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Wizards vs Aliens

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Wizards vs Aliens
Titlecard of Wizards vs Aliens
GenreAdventure, Sci-fi
Created byRussell T Davies
Phil Ford
StarringScott Haran
Percelle Ascott
Annette Badland
Michael Higgs
Dan Starkey
Tom Bell
Kristian Philips
Alex Childs
ComposerSam Watts
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes36 (as of 25 November 2014) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersRussell T Davies (Series 1-2)
Bethan Hunt (Series 1-2)
Nikki Wilson (Series 3)
Phil Ford (Series 3)
ProducersBrian Minchin (Series 1)
Peter Bennett (Series 2-3)
EditorsWill Oswald
Tim Hodges
Running time28 minutes approx.
Production companiesBBC Cymru Wales
FremantleMedia Enterprises
Original release
NetworkCBBC
Release29 October 2012 –
Present

Wizards vs Aliens is a British science fantasy television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales and FremantleMedia Enterprises for CBBC and created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford.

The series focuses on the adventures of 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke (Scott Haran) and his scientifically-gifted best friend Benny Sherwood (Percelle Ascott) as they battle against an alien species called the Nekross, who have arrived on Earth with the intention of consuming all of wizardkind and feasting on their magic.[1]

Production-wise, Wizards vs Aliens was created to fill the schedule gap left by the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures when its lead actress Elisabeth Sladen fell ill; she died in 2011.[2][3] The show, however, has no relation to the Doctor Who universe.

Two series were commissioned by the BBC in late 2011 for broadcast in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Series one broadcast between 29 October 2012 and 4 December 2012 containing twelve episodes (six two-part stories). Series two aired between 28 October 2013 and 10 December 2013, containing fourteen episodes (seven two-part stories). A third series featuring ten episodes (five two-part stories)[4] premiered on 27 October 2014[5] and ended 25 November 2014.

Co-creator and executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the show could "easily run for ten years".[6]

Premise

Tom Clarke is a seemingly ordinary 16-year-old boy who loves football. He lives with his "unenchanted" father Michael Clarke and "enchanted" grandmother Ursula of the 'Magical Line of Crowe', – but there’s something different about Tom as his family are Wizards. When an alien race known as the Nekross arrive on Earth hungry for magic, there's trouble for all 'wizardkind'.

Varg and Lexi, the two main Nekross antagonists, are the same size as humans, with yellow skin covered in spikes and a tentacle on each side of their heads. The right tentacle has an eye and the left one a mouth. They both wear blue armour. They occasionally use Nekross technology to appear to be human when on Earth. Their father is a large yellow face encased in the wall of the spaceship. It is unclear how much of his body is behind the wall. Other Nekross are Technician Jathro 15, who is red, Chancellor Kooth, who is blue-white, and various guards and other crewmembers, who don't remove their helmets.

The Nekross are immune to wizard magic, as they consume it. They have a machine on their spaceship that can drain all the magic from a captured wizard, which also makes the wizard instantly become very old. After a wizard is drained, he or she is returned to Earth.

With the help of his friend and science super-brain Benny Sherwood, Tom must stop them.

In the third series, Tom and Benny now face against the now King Regent Varg who wishes to have vengence on Tom for turning Lexi into a human (which he did to save her life) and sending her to Earth. Also there is Varg's wife Lady Lyzera who is secretly a sorceress who wishes to take Earth's magic for herself and take over the universe.

Characters

Current

Wizards / Unenchanted

  • Thomas Robert "Tom" Clarke (Scott Haran) - 16 later 17-year-old football-loving wizard who defends wizardkind and Earth against the Nekross.
  • Ursula Crowe (Annette Badland) - Tom's happy-go-lucky grandmother and Michael's mother-in-law, a wizard descended from the Magical Line of Crowe who occasionally has trouble casting the right spell.
  • Randal Moon (Dan Starkey) - A hobgoblin who lives in the Chamber of Crowe and aids the Wizards in their fight against the Nekross.

