Spellbinder - Trapped in the Past

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Television series
German title Spellbinder - Trapped in the Past
Original title Spellbinder / Dwa światy
Country of production Australia
Poland
original language English
year 1994
Production
company		 Film Australia
Telewizja Polska
length 25 minutes
Episodes 26 in 1 season
genre Youth series , science fiction , drama
idea Mark Shirrefs
John Thomson
production Noel Price
First broadcast January 9, 1995 on Nine Network (Australia)
German-language
first broadcast		 October 6, 1997 on Der Kinderkanal
occupation

Spellbinder - Trapped in the Past ( Polish: Dwa światy 'Two Worlds' ) is an Australian - Polish youth series produced by Film Australia and Telewizja Polska in collaboration with the Australian Children's Television Foundation .

The series includes a continuous story that is spread over 26 episodes. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger , while the following part starts again at this point. The first 13 episodes mainly take place in the "Spellbinder world" ( Riana's world ), the second in the "present world" ( Paul's world ), which is located in Sydney . Most of the scenes in the “parallel world” were shot in Poland. So it happens that many of its "residents" - at least in the original English version - speak with a Slavic accent.

Broadcast and publication

The first season of the series was broadcast in Germany under the name Spellbinder - Captured in the Past . The second season is considered a separate format and was broadcast under the name Spellbinder - In the Land of the Dragon Emperor .

Both series have been released on DVD. They are distributed by the Australian Children's Television Foundation , so are only available as an import. The rights are now owned by the state-sponsored Screen Australia , which emerged in 2008 from the Australian Film Commission , Film Australia and the Film Finance Corporation Australia .

In Germany, the series was translated into German in 1997 by the public broadcaster ZDF . The dubbing book was written by Fred Maire , who also directed the dialogue. Spellbinder was broadcast several times in the following years in the main program of ZDF and KI.KA, u. a. also in Tabaluga tivi . The last time the series was seen in 2003 in the morning program of ZDF. In the course of 2017, two DVD boxes for the German TV version, produced by Pidax Film Media Ltd., were released for the first time. to be expelled.

action

A group of teenagers visit a school camp in the Blue Mountains to watch an upcoming solar eclipse. When Paul Reynolds and Alex Katsonis try to scare their classmate Katrina Muggleton, a surge on a high-voltage line opens a portal that Paul crosses out of interest, leading him to a parallel universe . This world is inhabited by a hierarchical and technically backward society and dominated by the so-called spellbinders - in German, for example, "fascinating speakers" in the sense of "conjurers" or "techno-magicians" - who prohibit the population from researching and acquiring knowledge. Paul meets a girl named Riana who helps him to find his way around the parallel world and stands by him in tricky situations, which quickly leads to a friendship.

The spellbinders discovered how to create and manipulate electrostatics. You fly in gigantic, copper-red flying ships that use huge rotating crystals to create a kind of magnetic field so that the machine hovers. Like all rulers, the spellbinders often use their power to do good, but there are a few "black sheep" among them who use their power maliciously. One of these spellbinders is Ashka, who, in contrast to the people living in the spellbinder world and many other spellbinders who have been banished for misconduct, has so far got away with it. So it is she who ensures that her adversary Correon, who discovered her machinations with Paul and Riana's help, is excluded from the circle of the Spellbinder after an unsporting duel.

The tension is built up through Paul's "excursion" to the land of the Spellbinder, his attempts to explain himself there and return to his own world, as well as through the conversations Paul can have with his friends "across worlds". Ultimately, Paul manages to return to his world, but he is forced to take Riana with him to save her life. When Riana is able to return to her own world a little later, the fugitive Ashka succeeds, whose plans to take over power using manufactured gunpowder, thanks to a video that the returned Correon handed over to the rulers Lukan and Marna together with Riana's father Bron and the exiled pikeperch, succeeds are to get through the opened gate into Paul's world.

After she has caused some damage there out of ignorance regarding the world that is alien to her, she succeeds in tracking down Paul and playing on his father, a scientist. With the help of old Spellbinder notes, he is supposed to make her a new powershirt after Paul and Alex managed to steal Ashka's souvenirs from the parallel world. The ambitious Brian develops a new type of "flight suit" that is superior to the technology of the Spellbinder. It was only when Paul got Ashka into such a mess that she had to reveal her true face in front of his father that his son believed in the existence of a parallel world. Despite her new achievement, Ashka is overwhelmed and returns to her world as a prisoner, while Riana Correon's new "Spronz" (apprentice) becomes.

To protect the Spellbinder world, the portal between the dimensions is closed forever, causing Paul and Riana's paths to part again. In the final sequence, Katrina reveals to her friends Brian's research work, which she had copied onto a diskette and which was considered irrevocably lost after an attack by Ashka.

Characters

Paul Reynolds

Paul is a 15 year old youth from Sydney , New South Wales , Australia . His life is normal until one day a prank goes wrong at the summer camp and he ends up in the land of the Spellbinder. At first Paul is unsure how to behave in the new environment, but settles in quite quickly according to his possibilities and can uncover Ashka's plan to usurp power. Paul has certain military skills and, thanks to these, combined with his father's scientific knowledge, is able to defeat Ashka.

