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Meerkat Manor

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Meerkat Manor
Created byAdam Frost
StarringNARRATORS
UK: Bill Nighy
Australia: Mike Goldman
USA: Sean Astin
Country of originUK
No. of episodes26 (So Far)
Production
Running time30 mins (commercials)
Original release
NetworkAnimal Planet
ReleaseSeptember 12, 2005 –
present

Meerkat Manor is a Discovery Channel Animal Planet series shown successfully worldwide. It is a series that presents the daily activities about a mob of meerkats that is the subject of a ten-year study by Cambridge University. [1] Although the show has elements of a documentary, and is based on actual events, the narrative of the show is presented in a style similar to a soap opera. The show is narrated by Bill Nighy in the UK, Mike Goldman in Australia, and Sean Astin in the USA. The series was originally shown in the UK, and is its primary home, but because it became widely popular, the series was picked up in Australia, then the United States, and is now a worldwide hit.

Premise

From family squabbles to love affairs, Meerkat Manor is a documentary/drama series following the everyday life of a meerkat family, nicknamed the Whiskers, living in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. Each episode in the series presents a rare glimpse into the relationships and familial structure of the central characters.

With no humans featured in the series, film crews were housed in specially-built sheds and for the first time, successfully filmed within a meerkat burrow using fibre-optic cameras.

Whiskers

  • Flower is the leader and dominant female of the Whiskers, and reserves the right to mate for herself. Flower is six years old and has mothered 22 kids. She wears a radio collar, allowing scientists and film crews to track the group.
  • Zaphod is Flower's partner and the dominant male. His name is reference to the character Zaphod Beeblebrox from the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
  • Youssarian was the dominant male of the Whiskers until Zaphod, his older brother, took his place. He is 8 years old, and he has social problems. As a baby, it was theorized that Youssarian was picked up by a bird of prey and dropped on his head, leaving a scar over his left eye. He has also mated with Pancake, a Lazuli female.
  • Mozart, Flower's wayward daughter. She has been evicted from the Whiskers at least four times for having pups after mating with Sondheim and Carlos from the Lazuli
  • Tosca, Flower's rebellious daughter. She was initially exiled from the Whiskers for bearing offspring and then permanently for taking charge of the Splinters, the larger of two groups created by the temporary breakup of the Whiskers. During that time, she wore a radio collar like Flower. When she was exiled, in season 2 it was assumed that she died. However, in season 3, there will be a group with it's domanit pair named Tosca and Carlos. It is possible that Tosca is really Flower's daghter. Also, the title of the show is called "Tosca's Ticket To a New Life" and Carlos has mated with her.
  • Shakespeare, Flower and Zaphod's courageous son. He survived two bites of a puff adder, but is now assumed dead after successfully saving Flower's pups from an attack by Big Cy, the dominant male of the Lazuli group
  • Daisy, the troublemaker, is another of Flower's daughters. During Mozart's last pregnancy, Daisy was the victim of eviction by a subordinate female (Mozart), considered a very rare event in meerkat society. She ended up back in the Whiskers after Mozart's warning bite by Flower. She mated with Carlos but all of her pups died because of the group's unwillingness to help her. Youssarian attempted to aid her pups, but was unsuccessful. She also led the 32 strong Splinter group before Tosca took over.
  • Mitch, the feisty one, is one of Zaphod's sons. He was once on the verge of death after he ate a number of toxic insects but survived and has somewhat filled the void left by Shakespeare's suspected death. He was saved by Shakespeare when two teenage meerkats abandoned him.
  • Colombus, the adventurous little pup, is another of Zaphod's sons. He went foraging with the adults the moment he saw sunlight and is now an adult meerkat (season 2).
  • Attila, an aggressive son of Zaphod and Flower. He notably led a charge against roving meerkat Grog from the Commandoes (who approached the babysitting burrow looking for females).
  • McMurphy & Jogu, Tosca's sons, were assigned babysitting duties in one episode, but had other ideas.
  • Kinkajou, one of Flower's more notable daughters. Was one of the meerkats who abandoned Mitch.
  • Blossom, one of Flower's latest litter, was carried off by a goshhawk after getting lost in the open landscape. Surviving members of the litter are Athena, Apollo, Pepper, and Nutmeg.
  • Sophie and Spud, from Mozart's first litter. They helped babysit one of Flower's litters once.
  • Einstein, another of Zaphod's sons, is seen trying (and failing) to open a turtle egg. He was in the same litter as Mitch, Rocky, and Cruse.
  • Big Wil, one of the meerkats who wanted to mate with the Lazuli females with Yousarrian and Mitch. Also joined Yousarrian to mate with Gaddica females, but failed due to this small group's angry males.
  • Pooky, one of Zaphod's adult sons. As a teen, he saved one of Tosca's pups during the burrow move Yousarrian did for the first time.
  • Pazzo & Sparky, two of the meerkats that followed Flower when the group split up.
  • Sparkle, the female pup who belonged to Mozart, but died due to the second infamous burrow move started by Youssarian.
  • Kooky, one of the young females who went on sentry duty shortly before the Commandoes attacked the smaller Whiskers Splinter group.
  • Parsley, Basil, and Rose were part of the same litter as Colombus.
  • Dudley, Clive, Petra, and Mary Pat were the pups that seperated from the Whiskers from the episode "The Good, the Bad, and the Desperate."
  • Milly, Shelly, and Bing are the newest pups.
  • Rocky, the brother of Mitch, Cruse, and Enstien.
  • Cruse, the sister of Mitch, Rocky, and Enstien, is also the only female of that litter.