Nekross

  • Varg (Jefferson Hall (Series 1-2), Kristian Phillips (Series 3)) - Prince of Nekron and later Regent King; son of the Nekross King, Lexi's older brother and Lady Lyzera's husband, who fights the Wizards with brute strength. He is demanding and determined to locate and devour all magic on Earth, at any cost. As Regent King, Varg wishes to have vengeance on Tom for turning sister Lexi into a human.
  • Lady Lyzera (Alex Childs) - Regent Queen of Nekron and Varg's wife. Cunning, ambitious and charming, she stands by Varg in his mission to find all known magic on Earth and rid the universe of Tom Clarke. However, unknown to Varg, Lyzera is secretly a Nekross Sorceress who schemes to harvest magic for herself and use it to conquer the universe.

Recurring

  • Katie Lord (Manpreet Bambra) - Tom and Benny's classmate and Tom's love interest, who is unaware that Tom is a Wizard, she briefly learned of the secret in the third series, but could not handle the strain of worrying about Tom, forcing him to wipe her memory.
  • Quinn Christopher (Connor Scarlett) - Another of Tom and Benny's classmates, who occasionally teases Benny but eventually befriends him. Like Kate, he has no idea of Tom's true nature as a Wizard.

Past

  • Benjamin Claude "Benny" Sherwood (Percelle Ascott) - Tom's 16 later 17-year-old unenchanted best friend whose extended knowledge of science finds its use in battle against the Nekross, although his experiments have occasionally gone wrong - especially when involving magic as he believes it to be like any other energy harnessed by science. Benny later comes out as gay to Tom and moves to America to study at MIT.
  • The Nekross King (voiced by Brian Blessed) - King of the Nekross's home planet Nekron and father of Varg and Lexi, in charge of their mission to find and consume all known magic on Earth. Due to his obese size, he is immobile on the Nekross starship "Zarantulus". The King later retires, leaving Varg as King Regent of Nekross.
  • Lexi (Gwendoline Christie) - 17-year-old Princess of Nekron; daughter of the Nekross King and Varg's younger sister, whose strategy skills and in-depth research into Earth's culture helps the Nekross in their battle against the Wizards. She and Tom later form an on-again-off-again relationship and eventually have a son together, Benny Junior, while trapped in the Neverside. After sustaining injury to save Tom back in the Dayside, he makes her human and sends her to live on Earth with Benny Junior.
  • Technician Jathro 15 (Tom Bell) - A Nekross of the Zarantulus technician class, who assisted Varg and Lexi in their schemes against the Wizards while secretly working for his mother, Chancellor Kooth, as part of their plan to overthrow the Royal Family. Thought to have been swept away with Kooth's armada, Varg and the Lady Lyzera find Jathro on Earth and make him the jester of Lyzera's pet bird Eelix as punishment for his betrayal. Jathro is later turned into beetroo bugs for Eelix by Lyzera after discovering her nature as a Sorceress.

Episodes

Series Episodes Originally aired DVD release date
Series premiere Series finale Region 2 Region 4
1 12 29 October 2012 4 December 2012 31 December 2012 17 July 2013
2 14 28 October 2013 10 December 2013 TBA 3 September 2014[7]
3 10 27 October 2014 25 November 2014 TBA TBA

Series 1 (2012)

