The Dreamstone

Principal characters

Land of Dreams

• The Dream Maker : Wise, kind and very old. He always wears blue gloves. We don't often see his feet because he floats six inches off the ground instead of walking claiming it's "less tiring for the feet". He carries the responsibility of creating and sending dreams to the whole world. In early episodes, the Dream Maker was something of a more frail and befuddled eccentric, though his personality alters into a more strait-laced and dignified authority figure later on.
• Albert : The Dream Maker's pet dogfish. The story goes that the Dream Maker saw Albert in a dream, and liked him so much he decided to make him real. Albert swims in air rather than water and his personality is that of a loyal dog. Albert later became the mascot/logo for Martin Gates' production company.
• Rufus : A Noop who enjoys dreaming so much that he has vivid daydreams, which means he has trouble holding a job. After being fired from the waxworks in the first episode, Amberley suggests Rufus applies to be the Dream Maker's assistant, as he is perfectly qualified for it because of his constant daydreaming. Though Rufus lets his mind wander sometimes, and has a tendency to play around with things he shouldn't, he has a hidden creative mindset inside his spacey demeanor. Rufus is the main protagonist of the series, and more often than not saves the day, via bravery, resourcefulness or sheer dumb luck.
• Amberley : Rufus's best friend, Amberley is practical and resourceful and generally more lucid and responsible than Rufus. She is good at climbing drain pipes, jumping out of windows and is an ace leaf-flier. Her level headedness is sometimes clouded by her short temper however, which sometimes leads to her rushing into situations and getting captured. She was named after Amberley, West Sussex, a village creator Mike Jupp used to visit regularly.
• Pildit : The leader of the Wuts and The Dream Maker's most trusted ally, he is often called upon to defend the Land of Dreams from Zordrak's forces. He and the Dream Maker are old friends and often help support each other. It is Pildit that teaches Rufus and Amberley how to use the special leaves the Wuts use to fly. Pildit is rather mellow and deadpan in terms of personality, a stark contrast to his grandmother.
• Wildit : Pildit's grandmother. Hearty, fearless - the leader of The Wut Flying Squadron, she is as handy in a fight as her grandson. She has something of a crush on the Dream Maker. She is quite an eccentric character and tends to act younger than her years. Though when trouble comes she is just as good at planning as she is at having fun. She also goes in for aerobatics.
• Spildit : Wildit's niece. A hyperactive and very talkative little female Wut who is prone to getting herself in trouble. She has something of a more friendly rivalry with the Urpneys, often taking pity on them during their less antagonistic moments or even obliviously assisting with their schemes.
• Mr Blossom : The Dream Maker's gardener, is an elderly Wut for whom the garden takes precedence over everything, including the Dreamstone being stolen and the end of the world. He works hard and complains constantly, often due to acting as collateral damage to the ongoing feud. He has a very squeaky wheelbarrow.
• Wottles: The Wottles look very similar to Wuts, only they are much smaller and cuter and have furry chests. Their job is to look after the Dream Bottle trees from underground to make sure they are healthy. Two Wottles who often join Rufus and Amberley in their adventures are called "Hat" and "Egg".
• Planet Dreamstone : The planet itself seems to be a sentient being, able to talk to other characters. It speaks with a gentle, female voice, and is also a figure of authority in the Council of Dreammakers. Being the source of power for all Dreamstones in the universe, the planet is very powerful, and actually fights with Zordrak in "Megattack".

