Today begins Narnia Month, picking up where we left off last season reviewing the BBC live-action adaptations. Matt, Andrew, Christin, and David dive into a conversation about the BBC adaptation of Prince Caspian.
Click here to download audio for S10E2: BBC Prince Caspian
Show Notes
Introduction
Quote-of-the-week
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Welcome
Chit-Chat
- Christin has a replica of Queen Susan’s horn! (a gift from her brother)
- She’s worked on a book or two since she last joined the show
Toast
- Christin is having peppermint tea in a Hobbit mug
- David is enjoying Maker’s Mark
- Matt is drinking a French 75 cocktail
- Ice
- 1 ounce gin
- ½ ounce fresh lemon juice
- ½ ounce Simple Syrup
- 3 ounces Champagne or Prosecco
- Lemon twist, for garnish
- Instructions- In a cocktail shaker with ice, place the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake until chilled and strain into a Champagne flute or coupe glass. Top with the Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.
- Andrew is drinking Guinness
- Today we’re toasting new Patreon supporter, Josh Jeffus. Cheers!
Discussion
Background
- So, last season we covered the BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was released as six half-hour episodes in 1988.
- A year later, the BBC released a new season, another six episodes, but this time covering two Narnian books: Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The first two episodes were devoted to Prince Caspian (released 19th and 26th November 1989), and the remaining four episodes cover The Voyage of the Dawn Treader which we’ll discuss next episode.
01. “The Railway Station”
- Beautiful music featuring French horn
- Arley railway station in Worcestershire
- Richard Dempsey as Peter, Sophie Cook as Susan, Jonathan R. Scott as Edmund, and Sophie Wilcox as Lucy
- Susan is off to America, Peter is off to school, and Lucy and Edmund are off to Eustace Scrubb’s house
- They seem to want to avoid Narnia or talk of Narnia
- The Soul of the Apostolate
02. “Caspian’s Castle”
- Pembroke Castle in Wales
- Prince Caspian played by 14yo Jean-Marc Perret (Cinderella)
- Caspian is doing his archery practice under the watchful eye of his evil uncle Miraz played by Robert Lang, whom you may know from his large filmography, including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Wilde.
- Costume budget increased, all spent on crowns!
03. “Caspian’s Tutor”
- Henry Woolf as Dr. Cornelius. He has also had a very full career, with credits including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Superman III, and, like all great actors of the era, was in an episode of Doctor Who.
04. “Caspian’s Flight”
- Next up we see Caspian learning to use a sword and then hear the crying of a baby. Caspian must flee!
- “He murdered your father…”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Cornelius in the Bible
- St. Pope Cornelius
05. “Caspian’s New Friends”
- Trumpkin is played by Big Mick (Mick Walter) who also played the White Witch’s dwarf in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Folks who love British TV will also recognize him from Black Books and Green Wing.
- Nikabrik is played by George Claydon. He also played the Witch’s dwarf, but in the 1967 black and white version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which we previously reviewed! Interestingly, in that version the dwarf has a name – Ginarrbrik. This actor also played an Oompa Loompa in 1971 adaptation of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and also the photographer in the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
- Reepicheep is played by the legendary Warwick Davis who, funnily enough, later switches sides to play Nikabrik in Disney’s 2008 adaptation of Prince Caspian. He’s also played Wicket in Return of the Jedi, the title role in Willow, the lead in Leprechaun horror movies, as well as both Flitwick and Griphook in Harry Potter.
- Trufflehunter is female in this adaptation, performed by Julie Peters who is also credited in Willow and voiced by Joanna David (whom you might recognize as Mrs. Gardiner in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice).
- Glenstorm was played by William Todd-Jones who was also one of Aslan’s puppeteers.
06. “Caspian makes a call”
- Caspian’s army attempt to make their way to Aslan’s How, but discover Miraz’s army in their way. They engage in fighting in the surrounding woods. Caspian blows Susan’s horn and we cut to the Pevensies who get swept into Narnia. Trumpkin is sent to Cair Paravel – there’s no mention of Pattertwig going to Lantern Waste.
07. “Rescuing Trumpkin”
- We then have the scene where they rescue Trumpkin from the Telmarines who planned to drown him and the Pevensies rescue him
- Very rushed look through the treasures
- Susan kills a man!
08. “The Journey to the Stone Table”
- The Telmarines went to the same sharp-shooter school as the stormtroopers in Star Wars!
- We then cut to everyone asleep in the forest when Aslan arrives, played as always by the late Ronald Pickup, an actor with a very long career, but who may be best known to modern audiences as the Archbishop of Canterbury in The Crown. There’s a team of puppeteers who make Aslan move. Ailsa Berk and Tim Rose have been involved in many notable projects including Star War and The Dark Crystal.
- A lot was lost by how short this journey was cut
09. “Inside the How”
- We meet a hag, played by the White Witch from the previous season, the ever-enthusiastic Barbara Kellerman. She is joined by a werewolf who should look very familiar, because it’s another return from the previous season, Martin Stone who played Maugrim.
- Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin burst in as the spell begins to be cast and they kill Nikabrick, the hag, and the werewolf, and introduce themselves to Caspian.
10. “The Challenge”
- Edmund, Glenstorm, and a giant approach Miraz’s army with green branches. We meet Glozelle and Sopespian privately agree they could run Narnia better without Miraz. Glozelle is plated by Joe McGann who I knew as Charlie in The Upper Hand in the early nineties. Rory Edwards as Sopespian and his credits include the Beethoven biopic, Immortal Beloved.
11. “The Fight”
- Peter gets the better of Miraz. Glozelle stabs Miraz, saying “This is for your insult this morning”. The Telmarines cry treachery and attack. A general battle follows, with tents burning.
- Tom Bombadil
12. “The Aftermath”
- Peter presents Caspian to Aslan. Asked if he feels able to rule, Caspian says no, and Aslan replies that this proves he can. He is named King of Narnia.
- Missed the fullness of the scene with Reepicheep’s tail and his mouse “men”
13. “The Pevensies go home”
- Aslan creates a portal for the Pevensie siblings to travel home
14. “Setting up Dawn Treader”
- Lucy and Edmund watch a painting of a ship on the sea come to life at the Scrubb house and can smell the sea
Concluding Thoughts
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