Story No. Episode Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code
1a1"Dawn of the Nekross (Part 1)"Daniel O'HaraPhil Ford29 October 2012 (2012-10-29)1.1
Aliens arrive on Earth and start kidnapping wizards draining them of their magical powers. A young wizard named Tom Clarke and a science student named Benny Sherwood attract the attention of the Nekross. After a battle Tom and his grandmother are captured and taken to the Nekross's ship.
1b2"Dawn of the Nekross (Part 2)"Daniel O'HaraPhil Ford30 October 2012 (2012-10-30)1.2
Tom escapes from the Nekross, although his grandmother remains captured. Tom and Benny attempt to return to the spacecraft to rescue her, but are unsuccessful until Tom, Benny, and Tom's father Michael are captured. There, they successfully organize an escape, taking with them Ursula and two previously captured wizards.
2a3"Grazlax Attacks (Part 1)"Daniel O'HaraPhil Ford5 November 2012 (2012-11-05)1.3
Tom spends the day at Benny's house. While there, the Nekross send a Grazlax to hunt them down and the two must defeat it while hiding the presence of the aliens from Benny's parents. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, they are finally able to lock the alien in Benny's bathroom.
2b4"Grazlax Attacks (Part 2)"Daniel O'HaraPhil Ford6 November 2012 (2012-11-06)1.4
The Grazlax is multiplying out of control forcing the Nekross to plan to destroy Tom's house in order to save the population of Earth before all the magic is gone. Tom and Benny fight to stop the Grazlax before they run out of time while hiding their secret from others.
3a5"Rebel Magic (Part 1)"Griff RowlandJoseph Lidster12 November 2012 (2012-11-12)1.5
After being attacked by a group of thugs, Tom meets Jackson Hawke, a fellow wizard who unlike Tom is able to affect the Nekross with his magic. Jackson lacks Tom's reluctance to take advantage of others using magic and leads Tom astray.
3b6"Rebel Magic (Part 2)"Griff RowlandJoseph Lidster13 November 2012 (2012-11-13)1.6
Benny becomes worried about Tom's changes under Jackson's influence and contacts Ursula who reveals that Jackson is using unsafe "grim" magic. Tom and Jackson plan to take on the Nekross and they along with Benny are captured. There, Tom convinced Jackson to use his magic to save all three. On returning home, Jackson is offered a place with Tom's family, but decides to set out in search of his own parents instead.
4a7"Friend or Foe (Part 1)"Griff RowlandClayton Hickman19 November 2012 (2012-11-19)1.7
One of the Nekross named Lexi disguises herself as a human and travels to Earth. Lexi and Tom are captured by Stephanie Gaunt. To free them, an alliance is formed between the Nekross and Tom's family.
4b8"Friend or Foe (Part 2)"Griff RowlandClayton Hickman20 November 2012 (2012-11-20)1.8
In attempting to free Tom and Lexi, Ursula, Benny, Michael and Lexi's brother Varg are captured. Working together they escape and Varg attempts to renege on their deal only to be prevented from doing so by Lexi.
5a9"Fall of the Nekross (Part 1)"Joss AgnewGareth Roberts26 November 2012 (2012-11-26)1.9
Benny works out a plan to stop the Nekross. But when the plan is implemented, the plan stops all life support on the Nekross's ship. In desperation, Lexi contacts Tom to ask for help.
5b10"Fall of the Nekross (Part 2)"Joss AgnewGareth Roberts27 November 2012 (2012-11-27)1.10
Benny regrets his actions feeling compassion for the Nekross, but Ursula and Michael are willing to let the Nekross die. To save them, Tom teleports Benny to the Nekross's ship. Benny succeeds in his mission, but the Nekross attack forcing Benny to teleport quickly back to Earth.
6a11"The Last Day (Part 1)"Joss AgnewPhil Ford3 December 2012 (2012-12-03)1.11
Tom experiences nightmares of his late mother Helen (Jennifer Hennessy) who was killed trying to protect him. Inexplicably, Tom sees Helen, but when he finally is able to talk to her, she seems to have no recollection of who she was. They travel to a warehouse where they find that the Nekross have been making clones of Helen.
6b12"The Last Day (Part 2)"Joss AgnewPhil Ford4 December 2012 (2012-12-04)1.12
Helen helps them escape, and they plan an attack on the Nekross successfully destroying the cloning factories. Unable to stay with her family, Helen finally departs.

