Jan Tenner
 (original Jan Tenner ) |
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| Radio play from Germany | |
| Year of production |
Jan Tenner - Classic: 1980–1989 and 2000 The new dimension: 2001–2002 The new superhero: since 2019 |
| genre | Youth series / science fiction |
| consequences |
Jan Tenner - Classic: 46 The new dimension: 11 The new superhero: 6 of 35 to 50 min |
| Publisher / label | Kiosk / Kiddinx |
| Contributors | |
| author |
Jan Tenner - Classic: HG Francis as Dick Farlow (idea) Horst Hoffmann as Kevin Hayes (from episode 7) The new dimension: Kevin Hayes The new superhero: Simeon Hrissomallis (idea) Kevin Hayes |
| Director |
Jan Tenner - Classic: Ulli Herzog The new dimension: Frank Schröder (up to episode 7) Ulli Herzog (from episode 8) The new superhero: Simeon Hrissomallis |
| music |
Jan Tenner - Classic: Jutta Stahlberg The new dimension: Tongruppe Berlin The new superhero: Tom Steinbrecher |
| speaker | |
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Jan Tenner - Classic
The new dimension
The new superhero
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Jan Tenner is a radio play series that was distributed from 1980 to 1989 by the radio play label Kiosk (today: Kiddinx ). It only ended with one final episode in 2000. The first six episodes were initially sold under the name Jan Tenner - The Superhero . There was also a continuation from 2001 to 2002 called Jan Tenner - The New Dimension . The original series has since been sold under the name Jan Tenner - Classic . Since September 27, 2019, the story of Jan Tenner - Classic has been continued by Zauberstern Records in the form of a new series called Jan Tenner - The New Superhero .
production
Jan Tenner Classic
The audio play scripts for episodes one to six are by Dick Farlow (alias HG Francis ) and from episode seven by Kevin Hayes (alias Horst Hoffmann ), both well known a. a. by working on the Perry-Rhodan series. Between 1980 and 1989, a total of 45 episodes appeared at irregular intervals. The series was then discontinued in episode 45 (Zwestein's return) despite an open ending . The 46th radio play cassette with the episode Mimo, the Avenger, was only released in November 2000 . The episode also served as the end of the series.
Unusual for a youth series was the introduction of cross-episodes from the seventh episode of the series. For example, the extraterrestrial threat introduced by the Leonen people is only resolved after an odyssey spanning nine episodes. At the end of the series, stories are presented with closed double episodes that comprise more than one radio play cassette. At the end of each cassette, the listener is given the title of the next episode - even if these are not direct sequels.
From September 2006 Kiddinx and VGH put the classic Jan Tenner episodes on CD for the first time. The publication took place irregularly and not chronologically. In addition, the CD editions often had typing errors on the covers.
Jan Tenner - The new dimension
In 2001 Kiddinx started a new edition called Jan Tenner - The New Dimension . For the continuation of the series, a new cast has been put together. In addition, sound effects and music have been renewed. However, the plot is directly linked to the previous 46 episodes. As in the original, the audio scripts were written by Kevin Hayes. Ulli Herzog also took over the direction again from episode 8. Despite great efforts, including computer games, the series did not bring the hoped-for success. Production was stopped in 2002 after eleven episodes. There were three more episodes in the pipeline, and Kevin Hayes had also written the synopsis here. The label justified the production stop with poor sales figures, and the sudden death of director Ulli Herzog is also assumed to be the cause.
Jan Tenner - The new superhero
In September 2019, Kiddinx started a continuation of the original series through Zauberstern Records . The series The New Superhero comes once again from the pen of Kevin Hayes. In addition, the well-known speakers for Jan, Laura and Mimo return to their roles. After six episodes were successfully marketed for the restart of the series, a further six episodes have been announced for 2020, which will appear at irregular intervals from April 2020.
The plot
Jan Tenner - Classic
Jan Tenner's stories are science fiction adventures. You are playing in the not too distant future. Tenner's world is not very different from today's real world, at least in terms of concrete living conditions, social environment and environmental conditions. However, science and research are already further advanced, especially computer technology. The decisive difference to our world is the first contact with extraterrestrials and the recurring threat from hostile life forms from space. In order to avert these and other dangers from the earth, the main characters of the series come together again and again and intervene in specific cases until the situation is defused and the adventure is over.
