Carrock
- 55
- 15
About 50 years after "Doctor Who" first aired, Children's BBC decided it was time for a another high quality drama.
"Young Dracula" is a tragicomic gothic fantasy for ages 6 to adult. Its encouragement of critical thinking and e.g. the tendency of most characters to lie, often without tells, and plot and betray when expedient, made the drama very popular with children, but not with those adults who think children should be taught what to think, not how to think.
From RIP Young Dracula:
"So we had this children’s t.v. show about Count Dracula and his family, relocating to England.
Along the way stories dealt with bigotry, hope, despair, genuine cruelty, revenge on many levels, parents using their children as pawns, blackmail, young love crashing and burning, people trying to find their own identity, political intrigue, attempted (sometimes successful) murder, and war. It doesn’t sound like a children’s show does it? Yet it remained funny, remained accessible to all ages." [The unedited source has multiple spoilers and some dubious plot interpretations.]
The drama was cancelled "for financial reasons" after the second season cliffhanger, but lessons had been learned from"Doctor Who" and the fanbase hit the ground running.
The numbers and persistence of fans campaigning for the drama's return became national news and CBBC eventually revived "Young Dracula" four years later.
It's currently the least advertised drama on the BBC iPlayer and the first two seasons are also on YouTube.
"Young Dracula" is a tragicomic gothic fantasy for ages 6 to adult. Its encouragement of critical thinking and e.g. the tendency of most characters to lie, often without tells, and plot and betray when expedient, made the drama very popular with children, but not with those adults who think children should be taught what to think, not how to think.
From RIP Young Dracula:
"So we had this children’s t.v. show about Count Dracula and his family, relocating to England.
Along the way stories dealt with bigotry, hope, despair, genuine cruelty, revenge on many levels, parents using their children as pawns, blackmail, young love crashing and burning, people trying to find their own identity, political intrigue, attempted (sometimes successful) murder, and war. It doesn’t sound like a children’s show does it? Yet it remained funny, remained accessible to all ages." [The unedited source has multiple spoilers and some dubious plot interpretations.]
The drama was cancelled "for financial reasons" after the second season cliffhanger, but lessons had been learned from"Doctor Who" and the fanbase hit the ground running.
The numbers and persistence of fans campaigning for the drama's return became national news and CBBC eventually revived "Young Dracula" four years later.
It's currently the least advertised drama on the BBC iPlayer and the first two seasons are also on YouTube.