Series synopsis
Dramarama is a British sci-fi & fantasy drama television series that premiered on CITV on September 12, 1983. It ended on August 21, 1989.
Dramarama is the name of a British children's anthology series broadcast on ITV between 1983 and 1989. It tended to feature drama of a science fiction or supernatural bent. The series was created by Anna Home, then head of children's and youth programming at TVS, however production responsibilities were divided amongst most of the regional ITV franchise holders. Thus, each episode was in practice a one-off production with its own cast and crew, up to and including the executive producer.
Dramar ...
Premise
Dramarama is the name of a British children's anthology series broadcast on ITV between 1983 and 1989. It tended to feature drama of a science fiction or supernatural bent. The series was created by Anna Home, then head of children's and youth programming at TVS, however production responsibilities were divided amongst most of the regional ITV franchise holders. Thus, each episode was in practice a one-off production with its own cast and crew, up to and including the executive producer.
Dramarama was largely a place for new talent to prove themselves and was a launching pad for the likes of Anthony Horowitz, Paul Abbott, Kay Mellor, Janice Hally, Tony Kearney, David Tennant and Ann Marie Di Mambro. It was one of Dennis Spooner's last credits.
One of Dramarama's episodes, "Dodger, Bonzo And The Rest", gained so much popularity that it was turned in to its own series the following year. It starred Lee Ross and was based around a large foster home. The episode "Blackbird Singing In The Dead of Night" was developed by Granada into the TV series Children's Ward. It was also repeated for the first time since its original broadcast on 5 January 2013, during CITV's 30th anniversary Old Skool Weekend. The Series 7 episode "Back To Front" – notable for featuring a mirror image of the Yorkshire Television logo card at the end – was repeated on 6 January 2013, again as part of CITV's 30th anniversary Old Skool Weekend.
Cast and characters
Guest cast
- Anthony Daniels as Mr. Cane
- Alfred Marks as Captain Katt
- Christopher Biggins as Arnold
- Jim Broadbent as Uncle Keith
- David Tennant as Neil McDonald
- Mike Berry as Dad
- Kieran O'Brien as Trotter
- David Haig as Bill Brock
- Vernon Dobtcheff as Mr. Rolyat
- Michael Elwyn as Count Von Blessynges
- Geoffrey Bayldon as Fishman
- Roger Sloman as Mr. Visor
Episodes
This series spans 8 seasons with 100 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 9 | April 18, 1983 | June 13, 1983 |
| Season 1 | 9 | September 12, 1983 | November 7, 1983 |
| Season 2 | 12 | May 14, 1984 | August 6, 1984 |
| Season 3 | 13 | April 1, 1985 | July 15, 1985 |
| Season 4 | 14 | June 30, 1986 | December 30, 1986 |
| Season 5 | 16 | March 30, 1987 | August 24, 1987 |
| Season 6 | 16 | May 8, 1988 | January 4, 1989 |
| Season 7 | 11 | June 12, 1989 | August 21, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spooky: War Games with Caroline | April 18, 1983 |
| 2 | Spooky: The Exorcism of Amy | April 25, 1983 |
| 3 | Spooky: The Danny Roberts Show | May 9, 1983 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mighty Mum and the Petnappers | September 12, 1983 |
| 2 | Rip It Up | September 19, 1983 |
| 3 |
The Venchie Matt begins a new job as a play worker for an adventure playground - a "venchie". Despite being warned that the kids there are hooligans, Matt believes they just need to be given a chance and understanding |
September 26, 1983 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Night of the Narrow Boats | May 14, 1984 |
| 2 |
Fowl Pest Chaos results when Amy gives her mother a birthday present of four chickens. |
May 21, 1984 |
| 3 |
Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest When they overhear that their children's home may be closed, the youngsters hatch a series of plans, not all totally above board, to raise money to keep it open. |
May 28, 1984 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Easy Neil is a good footballer, but his father wants him to only develop his talent for the violin. But the concert of a great virtuoso changes everything. |
April 1, 1985 |
| 2 | The Coal Princess | April 15, 1985 |
| 3 |
Look At Me Two children, one deaf and one hearing, are brought together by an accident involving the deaf boy's beloved dog. |
April 22, 1985 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt Ludo French stars in a sci-fi series, but working with the arrogant, conceited, always dissatisfied man pushes the production to its limits. |
June 30, 1986 |
| 2 |
A Couple of Charlies A play about a neglected boy on a school pet day, this edition was awarded the Special UNICEF Prize at Prix Jeunesse, Munich. |
July 7, 1986 |
| 3 | Wayfarers | July 14, 1986 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cannondrum | March 30, 1987 |
| 2 |
Snap Peter's dad reluctantly gives him a lift to some marshlands for a school photography project. Yet why is Peter able to see a mysterious hooded figure at the site, but it's unseen by his dad? |
April 6, 1987 |
| 3 |
The Horrible Story Bobby is given a tent from his uncle, and plans to sleep in it overnight with his friend Allan. Yet their plans are disrupted by Bobby's younger brother Christopher tagging along, so they try to scare him away with a "horrible story". |
April 13, 1987 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forever Young | May 8, 1988 |
| 2 | The Macramé Man | May 16, 1988 |
| 3 |
The Wrong Button A school art class visits a noble country estate, with a disused fairground next door. At the same time, a devil-in-training causes chaos among the visitors. But a rascal student can see him and brings his two best friends for a ride. |
May 23, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Codzmorf A father spends a Saturday turning household objects into live animals, things go wrong when he transforms himself and his son has to retrieve the spell book for the reverse spell |
June 12, 1989 |
| 2 | Ghost Story | June 19, 1989 |
| 3 | Badger | June 26, 1989 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | CITV |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 12, 1983 |
| Last aired | August 21, 1989 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Monday |