  Land of Nightmares

• Zordrak : The Lord of Nightmares and the principal antagonist of the series. He resembles a large dragon, and is characterized by a deep, demonic voice. He stands at least a hundred feet high, and spends much of his time sitting on his throne dispensing punishment to wayward Urpneys. Zordrak was once a Dream Maker himself. He was ejected from the council for corrupting dreams into nightmares, when the council ejected him he transformed himself into his current form and landed in Viltheed where he remains vowing vengeance on the Dream Maker. His fearsome appearance is a sharp contrast with the simple cartoon-like style of his Urpney henchmen. While not physically disabled, he very rarely moves from his throne, and can transform into a mist/apparition in order to leave Viltheed in which he only did in two episodes, "The Knitted Balloon" and "Spildit". While playing a palpable role in Season One, concocting plans or even taking direct involvement, his role slightly diminishes in later seasons in favor of the Urpneys playing the main antagonists. His initial motive for stealing the stone is so he could freely send nightmares to the Sleeping World, but in "A Day Out" he reveals his intention to use its powers to make himself Lord of the Universe. In Mike Jupp's original draft of the story, Zordrak was known as "Nasta Shelfim", which was an anagram for "Satan himself", the character was changed to Zordrak due to the original name being too dark.
• Urpgor, Colin Marsh : The chief Urpney scientist. For reasons that are never explained, he has green skin, pink mohican-style hair and orange eyebrows. He habitually wears a white lab coat and three pairs of glasses on the end of his nose. In the fine tradition of cartoon scientists he is also completely mad and is often seen insanely bounding around, having fallen in love with his latest invention. Publicly hates the other Urpneys, and secretly covets Zordrak's throne. He is prone to make weird noises and expressions as he talks. On the whole his inventions always work but are often let down by their extreme Heath Robinson complexity and reliance on Urpney muscle power to operate them. Although he starts the series with a minor role, he appears in every single episode, with several episodes centered around the character. He is the only Urpney shown to have relatives, having an aunt that appears in two episodes and a niece that appears in another.
• Sergeant Blob : Exploited, gung ho and not very bright, he is the Obese military leader of the Urpneys, who takes over Operation Dreamstone after the former commanding officer, Captain Crigg, is executed at the start of the first episode. He usually has Nug and Frizz accompany him on missions, having appointed them his 'elite squad' in the pilot episode because they were too slow to run off with the others. It is later revealed that the two are corporals, possibly having been promoted during the first series. Blob seems to suffer from malapropism, for example, saying "sensationalise" instead of "surprise".
• Corporal Frizz : An Urpney whose cowardice knows no bounds. Finds himself in a position of responsibility simply because he could not run away as fast as the others. He would much rather be at home with some sandwiches than fighting deadly Noops. He was voiced by Melvyn Hayes, who played something of a similar character in the sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Frizz seems to be an Urpney that appreciates the arts. A recurring device in the series is that, at the end of each episode, Frizz speaks the final lines. This occurs in all but five episodes. In the first season he wears glasses, but these disappear in the second season. He dislikes Urpgor more than the other Urpneys, and on a few occasions tries to attack him.
• Corporal Nug : Another of Blob's cowardly Urpney squad. Though Nug can often come across as rather dopey and vacuous in demeanor, he sometimes shows himself to be more perceptive than the other Urpneys, sometimes suggesting good ideas, which are usually adopted by Blob and passed off as his own. He also shows himself to be rather savvy about the conditions the team go through, to sometimes grim assumptions. Speaks with a thick Brummie accent.
• Captain Crigg: The original commander of the Urpneys, a weak leader and cowardly excuse-maker. Crigg questioned Zordrak's leadership and frequently fell behind schedule, and so an enraged Zordrak dropped him into the Pit of No Return, where he was eaten by the Fraznats. Blob was then promoted into Crigg's place.
• Argorribles: Ghostly purple clouds that Zordrak sends out each night to deliver nightmares to the sleeping world. The power of the Dreamstone is often far too much for them and so only occasionally do they slip through. However, with the power of the Nightmare stone the Argorribles are powered up and are more likely to bypass the Dreamstone's defenses. Though usually thwarted from making a full-scale attack on the Land Of Dreams, the Argorribles have a handful of large victories throughout the show's run. They are incorporeal, although one is briefly made solid in the episode "Horrible Argorrible".
• Zarag : Zordrak's sister, who was shut up in a bottle for five hundred years until accidentally being released by Nug. It is suggested in Zarag that she was once romantically involved with the Dream Maker, who claims she is incredibly clever, though also very vain. She also wants the Dreamstone, but to wear in her hair rather than to unleash nightmares on the unsuspecting world. She also tried gaining servants through 'Obedience Drops' in Zarag Rules. Her last appearance was The Substitute where, in an arrangement with the Urpneys, posed as a Dream Maker before the Noops, corrupting their dream bottles with Argoribbles and attempting to steal the stone. She appears to be more humanoid then her brother, though shares his ambitions and foul temper.
• Frazznats: Creatures that live in the Pit of No Return and feed on Urpneys, but one time ate sweets and chocolates as seen in "The Invisible Blob". They resemble a cross between a shark, a serpent and a Venus Flytrap, with lobster-like pincers.
• Other Urpneys: Aside from the three main Urpney characters, there were also a number of other Urpneys who occasionally had lines of dialogue, and a few of them were given names. These included Plug, the Urpney chef, and Blooge, Grid, Blit, Boff, Erk and Sniff, all of whom were named in the third-season episode The Dream Beam Invasion.