The Jan Tenner series is set in Westland, a fictional state on earth. The weather and almost all of Westland's technical facilities are centrally controlled remotely. The main nuclear energy supply is provided by the Westland nuclear power plant and solar power plants. In addition, there are already the beginnings of space travel, which after contact with extraterrestrial technology are quickly developed further in the course of the series, so that the locations of Jan Tenner's adventures are then repeatedly shifted from earthly Westland to space. Even time travel becomes possible.
The main character is the eponymous Jan Tenner, a physics student. He works closely with Professor Futura, Westland's most successful scientist. Futura is supported by his assistant Tanja, who will be replaced by Laura from episode 4 onwards. General Forbett, Commander in Chief of the Army of Westland, seeks help from Professor Futura in precarious situations. He can rely on the support of his assistant and Jan. A defining element of the series is a serum developed by the professor, with which various forms of body transformation are possible. This serum helps Jan Tenner and Laura over and over again to cope with sticky situations.
While smaller threats and dangers are the focus at the beginning of the series, from the fifth episode onwards the series alludes to an imminent danger of an alien life form that wants to conquer the earth. The Leons are first mentioned by name in Darkness over Westland and in The Invasion of the Androids the heroes face the Leons for the first time. In addition, from episode 10, another ongoing threat is introduced with Professor Zweistein. In the episode Die Zeitfalle the heroes get to a period ship of the Leonen and two episodes later on course on Wega 5 , Mimo, the on-board computer of this spaceship, which is christened the Silver Bird , appears for the first time.
This is followed by an odyssey spanning nine episodes in which both Zweistein and the Leonen play a major role. While the Leons gather in the solar system, Zweistein lures the heroes into a trap on a distant planet. The Leons are now besieging the earth and have shielded it from the rest of the solar system with a protective screen. Jan and his friends try to find the stone of power with which they want to fight back the Leons. Zweistein, who also learned about the existence of the stone, would like to use it for his own purposes. There follows a race for the stone of power and the subsequent liberation of the earth.
Smaller conflicts come to the fore again, until the heroes are dragged into another dimension by a space vortex and meet the doll witch on Seytania. Next to her, her father Logar, ruler of the dark empire in the fight against "nothing", increasingly comes into focus. Tenner and his friends can ultimately alliance with Logar and Seytania and together they manage to defeat the "nothing". This topic extends over a total of eight episodes, which, however, are repeatedly interrupted by completed episodes with Zweistein.
After adventures under water or on other distant worlds, the heroes manage to shrink and capture Zweistein in a double sequence.
Jan Tenner - The new dimension
Thematically, The New Dimension is a direct continuation. However, the way in which the characters interacted with one another and how they appeared changed. For example, the assistant Laura became a computer specialist , even if this skill was never used. In addition, in January Tenner as often in the future by the professor from General with Tenner addressed. The series begins with Jan Tenner's team wanting to explore a black hole in the Silbervogel . However, you get into the event horizon and find yourself in another universe. Once there, the heroes find Horung on a strange world, who tells them that they can only return to their universe via a secret matrix. To complete this, you need six characters, which Jan Tenner and his friends are looking for from now on and have to face the villain Xarxas. At the end of this odyssey it becomes clear that Xarxas was just a computer program created by Professor Zweistein and that Jan Tenner's team was lured into a trap. Back on earth, the heroes discover that Zweistein has broken out of his captivity and has declared himself ruler of the world. With combined forces, however, they manage to overthrow Zweistein. The entire story comprises a total of ten episodes. In an eleventh and final episode, a threat to the Xantha'uh is hinted at, but this is no longer resolved due to the discontinuation of the series.
Jan Tenner - The new superhero
During an experiment by Professor Futura, an incident occurs which causes General Forbett, Tanja, who is in deep sleep, and the professor himself to disappear. All three are pronounced dead. 30 years later, Jan and Laura founded the Order of the Futura, with which they want to pass on and advance his knowledge and wisdom. Jan and Laura's children, Jan Tenner Junior and Lara discover Tanja in Westland, who has not aged after the incident 30 years ago and suddenly comes to again. The woken up Tanja has various supernatural powers. At the same time, Professor Futura and the general reappear. All three survived the events 30 years ago and found themselves in a kind of time leap. Furthermore, Westland is increasingly threatened by the neighboring continent Ostland.
background
Origins
From the perspective of the eighties, the original series is set in the not too distant future. Various parallels to Flash Gordon can be found in the character portrayal . In addition to the visual similarity between Jan Tenner and Flash Gordon , Tenner is a physics student at the University of Westland, while Gordon is a Yale graduate. In addition, both are portrayed as extremely sporty. The character Laura (previously Tanja ) shows parallels to Dale Arden and Professor Futura can be found in Dr. Hans Zarkov again.