Series 2 (2013)

Story No. Episode Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code
7a1"100 Wizards (Part 1)"Beryl RichardsPhil Ford28 October 2013 (2013-10-28)2.1
Tom and Benny meet another wizard- Chloe. Not knowing of the Nekross, Chloe publicly entertains people not knowing the Nekross are looking down on her.
7b2"100 Wizards (Part 2)"Beryl RichardsPhil Ford29 October 2013 (2013-10-29)2.2
Tom and Chloe work together by combining their powers to save 100 wizards from the Nekross.
8a3"Vice Versa (Part 1)"Beryl RichardsClayton Hickman4 November 2013 (2013-11-04)2.3
Tom and Benny meet the Hobbledeyhoy which swaps the lives of Ursula, Varg and Tom and Benny. Lexi finds it as an advantage to taunt Varg.
8b4"Vice Versa (Part 2)"Beryl RichardsClayton Hickman5 November 2013 (2013-11-05)2.4
Lexi extracts the magic from the now dead Hobbledehoy, it looks to be that Benny be magical and Tom be clever forever.
9a5"The Cave of Menla-Gto (Part 1)"Mark EverestJoseph Lidster11 November 2013 (2013-11-11)2.5
When Tom's magic backfires during Benny's experiment he has a disease called the 'Devastation'. Tom, Michael and Ursula set out to Tibet to find the Cave of Menla-Gto and Benny and Moon work together to restore the shroud when the Nekross plan to destroy it.
9b6"The Cave of Menla-Gto (Part 2)"Mark EverestJoseph Lidster12 November 2013 (2013-11-12)2.6
At the cave, Tom meets the 'spirit of the cave'. Meanwhile Benny and Moon are taken by the Nekross and Moon has save the day after Benny has taught him science, and Tom has fight for his life.
10a7"The Curse of Crowe (Part 1)"Mark EverestGareth Roberts18 November 2013 (2013-11-18)2.7
When wizard Gemma Raven and her mother are kidnapped by the Nekross, Gemma makes a deal with the Nekross and plans on destroying Tom and Benny's friendship.
10b8"The Curse of Crowe (Part 2)"Mark EverestGareth Roberts19 November 2013 (2013-11-19)2.8
Tom and Benny become enemies and Ursula turns into a 'Neverwas', is all victory alongside the Nekross.
11a9"The Thirteenth Floor (Part 1)"Paul MurphyPhil Ford25 November 2013 (2013-11-25)2.9
Tom and Lexi (now Lucy) get trapped in the 'Neverside' and a relationship begins to grow between them. Benny, his new friend Alisa, Ursula and Michael have to find them.
11b10"The Thirteenth Floor (Part 2)"Paul MurphyPhil Ford26 November 2013 (2013-11-26)2.10
Ursula, Benny and Michael work together to find Tom and Lucy. Meanwhile, their relationship grows.
12a11"Endless Night (Part 1)"Joss AgnewPhil Ford2 December 2013 (2013-12-02)2.11
On the verge of an eclipse, the Nekross move the Moon right into a new orbit blocking the sun so Tom has no magic.
12b12"Endless Night (Part 2)"Joss AgnewPhil Ford3 December 2013 (2013-12-03)2.12
Tom and Lexi must reunite to save the Earth from doom.
13a13"All Out War! (Part 1)"Joss AgnewRussell T Davies9 December 2013 (2013-12-09)2.13
Chancellor Kooth visits and places Varg and Lexi in a 'Contest of Devourment'. Meanwhile a family visit the Clarke resident claiming they have found the Source of all magic.
13b14"All Out War! (Part 2)"Joss AgnewRussell T Davies10 December 2013 (2013-12-10)2.14
Tom, Benny, Varg and Lexi must work together to stop an attack from Jathro 15 and Kooth before they bring down the royal family of Nekron and before they destroy the Earth.

