye is not yet finished.
But you can still read my old web pages about the story at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on this link:
Look and Read.myby.co.uk - Through the Dragon's Eye
Developing the trend of having more involved stories in Look and Read throughout the 80s, this series finally did away with Wordy, along with the whole concept of separate learning bits. Instead, we get almost the entire programme taken up with telling the story, with just one quick song in the middle.
The story itself was all-out fantasy, with three kids pulled into a mural they'd painted in their playground and asked to help save the dying land of Pelamar by retrieving the missing parts of its mysterious power source, the Veetacore. This involves a lot of trying to read difficult passages, and charging off round the neighbouring country of Widge, inhabited by the horrible furry little Widgets. The children are lead and helped by a flying dragon called Gorwen and a big talking mouse called Rodey (who inherited the arrogance and the voice - Charles Collingwood's - of Wordy). Until they succeed, Pelamar turns increasingly barren and its inhabitants just fade away to nothing. The situation is further complicated by the big baddie Charn, who wants to hijack the Veetacore for his own evil purposes.
The story, by the way, seems to owe a great deal to the Chronicles of Narnia: Gorwen is Aslan, obviously, and Charn was the name of that dead world that Digory and that girl rescued that woman from in The Magician's Nephew. Well I can't really remember much about the book, but that world was definitely called Charn. Also, notice the large number of former Look and Read cast members reunited here: Charles Collingwood, as mentioned above, plus Dark Towers and Fair Ground! narrator Sean Barrett doing Gorwen's voice, and David Collings in his third Look and Read role (following twin appearances in Dark Towers) as Charn.
Episodes
Quick episode list
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Dragon From Pelamar | 19 Sep 1989 |
| 2. | Flight to Widge | 26 Sep 1989 |
| 3. | The First Veeton | 3 Oct 1989 |
| 4. | Word Magic | 10 Oct 1989 |
| 5. | Clues in the Snow | 17 Oct 1989 |
| 6. | Jenny's Scarf | 31 Oct 1989 |
| 7. | The Waterfall of Words | 7 Nov 1989 |
| 8. | The Great Battle | 14 Nov 1989 |
| 9. | Danger on High! | 21 Nov 1989 |
| 10. | The Final Page | 28 Nov 1989 |
Episode descriptions from the Radio Times
| Num | Title | Broadcast | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Dragon From Pelamar | 19 Sep 1989 | |
| Jenny, Scott and Amanda mysteriously pass through a mural they've been painting and find themselves in the magical land of Pelamar. There, Gorwen the dragon has a momentous task for them. | |||
| 2. | Flight to Widge | 26 Sep 1989 | |
| Gorwen the dragon believes that the missing Veetons must have fallen beyond the mountains in the strange land of Widge. A search party is formed, and the quest begins to save the land of Pelamar from certain destruction. | |||
| 3. | The First Veeton | 3 Oct 1989 | |
| The problem with Widge is its inhabitants - the Widgets. These are mischievous little creatures who go out of their way to make life as difficult as possible for the search party as they begin their quest. | |||
| 4. | Word Magic | 10 Oct 1989 | |
| The Widgets have hidden the first Veeton inside a huge book tree. While Boris and Amanda go in search of the Veeton, Scott and the dragon Gorwen search for their missing friend Rodey. | |||
| 5. | Clues in the Snow | 17 Oct 1989 | |
| Doris is frightened, and too scared even to speak to Boris on the videophone. Charn, the evil one, has returned to Pelamar. | |||
| 6. | Jenny's Scarf | 31 Oct 1989 | |
| Amanda has rescued Boris's magic rucksack from the Widgets, but she finds herself lost in the snow. Jenny has persuaded Charn to let Morris knit her a special scarf. | |||
| 7. | The Waterfall of Words | 7 Nov 1989 | |
| 'No-one can face Charn and live. Only Gorwen has a chance... ' As Gorwen prepares for his challenge, word magic again comes to the aid of the search party. | |||
| 8. | The Great Battle | 14 Nov 1989 | |
| The dragon Gorwen has returned to Pelamar to do battle with the evil Charn. | |||
| 9. | Danger on High! | 21 Nov 1989 | |
| The veetarod has fallen down a deep chasm in the tunnel. Rocey bravely volunteers to rescue it - it's their only hope. | |||
| 10. | The Final Page | 28 Nov 1989 | |
| The search party are in a race against time to rescue the last Veeton and return it to save Pelamar and Gorwen, who has virtually faded away. | |||
Credits
| Starring | Sean Barrett as Gorwen (voice) David Collings as Charn |
| With | Peter Bonner Chris Burke Samantha Burroughs Willie Coppen Melanie Dixon Raymond Griffiths Peter Mandell Sandra Nicholson Kate Purvis and Nicky Reed as Widgets |
| Singers | Derek Griffiths Julie Stevens Jeremy Birchall |
| Written by | Christopher and Christine Russell |
| Music by | Roger Limb |
| Design | Kathy Atty Maggie Carroll |
| Reading consultant | Mary Hoffman |
| Assistant producers | Sophie Neville Di Millward |
| Producer | Sue Weeks |
| Film animation | Tomcat Animations |
| Graphic designer | Joanna Cheese |
| Background painting | Ray Rankine |
| Lighting cameraman | Bill Dudman |
| Videotape editor | Steve Knattress |
| Video effects | Dave Jervis |
| Visual effects designer | Mike Ellis |
| Camera operator | Chris Kochanowicz |
| Sound | Ron Keightley Brian Clark |
| Costume designer | Andrew Rose |
| Make-up designer | Martha Livesley |
| Production unit manager | Chris D'Oyly-John |
| Assistant floor manager | Charles Whaley |
| Production assistants | Louise E. Kobrak Jane Sprague |
Broadcasts
Here is a list of all of the broadcasts of this story on the BBC. Unless your teachers managed to get the video recorder to work, this is when you would have seen it in school. See the Schedules section for precise dates and times.
- Summer 2002, CBBC
- Autumn 2002, CBBC
- Summer 2003, CBBC
- Spring 2004, CBBC
- Summer 2005, CBBC
- Spring 2006, CBBC
- Spring 2007, CBBC
- Spring 2008, CBBC
Links
- BBC Programmes page for Through the Dragon's Eye
- Through the Dragon's Eye on the Internet Movie Database
- British Film Institute Collections for Through the Dragon's Eye
- Through the Dragon's Eye on Wikipedia
- Extract from the story book
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