Eye of the Storm (TV series)

Former popstar-turned-environmental conservationist Tom Frewen lives at sea on the south coast of England alongside his teenage daughter Nell, regularly observing it from their eponymous trawler boat home, the 'Eye of the Storm'. Docking at Montliskeard Bay in Devon, they investigate its connection to an incident that took place during the great storm of 1987, where a ship bound for Felixstowe shedded five drums of highly toxic material. Though four of the discarded canisters were recovered, the fifth appears to remain lost. Its major hazard to marine life concerns Tom, swiftly beginning a search for the whereabouts of the barrel. With their boat then wrecked and Nell attacked whilst diving, the two have their lives threatened at the epicenter of a cover-up by governmental authorities. At the same time, a blind young boy, Luke Montliskeard, is being drugged and abused at Montliskeard Place mansion on the nearby bay cliffs by his malevolent guardian Martha. She desires to create another ecological crisis through this exploitation; one of Luke's alchemist 17th century forefathers, Gilbert, believed that bringing five of his family's jewels together would grant ancient destructive powers. However, before he was able to gather all of them, they were scattered by relatives upon the discovery of his ill intent. Martha tries to find the stones by tracking down Montliskeard descendants and manipulating Luke's extraordinary clairvoyant visions of events he was not present for, intending to summon the destruction in a cave ritual, but has her plans thwarted when the Frewens' efforts collide. ==Production and broadcast==

In preparation for the on-air launch of Meridian Broadcasting as an ITV station, the then-new franchise holder’s controller of children’s and daytime programming Janie Grace (formerly of predecessor Television South) bought three shows by independent production companies for the former audience during 1992. Each were intended to cover a different segment of the network’s youth remit; of these, Eye of the Storm was seen as Meridian’s drama contribution for its older end. Made for Meridian by independent television production company Childsplay Productions, the series was devised by Peter Tabern and Richard Cooper. whereas the latter had moved from theatre to television over a decade prior, predominantly writing several other critically acclaimed thriller serials for youths. Eye of the Storm was solely produced and directed by Tabern, with Cooper similarly credited for all writing. Its budget was reported to be £1 million. Principal photography took place on-location off the coasts of Devon and Hampshire. Kristopher Milnes also made one of his first major on-screen appearances, after voice actor work and recently portraying a younger Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Bill Nighy and Judy Parfitt were cast as Bugeja and Milnes' supporting adult leads, respectively. In subsequent interviews, he would state that he also personally thought the series' story was "a really good adventure yarn". As part of the inaugural First Night on Meridian programme broadcast only by the station itself on the evening of its first day on-air (New Year's Day 1993), short preview scenes of Eye of the Storm were presented by Michael Palin and Neil Buchanan. These were shown alongside previews of Zzzap!, a production made by Buchanan for younger children, and Wizadora for pre-school infants, showcasing the full range of Meridian’s first offerings for youth audiences. Outside of the UK, Eye of the Storm was distributed by Link Entertainment; the series was additionally broadcast in Australia a number of times by ABC, and on pay television by Nickelodeon (originally Max) throughout the 1990s, as well as in Germany under the name of Der Fluch der Edelsteine on ZDF during 1994. ==Cast and characters==

==Critical response and legacy==

On original broadcast, Eye of the Storm was broadly seen to be a success. Alongside earlier excerpts of praise from the Times Educational Supplement read out by Dineage and a brief clip, Cooper credited the actors and Childsplay Productions, whom he would work with once more on their BBC adaption of Children of the New Forest before his 1998 passing. Subsequently, Eye of the Storm did not receive any continuation. It saw one repeat run on CITV during July and August of the following year, and has not been broadcast or commercially released in full since. As of 2022, a recording of its second episode is currently available for viewing at BFI Mediatheque Southbank. Alongside subsequent Childsplay production Pirates, worldwide distribution rights of the series were under Entertainment Rights during the 2000s following their purchase of Link Entertainment. Eye of the Storm has seen less critical recognition over time, and unfavorable comparisons have been drawn in retrospect between it and another ecologically focused Childsplay production, Life Force, in spite of its more controversial reception on initial airings in 2000. Writing for the BFI in ''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama, former Doctor Who Magazine'' journalist Alistair McGown perceived the serial to rely heavily on tension at the expense of strong character development, an aspect he believed to have potential. Though feeling that they "worked reasonably well in their own right" and made use of effective action scenes, McGown also argued that its two plot strands of environmental concern and fantasy did not gel together, combining in a climax deemed to be "almost contrived". == References ==