Lazuli

  • Carlos- A sly male, considered a playboy. Has mated with Mozart, Tosca, and Daisy.
  • Sondheim- Another playboy. mated with Mozart.
  • Big Si- The former dominant male of the Lazuli. He was the biggest meanest meerkat in the area. Died after the raid on the Whiskers babysitting burrow in which Shakespeare disappeared.
  • Cazanna- The dominant female of the Lazuli. She is unable to bear pups, because there is not an unrelated meerkat in her family.
  • Pancake- A female in of the Lazuli. Once mated with Youssarian and had 2 pups.
  • Maralyn- A female in the Lazuli. She failed to defend Bubbles and Squeak because she is outnumbered by the Commandos. She survived but badly injured.
  • Bubble- A small pup. Was killed by the Commandoes.
  • Squeak- The small surviving pup in the litter. The narrator said the spirit of Big Si lives on in him.
  • Magnus- A large male who attmeped to mate with Flower.
  • J.D.- Cazzana's dominating son. Is now the dominant male of the Lazuli yet cannot mate with Cazzana after Big Si's Death .
  • Penny- A female in the Lazuli is one of the daughters.
  • Izzy- A subordinate who has not been mentioned
  • Jethro- A male who has not been mentioned
  • Bonzo- A young female who has not been mentioned

Commandos

  • Hannibal is a tough, one-eyed meerkat and the leader/dominant male of the Commandos group.
  • Nikita is the dominant female of the Commandos.
  • Ozzy, a large male of the Commandos and Hannibal's son. He was killed during a fight with the Whiskers.
  • Grog, the first Commando seen on the show, approached the Whiskers' babysitting burrow to try and mate with one of the females, but was chased off by Attila, one of the young pups of Flower.

Meerkat Families (Groups)

  • The Whiskers. The focus of the series. The dominant pair are Flower and Zaphod.
  • The Lazuli. Neighbours and rivals of the Whiskers. Led by Cazanna and Big Si and, after Big Si is put to sleep, Cazanna and J.D.
  • The Gattaca. A small group with not many adults. So far, only mentioned once. Led by Risca and Izit.
  • The Commandos. A fearsome group that appears in Season 2. Led by Hannibal and Nikita.
  • The Splinters. Larger of two groups formed when the Whiskers clan temporarily split up (they have since reformed into one large group).

Episodes

First Season

  1. A Family Affair (UK Premiere: September 12, 2005. US Premiere: June 9, 2006. Australian Premiere: August 27, 2006.)
  2. Love Thy Neighbour
  3. Some Like It Hot
  4. Revolution
  5. Childhood's End
  6. Boys Will Be Boys
  7. Divided Loyalties
  8. The Good, The Bad And The Desperate
  9. Daisy's Choice
  10. Flower Power
  11. An Awfully Big Adventure
  12. The Calm Before The Storm
  13. Moving On

Second Season

  1. Cold Comfort (US Premiere: September 29, 2006)
  2. Three Amigos
  3. Young Blood
  4. Iron Lady
  5. There's No Place Like Home
  6. When Flower Met Hannibal
  7. United We Stand
  8. The Enemy Within
  9. The Art of Leadership
  10. Balance Of Power
  11. Growing Pains
  12. The Godmother
  13. The Quiet Fields

DVD releases

Below is a list of DVD's For Each Country.

Title Release Date # of Discs # of Eps
The Complete First Season (UK) October 9, 2006 4 Single Sided Discs 13
The Complete First Season (AU) TBA, 2006 4 Single Sided Discs 13
The Complete First Season (US) November 30, 2006 3 Single Sided Discs 13
The Complete Second Season (UK) December 12 2006 4 Single Sided Discs 13
The Complete Second Season (AU) TBA, 2007 4 Single Sided Discs 13
The Complete Second Season (US) TBA, 2007 3 Single Sided Discs 13

The Complete Third Season(Worldwide) Tba 2008 4 Single sided discs

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