Series synopsis
Watership Down is a Canadian animation drama family television series that premiered on YTV on September 28, 1999. It ended on December 4, 2001. It was created by Richard Adams. It stars Andrew Falvey, David Holt, Stephen Mangan and Sue Elliott-Nichols.
Follows the lives of a group of rabbits as they leave their endangered warren in search of a safe new home. They travel across the English countryside, braving perilous danger, until they find a hill called Watership Down, where they begin a new warren. However, they face various threats and are soon forced to defend their home and lives.
Premise
Follows the lives of a group of rabbits as they leave their endangered warren in search of a safe new home. They travel across the English countryside, braving perilous danger, until they find a hill called Watership Down, where they begin a new warren. However, they face various threats and are soon forced to defend their home and lives.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Andrew Falvey as Fiver / Flax / Feldspar (voice)
- David Holt as Vervain / Bluesky / Boxwood / Darkling (voice)
- Stephen Mangan as Bigwig / Black Rabbit of Inle / Shale (voice)
- Sue Elliott-Nichols as Blackberry / Tabitha (voice)
- Lee Ross as Hawkbit (voice)
- Rob Rackstraw as Raincloud / Granite (voice)
- Ian Shaw as Hazel (voice)
- Rik Mayall as Kehaar (voice)
Supporting cast
- Phill Jupitus as Dandelion (voice)
- Elliot Henderson-Boyle as Pipkin (voice)
- Jane Horrocks as Hannah (voice)
- Nigel Pegram as General Woundwort (voice)
- Maria Darling as Hannah (voice)
- Penny Freeman as Primrose (voice)
Guest cast
- Janet James as Frost / Tassle / Katrina (voice)
- Matt Wilkinson as The Weasel (voice)
- Tim McInnerny as Silverweed (voice)
- Stephen Fry as Cowslip (voice)
- Robert Harper as Strawberry (voice)
- John Hurt as General Woundwort (voice)
- Stephen Gately as Blackavar (voice)
- Kate Ashfield as Primrose (voice)
- Joanne Rodriguez as Clover (voice)
- Richard Briers as Captain Broom (voice)
- Tony Daniels as Narrator (voice)
Episodes
This series spans 3 seasons with 39 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 | September 28, 1999 | December 21, 1999 |
| Season 2 | 13 | August 3, 2000 | October 26, 2000 |
| Season 3 | 13 | September 11, 2001 | December 4, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Promised Land Seven of the rabbits from Sandleford Warren set out in search of the 'High Lonely Hills' that Fiver has seen in a vision as being a place of safety. Along the way they encounter many dangers such as the river and a dog. |
September 28, 1999 |
| 2 |
Home on the Down The rabbits begin to settle into their new home on the down, however problems become apparent. The burrows need digging, but there's only one doe and bucks don't dig!! There's also a weasel that arrives at the down. Meanwhile, a mysterious visitor is looking for Bigwig. |
October 5, 1999 |
| 3 |
The Easy Life In search of Pimpernel, the rabbits travel to a nearby warren believed to be a place of safety. This warren, led by Cowslip, seems a little too good to be true...and it is! |
October 12, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Prisoner of Efrafa The rabbits find out the Efrafans have captured Pipkin. Woundwort begins to treat Pipkin well, in order to find out the location of his warren. Meanwhile, Hazel hatches a plan to free Pipkin with help from Campion. They manage to grab as many animals as they can in order to make his plan work, and in the end it works better than they expected. |
August 3, 2000 |
| 2 |
The Roundabout Hickory and Marigold decide it's time to leave Cowslip's warren and set off to find Hazel. Hazel agrees to help them escape, and Hawkbit and Dandelion give them lessons on how to live outside in freedom. Hickory and Marigold decide to start a new warren. Concerned, Primrose suggests that they move into Redstone. Trouble is ahead of them though, when Hickory gets trapped on a roundabout. |
August 10, 2000 |
| 3 |
The Market Kehaar becomes homesick of the Big Water and decides he must go and visit it, with the rabbits tagging along too. Smelling the glorious smell of carrots and lettuce, the rabbits wander inside a big farm van to nibble at the food. Suddenly the van drives off, and the rabbits find themselves at a market where they make friends with a pig. |
August 17, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Campion Lives The Efrafan Owsla flee the collapsing caverns leaving only Woundwort, Vervain, Moss, and a handful of officers alive. Realizing that not even the cave-in will stop General Woundwort from trying to destroy them, Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig make preparations to wage war on Efrafa with Pipkin recruiting all of his animal friends. Fiver meanwhile senses that Campion is not dead, and indeed the Efrafan captain manages to pull himself free from the rubble of the caverns alive but horribly scarred. He meets the Black Rabbit of Inlé, who tells him his time has not yet come and that he has a special destiny in store for him. Meanwhile Moss, seeing that Woundwort is going mad, teams up with a doe named Heather to overthrow him but the Watershippers attack Efrafa in full force. |
September 11, 2001 |
| 2 |
A New World Following the liberation (and destruction of Efrafa), the Efrafans move into Watership Down with Moss, the highest-ranking surviving officer, as their reluctant leader. Tensions are high as three of the other surviving officers try to bully Pipkin and end up getting into a fight with Bigwig. Meanwhile, Woundwort has survived and runs into two other rabbits in a swamp, letting them sink to their deaths in a mire after they refuse to swear loyalty to him. The Black Rabbit of Inlé shows this to Campion and tells him that his destiny is stop Woundwort, who "threatens the world of the living." Campion has a horrible vision of Blackberry in danger, and himself being threatened by a fierce green rabbit. Meanwhile, Moss and Heather decide to take the rest of the Efrafans to start a new warren elsewhere. |
September 18, 2001 |
| 3 |
The Wanderer Vervain wanders about aimlessly, getting into all sorts of trouble. Bigwig, meanwhile, continues to push his Owsla. In the end Bigwig eventually accomplishes his goals and in doing so saves Vervain from getting into any more trouble. |
September 25, 2001 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | YTV |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 28, 1999 |
| Last aired | December 4, 2001 |
| Runtime | 23 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday at 19:00:00 |