Dark Season contains novelisations of both three-part stories from the children's television series of the same name.
Script Writer
Russell T Davies
Television DetailsRussell T Davies
Dark Season
6 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour
14/11/91 Episode One
21/11/91 Episode Two
28/11/91 Episode Three
05/12/91 Episode Four
12/12/91 Episode Five
19/12/91 Episode Six
Archive Details / DVD Releases
Dark Season has been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / HMV.com).
Dark SeasonAn ordinary day at school takes a sinister turn when the mysterious Mr Eldritch promises a free home computer for every pupil — computers which conceal a terrible power...
Only three teenagers, Marcie, Thomas and Reet, are alert to danger. Soon, they're caught in a conspiracy of brainwashing, kidnaps and a threat to the whole human race. Worse still, the school itself hides ancient secrets buried beneath its foundations, as the awesome Behemoth rises from its tomb, intent upon the destruction of all.
Eldritch has summoned his Dark Season, which heralds the end of the world...
Publisher BBC Books Format Paperback Publication Date November 1991 ISBN 0-563-36265-0 Original Price £2.99 Country UK
Edition Notes
- The front cover shows Kate Winslet ar Reet, Victoria Lambert as Marcie, and Ben Chandler as Thomas.
General Notes
- Dark Season is widely regarded as one of the best children's sci-fi dramas of the 1990s.
Consisting of two three-part stories, the first involved an attempt to take over the world by the mysterious Mr Eldritch, while the second included an abandoned war machine which wanted to destroy the world and which memorably burst through the floor of the school hall when it was awoken.
Cast members included Brigit Forsyth (Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?), Jacqueline Pearce (Blake's 7 / Moondial) and a young actress by the name of Kate Winslet, who went on to appear in movies such as Heavenly Creatures and the little-remembered Titanic, before finally winning an Oscar at the sixth time of asking in 2009 for her performance in The Reader. - After Dark Season Russell T Davies went on to write Century Falls (another acclaimed children's drama for BBC1), Queer as Folk, Bob and Rose, Mine All Mine and the BBC Three series Casanova. Not forgetting The Second Coming on ITV which saw the son of God arrive in Manchester...
In 1996 he wrote Damaged Goods, an original Doctor Who novel for Virgin Publishing's range of New Adventures, and is currently the lead writer and executive producer on the BBC television revival of the series.
Of the thirteen episodes produced for Series 1, Davies wrote no less than eight, with all of them being included in Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts from BBC Books in October 2005.
In September 2005 it was revealed that Davies had devised a spin-off series from Doctor Who. Torchwood was subsequently shown on BBC Three in Autumn 2006 to high ratings but mediocre reviews. Another Davies-created Doctor Who spin-off in the form of The Sarah Jane Adventures debuted on BBC One on New Year's Day 2007 to far more favourable reviews, with a full season following later in the year.