  Episodes

Deleted scenes

• One was when Rufus was told off by Mr Wacks for being late again, in which took place right after Rufus spoke to Amberley. Rufus was ordered to fill a basket with candles, he did so, but as he put the candles in, he started to daydream about being a performing clown, juggling the candles that then turned into objects and animals. Rufus was then interrupted by Amberley, in which then caused him to drop and break the candles. Amberley picked up the candles and walked away saying 'Daydreaming again!' The original soundtrack has the juggling music in, right between the musketeer and the beginning music for the Wacks Wicks Works track. One viewer may also find when Rufus was going to cut the candles from the rack, that some broken candles were still seen on the floor from the deleted scene.
• The Whirlyped Launch scene has the music muted until the Whirlyped is airborne.
• When Rufus shows Amberley the laughter box, and took out some of the laughter bubbles, alternate sounds of laughter can be heard from them.
• After Rufus saw the whirlyped fly away with The Dreamstone and Amberley, as Rufus tried to tell The Dreammaker on what'd happened, he then asked Rufus on what was he doing in the tower? Rufus told the Dreammaker that he was showing off as he tried to impress Amberley, but after seeing that the Urpneys had taken her away and have The Dreamstone, the Dreammaker then said "Oh this is disastrous, you've failed me Rufus." before saying the lines that was in the normal episode. In the electronic remix Dreamdance, you could actually hear The Dreammaker saying that line that was cut off from the normal episode. In the same scene when Rufus said that he will sneak The Dreamstone out of Zordrak's nose, he then said that he is small and no one will notice him, but was then interrupted by the Dreammaker who then said "Rufus, that'll be an extremely difficult and a dangerous undertaking!" Rufus then asked please on letting him have a try, that then led up to the final lines to what The Dreammaker had to say, which is also on the normal episode.
• In early repeats of the opening special, Rufus' dream sequence set to 'Better Than A Dream' was edited out, due to timing restrictions on TV for standard length episodes. This would also explain the edits for the later versions of The Dreamstone opening special.

Soundtrack

1. Better Than A Dream - Mike Batt
2. The War Song Of The Urpneys - Billy Connolly, Ozzy Osbourne and Frank Bruno
3. Dreamdance
4. Into The Sunset - Mike Batt and Bonnie Tyler
5. The Vile Bros Mountain Band - Joe Brown
6. The Dreamstone
7. Wack's Wicks Works
8. The Dream Maker
9. Whirlyped Launch
10. The Dreamstone Is Stolen
11. The Argorribles And The Egg Of Death
12. Rufus Succeeds

1. Better Than A Dream - Mike Batt
2. The War Song of the Urpneys - Billy Connolly, Ozzy Osbourne and Frank Bruno
3. Dreamdance
4. Into The Sunset - Mike Batt and Bonnie Tyler
5. Dreamstone Overture no.1
6. Dreamstone Overture no.2
7. Dreamstone Overture no.3
8. Dreamstone Overture no.4
9. Dreamstone Overture no.5

• This is not the only track to be called Dreamstone Overture no.5. On the 'Better Than A Dream' 7-inch vinyl and CD single versions, there's another track entitled 'Dreamstone Overture no.5', this version is different from the Music Cube re-release, in which it's actually an orchestral version of 'Into The Sunset' while the Dreamstone Overtures on the Music Cube re-release are small selections of orchestral tracks from the original TV series, half used in a few episodes in Season 3 and 4. The "Dreamstone Overture no.5" that was present on the single ran for 6:48.

Home media releases and online distribution

Production

Merchandise and other media