Riana

Riana lives in the Spellbinder world and meets Paul when the latter fights over her cooked food. Despite a difficult beginning (she initially considers Paul to be a “maroder” - an outsider of the Spellbinder society) the two quickly become good friends. Riana has very good survival skills and can also handle the lasso. She cares deeply for her family and reacts in dismay every time she realizes they may be in danger. In Paul's world, in which she finds her way just as little as the other way around, Riana can use her basic knowledge to make new friends. Generally she is known there as "Paul's cousin from Iceland". After returning to her world, Correon named her Spronz because of her work in outwitting Ashka.

Alex Katsonis

Alex is Paul's best friend and is an indirect witness of his disappearance. At first he does not believe Katarina's assumptions about a parallel world, but lets her persuade him to return to Mount Lara, where they can contact the spellbinders for the first time using a radio. It is ultimately thanks to them that the passage between the worlds is reopened and Paul can return to his world. When Ashka also passes through this gate, Alex helps Paul to pick up her trail so that she can ultimately overwhelm her.

Katrina Muggleton

Katrina grew up in a strict family and although she is academically educated, she otherwise has a strong tendency to be naive. So she believes in the existence of the lights on Mount Lara and therefore becomes the victim of her classmates Paul and Alex, who want to confront Katrina with a ghost, at a cave. In doing so, she becomes the only real eyewitness to Paul's disappearance and from then on finds herself exposed to the disbelief of her teachers, the police and Paul's father. Via the physics teacher Ms. Gibson and her own previous research, she came across the theory that parallel worlds could exist to the local universe and that contact could be made with the help of radios, making a decisive contribution to Paul's rescue. Later she befriends Riana and unwittingly comes into contact with Ashka, who manipulates her skillfully. When it comes out that she has supported Ashka, there is an argument with Paul, from whom she distances herself until she and Alex receive a cry for help.

Ashka

Ashka is a ruthless and intimidating spellbinder who can make up believable lies off the cuff. When she meets Paul and realizes that he has remained unscathed after an attack on her part with a ban ray (his rubber soles on his shoes have isolated him), she thinks he is ailing and starts to chase him. As a result of his arrest, Paul is taken to Spellbinder Castle, where Ashka is goodwill towards him - but only because she aims to make use of Paul's knowledge. Together with her spronz Gryvon, she tries to discover the secret of gunpowder after Paul Riana's village has saved Clayhill from an ailing attack with the help of fireworks. With the aim of disempowering the current rulers, she blackmailed Paul by making the well-being of Riana and her family dependent on whether he told her the secret of making gunpowder or not. Due to her lack of knowledge, Paul succeeds in tricking his adversary, which incites Ashka's anger on him. This has u. a. As a result, Paul's confidante, the spellbinder Correon, is entangled in an intrigue of Ashka and as a result is banished. Nevertheless, Ashka cannot prevent Paul from returning to his world and thus disappearing from their field of influence.

After their plans are exposed before the rulers, Ashka is forced to flee and seizes the opportunity to get into Paul's world. Both the local environment and everyday customs are completely new to Ashka, which is of course a disadvantage for her. Nevertheless, she manages to use Paul's unsuspecting father to get a new, technologically more mature power shirt compared to the Spellbinder technology, which should help her to come to power in Spellbinderland. However, the new technology and the power that it gives her makes her so self-proud that she ultimately maneuvers herself into a hopeless situation in which she becomes helplessly a prisoner.

Gryvon

Gryvon, who, like Riana, comes from the village of Clayhill, is a young man and the son of the local summoner. He is also Ashka's spronz. Under her leadership he has already learned a lot, unfortunately not only to use good qualities, but also the pursuit of power and, if necessary, unclean means to reach his goal. Even if he falls on the nose with his arrogance and his naivety, even sometimes with Ashka, he is and remains on her side until the end. He first helps her to prevent Paul from returning to his world, then he supports her in her plan to come to new power in Paul's world and is ultimately punished together with her.

Correon

Correon is a very well-read, hungry for knowledge, but initially also contentious spellbinder who, in his role as ruler, cares little about the fate of those who, according to his judgment, should or should not be banished. His real interest lies in the studies that enable him to repair the flying ships and power shirts of the Spellbinder. Correon initially sees a threat in Paul, but when he is confronted by Riana with the technology from Paul's world, he believes his assurances and promises to bring him back home. Ashka tries to prevent this, which leads to a dispute between the two spell binders. When Correon defamed Ashka as a liar in front of the rulers, she challenges him to a duel, which he loses due to the manipulation of his power shirt by Gryvon, whereupon he is expelled. Contrary to Ashka's plan, however, he can be saved in the desert by Zander, who lives in a group of exiles disguised as ailing, who steal the tributes of the villages from the spellbinders in revenge and in order to survive. When Riana's fugitive father shows up and shows Correon a video recording that reveals Ashka's plans, the former spellbinder seeks out the rulers. After Ashka's transfer, Correon can return to the circle of the Spellbinder and mediates between them and the exiles who are hostile to them.

