Through the Dragon's Eye
Through the Dragon's Eye is an educational BBC Look and Read production, which was first aired on BBC Two from 19 September to 28 November 1989, and has been shown regularly ever since. Its plot follows three schoolchildren who are transported to a magical land, which they must save by using their reading skills. The television show was also adapted into a video game for the BBC Micro. A resource pack for the series was released in 1989 with a novel published in 1991.
Plot
The story involves three children, named Jenny, Amanda and Scott, who are painting a mural on a school wall in Acton, London. The dragon in the mural winks at the children and they are transported to a land called Pelamar, where the dragon, named Gorwen, asks the children to undertake a task to save the magical land.In order to save Pelamar, the children, with Gorwen's help, must recover the pieces of the Veetacore, which recently exploded. Until they succeed, the land of Pelamar turns increasingly barren and its inhabitants start to fade away. The instructions for the reconstruction of the Veetacore are written in a book, and the children must use their reading skills to help the Veetacore keepers, thus showing the young audience the importance of reading. The art of reading has been lost in Pelamar – this is a sore point with Doris, but the Veetacore keepers do start learning to read as the series progresses.
Unfortunately, three of the pieces have been thrown into the distant land of Widge, forcing Amanda and Scott to travel to Widge with Gorwen, Boris, and the giant mouse Rhodey in order to find them, leaving Jenny to help determine how to reassemble the Veetacore. The "baddie" of the story is Charn, "The Evil One", who wants to hijack the Veetacore for his own evil purposes, and who it is implied triggered the original 'explosion' of the Veetacore in the first place.
Fortunately, the inability to read also afflicts Charn, allowing Jenny to display a written message to her friends when Charn forbids her to divulge his presence. Although Gorwen is able to defeat Charn, he is dangerously weakened, nearly killing himself before the last Veeton is discovered and the Veetacore restored. Although the show ends with the children returning to their school at apparently the moment they left, the presence of their notebooks and three miniature versions of the Veetons they recovered proves that the experience was genuine.
Characters and Cast
- Amanda Jackson : one of the children that is transported to Pelamar, Amanda goes with Boris, Scott, Rodey and Gorwen to try to find the lost Veetons. The most resourceful.
- Jenny : the second child who is transported to Pelamar, Jenny stays behind to help Morris and Dorris to read the Book on the Veetacore. Jenny is by her own admission not a strong reader, but she gains confidence as the series progresses.
- Scott Bates : the third child and only boy who is transported to Pelamar, Scott goes with the rescue party to find the lost Veetons. Scott had the idea that Jenny and Amanda should write everything down that happened on a part of his notebook. He wrote his version of events as well.
- Boris : the orange Veetacore Keeper who goes with Amanda, Scott, Gorwen and Rodey to try to find the lost Veetons. Boris had a magic cricket bat, which enabled him to fly. Most of the time he came across as not particularly bright, but he occasionally displayed unusual intelligence- he learnt to read well with the help of Scott, and helped Amanda find the first Veeton.
- Doris : the purple Veetacore Keeper, and the only female one who stays behind to help Jenny re-build the Veetacore. Doris is melted by Charn, while she tries to contact Gorwen the Dragon, but is later rescued by Gorwen when he returns to fight Charn. Doris is at first very unwilling to let Jenny help her mend the Veetacore, but softens over the series.
- Morris : the green Veetacore Keeper who stays behind to help Jenny and Doris re-build the Veetacore. Morris has lots of green pets, including a caterpillar, called Frug who in the last episode turns into a giant butterfly. Morris is more welcoming of Jenny. He is briefly melted by Charn in an attempt to shield Gorwen, but is soon rescued.
- Gorwen the Dragon : Gorwen is a green fire-breathing dragon who contacts Jenny, Scott and Amanda and transports them into Pelamar. Gorwen had already defeated Charn once before, but in the eighth episode he was forced to fight him again, being dangerously weakened by the fight even though he defeated his enemy.
- Rodey : Rodey was a talking mouse who could transform from the size of a human to normal mouse size at will, though when he enters a "High Fade Zone", as in Episode 1, he shrinks against his will. Rodey could speak Widgen, which was how the Rescue Party communicated with the Widgets.
- Charn "The Evil One" : Charn was the villain of Through the Dragon's Eye. He looks like a skeletal bird-man, he has long knife-like fingers, and he wears a black cloak. He can discharge an electric force from his hands that would turn his victims into puddles of slime. He had already tried to take over Pelamar once before, but was defeated by Gorwen and banished. When the Veetacore exploded he was able to come back to Pelamar, where he tries to use the Veetacore for his own evil purposes. He did not appear until Episode 5 Jenny complains that the Veetacore house is cold, and we learn that it gets colder as Charn gets nearer. Charn, in the eighth episode, fought Gorwen and was defeated, Gorwen incinerating him despite his own weakened condition.
- The Widgets : The Widgets were small mischievous squirrel-like creatures who lived in a land called "Widge", next to Pelamar. They seem malevolent at first, but in the last episode they inexplicably help Scott get the last Veeton.
Episodes
Theme tune
During the series, three different sets of lyrics were used - one at the start of episodes 2-10, another at the end of episodes 2-10, whereas the start of episode 1 used a completely different song.| Lyrics #1 | Lyrics #2 | Lyrics #3 |
| North or South, East or West, The Test Is can you finish what you start, Take Heart! Look bravely through the Dragon's Eye And fly... | North or South, East or West, The Quest To save the life of Pelamar Goes Far. Look bravely through the Dragon's Eye And fly... | North or South, East or West, It's Best To know for sure you understand The Plan. Look bravely through the Dragon's Eye And fly... |