"Spellbinder" (1995) TV series

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

5 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

When a prank at a school camp goes drastically wrong, 15-year-old Paul Reynolds is blasted into an alternative...

Plot Keywords:

School | Alternative History | Teen | Parallel Worlds

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Zbych Trofimiuk	...	Paul Reynolds (26 episodes, 1995)
Gosia Piotrowska	...	Riana (26 episodes, 1995)
Brian Rooney	...	Alex Katsonis (26 episodes, 1995)
Michela Noonan	...	Katrina Muggleton (26 episodes, 1995)
Heather Mitchell	...	Ashka (24 episodes, 1995)
Rafal Zwierz	...	Gryvon (22 episodes, 1995)
Andrew McFarlane	...	Brian Reynolds (18 episodes, 1995)
Krzysztof Kumor	...	Correon (17 episodes, 1995)
Andrzej Grabarczyk	...	Bron (17 episodes, 1995)
Slawa Michalewska	...	Maran (14 episodes, 1995)
Georgina Fisher	...	Christine Reynolds (13 episodes, 1995)
Stanislaw Brejdygant	...	The Summoner (13 episodes, 1995)
Julia Biczysko	...	Arla (13 episodes, 1995)
Erlan Buchan	...	Jal (12 episodes, 1995)

Runtime:

24 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Australia | Poland

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Film Australia

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord" (1997)

Very good sci-fi children's program.

A very good children's program contains a suspenseful plot and situations on a level where children would be able to comprehend the storyline. An excellent children's program contains all these things and yet, captivates an older audience. Spellbinder definitely is an excellent children's program from my perspective.

Paul reynolds is a boy in his mid-teens who opens a world-portal by playing with electricity and is lost in a world of civilization where the industrial revolution never happened, and science never advanced. A a person of the 21st century, he becomes hunted by the world's leaders: spellbinders for his chemical knowledge on how to make gunpowder on top of his attempts to get home. He finds a friend, Riana who helps him throughout the storyline. Much of the story involves Pauls plight and in returning home, but is also extended, when Riana becomes lost in our world therefore putting the storyline in reverse. The story picks up in pace when one of the spellbinders, Ashka realises that she can use the science of our world to dominate hers, and the main characters are now faced with trying to stop her.

(That is the most brief version i could come up with to summarise the enormous 26 episode long series.)

What really proves captivating is the cinema art used to create the parallel world and the way the audience learns with the characters about each others worlds. There is very good acting by both the young and old cast and a lot of credit must be given to the shows artwork designers.

Overall, "Spellbinder" is a highly recommended Australian television program which has very good ideas to excite the imagination of both children and adults alike.