In addition to Flash Gordon, there are similarities to other science fiction works, such as Alarm in Space . Compared to the current state of technology, computers, for example, are made up of large, bulky components such as spools, ribbons, wires, levers, and buttons. Robots , especially the Zweisteins, are robust and are characterized by superhuman strength, but have little intelligence and agility, which means that Tenner can always turn them off quickly. You think positronic in the series .
The serum
Both the original series and the successor are characterized by a serum developed by Professor Futura, with which a body transformation is possible and people can thus acquire certain skills for a limited time. The serum is administered intravenously and occurs, for example, in the following derivatives:
- Flight serum
- Invisibility serum
- Starch serum
- Reduction Serum
- Diving serum
- Telepathy serum
The idea of body transformation is based on the self-experiments carried out by Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard in 1889.
intelligence
One aspect of the series that is often discussed is intelligence. For example, when the heroes encounter extraterrestrial life forms, it is mentioned that it is an intelligent life form. In contrast to this, combat robots and other machines are often presented as primitive tools that can easily be outwitted by a lack of intelligence. If computers had intelligence and they performed a controlling function in a sequence, either their ability to make decisions was clearly criticized (The Gift of Leons) , or they were so indoctrinated with commands that Tenner only used them in a verbal way Had to pull the dispute on his side ( The Dead Ship , Meteor of Horror ). On the other hand, with “Mimo”, Jan Tenner has an intelligent on-board computer at his side over many episodes, which not only makes independent decisions and occasionally refuses instructions, but which also follows a pronounced emotion program.
characters
| role | Appearance | Classic | The new dimension | The new superhero | comment |
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| Jan Tenner | Attack of the green spiders | X | X | X | He is the eponymous main character and student of physics. As a close confidante of Professor Futura, Jan is there to avert dangers from Westland and the world. He repeatedly uses the serum developed by Futura. |
| Professor Futura | Attack of the green spiders | X | X | X | A leading scientist from Westland, who through his technical achievements supports the development of his serum the heroes. |
| Tanja | Attack of the green spiders | X | X | The first assistant to Professor Futura who appears mostly passive and often worries about Jan Tenner. Chilled to sleep after three episodes of Professor Futura after an experiment with a serum went wrong. To the new superhero Tanja was awakened from hibernation and put since other characteristics of the day. She is less worried and more active on the go, and from now on she has telekinetic skills. |
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| Laura | Danger from space | X | X | X | The assistant to Professor Futura and successor to Tanja. Unlike her predecessor, Laura is more active and often appears directly at Jan's side. A romantic relationship between the two is suggested again and again. |
| General Forbett | Attack of the green spiders | X | X | X | Commander in Chief of the Westland Army and responsible for defense against terrestrial and extraterrestrial threats. He embodies the cliché of the army general who always acts rashly and who usually only comes up with the use of armed force as a means of solving problems. |
| Professor Zweistein | The insane professor | X | X | X | Similar to Professor Futura, a brilliant scientist who, however, misuses his knowledge to first become the ruler of the world and later also the ruler of the universe. |
| The silver bird | The time trap | X | X | X | A period ship of the Leonen, which Jan and Laura bring into their possession and use from then on for their adventures. In addition to space travel, it allows you to travel through time and is controlled by an on-board computer called Mimo. |
| Mimo | Course on Wega 5 | X | X | X | The central on-board computer of the silver bird. It is the technical-human element of the series, a sensitive computer that always helps when there are particularly difficult problems to be solved. Mimo is sensitive and reacts extremely allergic to mean commands or insensitive and unfriendly behavior towards him. This is how he got his name Mimosa, which Tenner mockingly gave him. |
| The Leons | Red rock on fire | X | X | The Leons are an aggressive, alien people who need vast amounts of uranium for their energy supply and their spaceships. They threaten other peoples in order to get to the respective planetary occurrences of the element. They have a human physique but have four arms and a lion head. | |
| Seytania | Planet of the Dolls | X | Seytania is the ruler of the planet of the dolls and has magical powers. She is Logar's daughter and intends to take control of Jan Tenner. | ||
