Category: Raven

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Raven

Episode One

RavenA juvenile delinquent named Raven is sent to an archaeological dig site as part of his reform. He will stay with Professor Young and his wife, who are running out of time to recover ancient artifacts from the underground dig before the government takes it over to dump nuclear waste there. Raven tags along with the government official overseeing the handoff, and is quite taken with Naomi, a newspaper reporter sent to cover the closure of the dig and its conversion to a waste dump. Spending time with the Youngs, Raven learns of the professor’s theory that Arthur may not have been the name of a specific king, but rather the title of a series of rulers of medieval England. And it’s roughly around this time that Raven’s strange visions begin…

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Roger Milner (Ticket Collector)

Notes: Raven is on release from a borstal, a kind of institutional school for juvenile offenders Ravenwhich was eliminated – at least by name – by the British government in 1982, after existing for most of the 20th century. Ireland similarly abolished borstals (by name, if not necessarily by practice) in the 1960s; the only remaining borstals in operation in the 21st century are in India.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Raven

Episode Two

RavenRaven’s time with the Youngs grows stranger as he learns that the bird he has seen repeatedly is called a merlin. Professor Young fills Raven in on the background of the archaeological site, and the possible effects of converting it into a dumping ground for nuclear waste. Raven tries to sway the editor of the local newspaper to acknowledging the danger, but gets nowhere with him. Raven is given an errand to run at the dig site, and experiences a series of powerful visions – this time including himself, wearing a crown and robes. But this time, he has something to show for his vision: a mark left on his forehead.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Tenniel Evans (Editor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Raven

Episode Three

RavenThe mystery of what happened to Raven in the caves – and left a visible mark, the astrological symbol of the planet Pluto, on his forehead – attracts the attention of Naomi Grant, who comes to the Youngs’ house to interview Raven for the newspaper. She ventures into the caves with Raven, and is alarmed that the activities underground are an astrological portent of disaster. Raven isn’t quite convinced…until he watches helplessly as a man walks into his doom in a rockfall.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Tenniel Evans (Editor), Ellis Jones (Vicar), Blake Butler (Stone)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Raven

Episode Four

RavenRaven escapes the worst part of the rockfall and raises the alarm; the rest of the dig workers and emergency services arrive to dig out the buried man, who may still have enough air for a few minutes, though the effort to reach him is expected to take hours. Arriving on the heels of the people who can help is television reporter Clive Castle, who sees nothing but a story, and is particularly fascinated by Raven’s role in the unfolding drama.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Tenniel Evans (Editor), Ellis Jones (Vicar), Blake Butler (Stone), Hugh Thomas (Castle)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Raven

Episode Five

RavenFollowing the miraculous rescue of Bill Telford, interest in Raven increases, both from the media and from those around him, though he’s crushed to learn that this doesn’t include any romantic interest from Naomi. Raven overhears a conversation between Naomi and Professor Young in which they believe that Raven may be the reincarnation of King Arthur, and when he confronts them about this, Professor Young tells Raven that his own natural authority in leading the rescue was the proof he needed. The Professor invites Raven to a meeting…set to take place at a stone circle near the dig site.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Tenniel Evans (Editor), Harold Innocent (Minister), Ellis Jones (Vicar), Blake Butler (Stone), Hugh Thomas (Castle)

Notes: A stone circle figured prominently in Burnham & Ray’s previous series, Children Of The Stones.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Raven

Episode Six

RavenAfter the meeting in the stone circle, Raven emerges as the voice of a movement against the dumping of nuclear waste in the caves. But Raven suddenly bolts out of a meeting at the county hall, overcome by a feeling that something “big” is still needed to change the minds of government ministers in favor of the nuclear dump. He and Naomi return to the caves to find a chamber that they’re sure is there, but appears nowhere on the maps. In that chamber lies the answer Raven seeks, but it seems his story will parallel King Arthur’s in one tragic way: the loss of a friend and mentor in a time of need.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Michael Hart
music not credited

RavenCast: Michael Aldridge (Professor Young), Patsy Rowlands (Mrs. Young), Phil Daniels (Raven), Shirley Cheriton (Naomi Grant), James Kerry (Bill Telford), Tenniel Evans (Editor), Harold Innocent (Minister), Ellis Jones (Vicar), Blake Butler (Stone), Hugh Thomas (Castle), Geoffrey Lumsden (Sir Lewis Gurney)

LogBook entry by Earl Green