Brian Reynolds

Brian is a single, widowed father and a dedicated scientist. As such, he is very absorbed in his work, which often leaves his children Paul and Christine at a disadvantage. When Katrina suggests that his son might be in a parallel universe, he refuses to believe it. Paul's descriptions are also not heard, as Brian suspects confusion as a result of staying in the "wilderness" for several days. So it happens that he becomes unsuspectingly involved with Ashka, who confronts him with old Spellbinder records, according to which he develops a flight suit that is similar to the powershirt in its functions, but surpasses it. Brian doesn't realize the true extent of this work until it's too late. All the more he is now - like Paul and his friends - pursuing the goal of putting Ashka down.

Christine Reynolds

Christine is Paul's younger sister. She helps him keep Riana's identity a secret and hide it in his home. Since she wants a new wife to be by her father's side, she makes a few attempts to pair Brian with the housekeeper Gina. When these fail, she reacts all the happier when her father appears to be interested in "Anna", who Ashka claims to be.

occupation

Sorted according to the order of entry.

main actor

actor Voice actor role consequences
Brian Rooney Benedikt Weber Alex Katsonis 1-26
Michela Noonan Irina Wanka Katrina Muggleton 1-26
Zbych Trofimiuk Manou Lubowski Paul Reynolds 1-26
Georgina Fisher Angela Wiederhut Christine Reynolds 1-26
Andrew McFarlane Stephan Hoffmann Brian Reynolds 1-26
Stanislaw Brejdygant Toron, Summoner of Clayhill 1-22
Gosia Piotrowska Sonja Reichelt Riana 1-26
Andrzej Grabarczyk Bron 2-24
Rafal Zwierz Gryvon 2-26
Piotr Adamczyk Hubertus von Lerchenfeld Pikeperch 2-22
Heather Mitchell Dagmar Dempe Ashka 2-26
Erland Buchan Jal 3-24
Julia Biczysko Arla 3-24
Sława Michalewska Maran 3-24
Joachim Lamza Manfred Erdmann Lukan 5-17
Hanna Dunowska Marina Koehler Marna 5-17
Krzysztof Kumor Fred Maire Correon 5-26

supporting cast

Paul's world
Spellbinder world

Guest actor

Paul's world
Spellbinder world

Episode overview

episode German title German initial
hookup 		Original title First broadcast
1 Ghost haunt October 6, 1997 The big bang January 9, 1995
2 The ban ray October 7, 1997 Where Am I? January 16, 1995
3 Chocolate rapper October 8, 1997 Finding the Way Home January 23, 1995
4th The Spronz October 9, 1997 It isn't magic, it's science January 30, 1995
5 The judgment October 10, 1997 Secrets February 6, 1995
6th Gunpowder October 13, 1997 Show Me Your World February 13, 1995
7th The dungeon October 14, 1997 The Gunpowder Plot February 20, 1995
8th The trap October 15, 1997 Secrets of the Spellbinders February 27, 1995
9 the maze October 16, 1997 The labyrinth March 6, 1995
10 The smoke bomb 17th October 1997 Desperate measures March 13, 1995
11 The duel October 20, 1997 The Center of Power March 20, 1995
12 A stubborn ox October 21, 1997 Spellbinder Jack March 27, 1995
13 The evidence October 22, 1997 The Final Challenge April 4, 1995
14th A new world October 23, 1997 Lost and Found April 11, 1995
15th New friends October 24, 1997 Hospitality April 18, 1995
16 The escape October 27, 1997 Breakout April 25, 1995
17th The Trojan horse October 28, 1997 The Trojan Toffee Trolley May 2, 1995
18th Attention, father wanted! October 29, 1997 Run! May 9, 1995
19th Computers don't think October 30, 1997 Reunions May 16, 1995
20th Harley-Davidson October 31, 1997 Alien invasion May 23, 1995
21st The raid November 3, 1997 Hunt for Ashka May 30, 1995
22nd The clown November 4th 1997 Clowning Around June 6, 1995
23 The archaeologist November 5, 1997 High tech power suit June 13, 1995
24 Flight attempts November 6, 1997 A spellbinder in the house June 20, 1995
25th Scrambled eggs with a kick November 7, 1997 Breakfast of Champions June 27, 1995
26th Showdown at the harbor November 10, 1997 Flight 4th July 1995

Trivia

  • In Poland, most of the filming took place in Krakow and in the Renaissance Pieskowa Skała castle . The Tzschocha Castle in the border triangle of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic served as the outside backdrop for Spellbinder Castle .
  • In Australia, Sydney was the main location. For the hotel where Ashka descends, which served Golden Gate Sydney (now Carlton Crest ) as a backdrop, while all the school scenes in the Balmain High School were filmed because it is the only school in Sydney and the surrounding area, which is located on the waterfront.
  • The series has been sold to more than 85 countries around the world.
  • Episode 11 ("The Duel", in the original "The Center of Power") received the AFI Award in 1996 for the best children's series in the category Best Children's Television Drama .

Web links