Series 3 (2014)

Story No. Episode Title[8][9] Directed by[8][9] Written by[8][9] Original air date[8][9] Production
code
14a1"The Secret of Room 12 (Part 1)"Mark EverestPhil Ford27 October 20143.1
Tom and Benny think that with the Nekross gone life’s going to get a whole lot easier, but students and teachers at Kings Park School start acting strangely, and the duo suspect alien activity centred on the mysterious Room 12. Elsewhere, Varg has a new wife by his side, but the mysterious Lady Lyzera has a secret of her own.
14b2"The Secret of Room 12 (Part 2)"Mark EverestPhil Ford27 October 20143.2
15a3"The Quantum Effect (Part 1)"Mark EverestJulie Dixon3 November 20143.3
Tom is suspicious when Benny gets an invitation to help an eccentric scientist at the Brook Mill radio telescope.
15b4"The Quantum Effect (Part 2)"Mark EverestJulie Dixon4 November 20143.4
Tom and Benny must overcome their quarrel over Benny's plans to leave for studies in the US as Varg and Lady Lyzera scheme to capture every wizard on the planet using their new technology.
16a5"The Daughters of Stone (Part 1)"Lee Haven JonesPhil Ford10 November 20143.5
Tom is contacted by Katie when something terrifies her grandfather at the spooky disused Blackberry Theatre.
16b6"The Daughters of Stone (Part 2)"Lee Haven JonesPhil Ford11 November 20143.6
Tom is reunited with his long-gone grandfather who had been lost on the Neverside for 30 years.
17a7"The Key of Bones (Part 1)"Lee Haven JonesSasha Hails17 November 20143.7
There are more tears in the Line of Twilight as Simeon proposes a quest to find the only object that can heal it: the ancient and lost Key of Bones.
17b8"The Key of Bones (Part 2)"Lee Haven JonesSasha Hails18 November 20143.8
Tom, Michael and Simeon are trapped with Varg and Lyzera on a deadly quest for the Key of Bones by the mischievous Quest Master.
18a9"Twilight Falls (Part 1)"Mark EverestPhil Ford24 November 20143.9
Randal Moon learns that the Lady Lyzera intends to release Warlock from his centuries-long exile on the Neverside and he is faced with a decision that may destroy the Chamber of Crowe.
18b10"Twilight Falls (Part 2)"Mark EverestPhil Ford25 November 20143.10
Tom and Moon try to stop Warlock escaping the Neverside through the Doorway of Long Shadows.

International broadcasts and releases

Wizards vs Aliens made its American debut in on the cable channel Hub Network on 1 June 2013, but only ran for four episodes due to poor ratings.

In Australia the show aired on ABC 3 weekly between 25 April-11 July 2013; however, the third series will not be shown as the channel could no long afford the cost of airing the programme.

In Poland, the show aired on teleTOON+ between 6 April 2013 – 1 January 2014. In Polish dub, the last episode was slightly censored – Benny’s dialogue during his coming out was changed from “I’ll go on a date, one day. Just not with her. Not with a girl” to “I’ll go on a date, one day. Just not with her. Not yet”.

Television ratings

Series 3

Episode no. Air date Total viewers CBBC weekly ranking
1 & 2 27 October 2014 297,000 1
3 3 November 2014 266,000 2
4 4 November 2014 229,000 1
5 10 November 2014 288,000 6
6 11 November 2014 276,000 8
7 17 November 2014
8 18 November 2014
9 24 November 2014
10 25 November 2014

References

  1. ^ Connelly, Brendan (28 April 2012). "Official Blurb And First Look At Wizards Vs. Aliens From Doctor Who's Russell T Davies". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  2. ^ "What we know about Russell T Davies' and Phil Ford's Aliens Vs Wizards". Den of Geek. 5 March 2012.
  3. ^ Bluebox podcast No. 126 "Dan and Phil"
  4. ^ Bowman, John (5 March 2014). "Update to Wizards vs Aliens gets third series". News In Time And Space. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  5. ^ Cheryl Taylor, Controller, CBBC. "CBBC announces third series of Wizards Vs Aliens - Media centre". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Russell T Davies SFX Interview".
  7. ^ "Wizards Vs Aliens Series 2". Roadshow Entertainment. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d Martin, William (3 October 2014). "'Wizards vs Aliens' Season 3 episode guide". CultBox. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d McEwan, Cameron (2 October 2014). "Wizards Vs Aliens Series 3 details". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Weekly Top 10 Programmes on CBBC". BARB. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Top 10 Programmes". BARB. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/spoilers/episode-guides/wizards-vs-aliens-season-3

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