| Logar | Planet of the Dolls | X | Logar is the ruler of the Dark Empire, a strange world in another cosmos. There he rules, with the help of a mighty ring, in his cloud castle over the great purple plain. Logar already made his first brief appearance in Planet of the Puppets , he appears regularly from the episode The Dark Empire . | ||
| Ragund | Space base of horror | X | Emperor of the alien universe in which Jan and his friends got through a black hole. | ||
| Horung | Castle of Terror | X | The old teacher of the Emperor Ragund and his adviser. | ||
| Xarxas | The last fight | X | An artificial intelligence that has usurped the rule of the alien universe with the help of its robot army. | ||
| Roon | In the hands of the Roon | X | The Roon are huge mole creatures and are used by the Xantha'uh to threaten the earth. | ||
| Xantha'uh | In the hands of the Roon | X | Insect-like beings who control the Roon and want to attack the earth together with Zweistein. | ||
| Jan Tenner junior | A new beginning | X | He is the son of Jan and Laura, who is in a similar situation to his father 30 years after the events on Westland. | ||
| Lara | A new beginning | X | The daughter of Jan and Laura and at the same time the older sister of Jan Tenner junior. | ||
| General Grimes | A new beginning | X | Commander of the Westland Armed Forces during an extended absence from General Forbett. | ||
| Dr. Benjamin Brain | The brain of evil | X | Former student of Professor Futura. His mind was transferred to a robot shortly before he died. From now on he calls himself simply the brain . | ||
| Tamara | The brain of evil | X | Dr. Brain's assistant | ||
| Cryona | Prisoners of the parallel world | X | Tanja's power-hungry counterpart in the parallel world and there Jan Tenner's companion. |
consequences
Jan Tenner - Classic
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Jan Tenner - The new dimension
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- 12 - The Xantha'uh invasion
- 13 - The Time Trap (working title: In the jungle of primeval times)
- 14 - Comet of Death
Jan Tenner - The new superhero
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Adaptations in other media
comics
Some of the radio play stories by Jan Tenner appeared in 1984 and 1985 in the Yps -Comic booklets of the Polish comic artist Bogusław Polch as supplements. The following six stories were published:
- Course on Wega 5
- Zwestein's trap
- Planet of the bird people
- Planet of 1000 wonders
- The stone of power
- The liberation of the earth
Television advertising
Some radio play cassettes were advertised on television in short commercials. One relied on an animation which was set to music with the radio plays.
computer game
At the start of the new edition Jan Tenner - The New Dimension , a computer game entitled Jan Tenner - Artifacts of Power was released for Windows .
Trivia
- On the livestream channel Rocket Beans TV , the program Adult Men Hear Jan Tenner was regularly broadcast, in which moderators listened to and commented on an episode of the radio play. The series was resumed with the sequel "Jan Tenner - The New Superhero".
- The spokespersons for General Forbett and Mimo, Heinz Giese and Wilfried Herbst , had already met with Benjamin Blümchen and Bibi Blocksberg as mayor and Pichler's assistant. In episode 63, Benjamin Blümchen and the Computer , Giese and Herbst appear together with Professor Zweistein spokesman Klaus Miedel .
- Lutz Riedel and Marianne Groß , Jan and Laura's spokesmen, are married to each other. Both were a couple before they started working together on Jan Tenner .
- The series experienced various re-releases and also a comprehensive redesign from episode 7 - in all publications, however, there were no changes in content - except for episode 15: only in the first edition from 1983 is an unabridged dialogue between the main characters to be heard in which Heinz Giese in the role of General Forbett says the sentence "And mine is growing too" about the symbiote on his forehead. In a later interview (published as a bonus track on the CD Dreamland-Grusel, episode 14), all of the main speakers were able to remember that at the time everyone present had to leave the studio because of a constant fit of laughter and that Heinz Giese had to speak this sentence alone. Because of its ambiguous ambiguity, the dialogue was re-recorded for later editions - without this sentence.
- The Navajo Indian tribe from episode 6 Secret of the Eagle actually exists.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jantenner.net characters , accessed on April 1, 2018
- ↑ a b c JAN TENNER (2019) at Zauberstern! - Russel & Brandon Company. June 20, 2019, accessed June 25, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Hoerspiel-Box.de - Jan Tenner ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 28, 2013
- ↑ Hoerspiel-Box.de - Jan Tenner - The new dimension ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 28, 2013
- ↑ Internationalhero.co.uk - Flash Gordon , accessed January 18, 2016
- ↑ Jan-Tenner.net - Comics , accessed on April 20, 2016
- ↑ Yps Fanpage - Supplements , accessed on April 20, 2016
- ↑ Adult men listen to Jan Tenner - Youtube playlist , accessed on June 25, 2015.
