Young Dracula

Young Dracula is a British children's horror drama comedy television series which aired on CBBC, loosely based on Young Dracula, a 2002 children's book by Michael Lawrence.[1] The final episode aired on 31 March 2014.

Young Dracula
Young Dracula Series 1–2 Title Card
GenreTeen drama
Supernatural drama
Horror
Sitcom (series 1–2)
Created byDanny Robins
Dan Tetsell
StarringKeith-Lee Castle
Gerran Howell
Clare Thomas
Simon Ludders
Andy Bradshaw
ComposersJohn Rea (series 1)
Nick Lloyd (series 23)
Simon Rogers (Series 4)
Michael J McEvoy (series 5)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series5
No. of episodes66 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJosephine Ward
ProducersMia Jupp (series 12)
Lis Steele (series 34)
Melanie Halsall (Series 3)
Candida Julian–Jones (series 5)
Production locationsGlamorgan (series 12)
Liverpool (series 35)
EditorsChristian Blood
Emyr Jenkins
Robert Douglas-Reeves
Nick Holes
Jane Murrell
Pedr James
Angharad Owen
Bleddyn Rhys
Camera setupVideotape (filmized) (series 12)
RED (series 35)
Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBBC Cymru Wales
DistributorFireworks Entertainment (2006–2011)
Content Media Corporation PLC (2011–2014)
Release
Original networkCBBC Channel
Picture formatSDTV (576i) (series 12)
HDTV (1080i) (series 35)
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseOriginal Series:
21 September 2006 (2006-09-21) 
31 March 2014 (2014-03-31)

The first two series follow the Dracula family, a family of vampires: Vladimir (Vlad), his father Count Dracula, and sister Ingrid. Having lived in Transylvania, they move to Stokely, a small town in Wales after various incidents involving angry peasant mobs. It was filmed in various locations around Wales, including Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, Caerphilly Castle, Tretower Court and parts of Llantrisant. Directed by Joss Agnew, the first series was broadcast in 2006 and the second series, which started in late 2007, concluded in early 2008.

The third series, commissioned three years after the second, sees Vlad and the Count flee both vampires and slayers, while the Count is determined that Vlad should fulfil his destiny to become "the Chosen One". This series was filmed in Liverpool during 2011, in various locations including the disused Margaret Bevan School, Croxteth Hall and Stanley Docks.[2][3][4] It began airing on 31 October 2011. The fourth series follows on from season three's predicament and had a new director, airing on 29 October 2012. Young Dracula was renewed for a fifth and final series in 2013, with filming beginning in April.[5] The hour long finale, "The Darkest Hour", aired 31 March 2014.

Young Dracula was nominated for Best Children's Drama in the 2008 BAFTA Awards and has been nominated for several other awards. An additional series, the Young Dracula Files, began broadcasting on 24 October 2012, in which the main characters tell their stories of the past. It was primarily hosted by the character Bertrand Du Fortunesa, played by Cesare Taurasi.

Characters

CharacterPortrayed bySeries
12345
Vladimir DraculaGerran HowellMain
Count DraculaKeith Lee CastleMain
Ingrid DraculaClare ThomasMain
RenfieldSimon LuddersMain
ZoltanAndy BradshawMain
Robin BranaghCraig RobertsMain
Chloe BranaghLucy Borja-EdwardsMain
Eric Van HelsingTerence MaynardMain
Jonathan Van HelsingTerry HaywoodMain
Mina Van HelsingJo-Anne KnowlesMain
Wolfie WesternraLorenzo RodriguezMain
Alex McCauleyLetty ButlerMain
Bertrand du FortunesaCesare TaurasiMain
Erin NobleSydney Rae WhiteMain
Malik VaccariaRichard SouthgateMain
Sally GilesLaura HowardMain
George GilesBella BandMain
Asan RamangaQuinton NyirendaMain
TalithaEleanor GecksMain
PiersMark RowleyMain

Episodes

Series Episodes Originally aired
Series premiere Series finale
1 14 21 September 2006 (21 September 2006) 21 December 2006 (21 December 2006)
2 13 2 November 2007 (2 November 2007) 8 February 2008 (8 February 2008)
3 13 31 October 2011 (31 October 2011) 12 December 2011 (12 December 2011)
4 13 29 October 2012 (29 October 2012) 18 December 2012 (18 December 2012)
5 13 13 January 2014 31 March 2014

Ratings

SeriesEpisode No.AirdateTotal ViewersCBBC Weekly Ranking
1
121 September 2006N/AN/A
228 September 2006N/AN/A
35 October 2006N/AN/A
412 October 2006N/AN/A
519 October 2006N/AN/A
626 October 2006N/AN/A
72 November 2006N/AN/A
89 November 2006N/AN/A
916 November 2006N/AN/A
1023 November 2006N/AN/A
1130 November 2006N/AN/A
127 December 2006N/AN/A
1314 December 2006195,0002
1421 December 2006194,0006
2
12 November 2007313,0002
29 November 2007210,000N/A
316 November 2007269,0006
423 November 2007312,0005
530 November 2007270,0006
67 December 2007274,0003
714 December 2007335,0002
821 December 2007242,0009
911 January 2008307,0004
1018 January 2008270,0004
1125 January 2008201,000N/A
121 February 2008137,000N/A
138 February 2008291,0008
3
131 October 2011454,0002
21 November 2011539,0001
37 November 2011524,0001
48 November 2011437,0003
514 November 2011562,0001
615 November 2011508,0002
721 November 2011557,0002
822 November 2011573,0001
928 November 2011587,0001
1029 November 2011520,0004
115 December 2011497,0001
126 December 2011389,0005
1312 December 2011457,0004
4
129 October 2012407,0008
25 November 2012306,00010
312 November 2012332,0009
419 November 2012334,000N/A
526 November 2012272,000N/A
627 November 2012253,000N/A
73 December 2012326,000N/A
84 December 2012341,000N/A
910 December 2012269,000N/A
1011 December 2012312,000N/A
1117 December 2012326,0006
1218 December 2012314,0008
1318 December 2012328,0005

Awards

  • In 2007, Young Dracula won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Children's Drama, and the Welsh BAFTA for Best Children's Drama.
  • In 2008, Young Dracula was nominated for the BAFTA Children's Drama Award.
  • In 2012, "Young Dracula" was nominated for three awards at the Royal Television Society North West awards including Best Programme and for a Kids Vote BAFTA[6]

Release

A DVD of the first series of Young Dracula was released on 15 October 2012.

A DVD of the second and third series of Young Dracula was released in 2013.

A DVD of the Series Four released 9 October 2014

A DVD of the Series Five released 5th Nov 2014

See also

References

  1. Young Dracula at Fantastic Fiction: The cover has a still from the show and the legend "The inspiration for the CBBC TV series"
  2. "Waterloo Road heads to Scotland". How-Do. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  3. "CBBC Programmes - Young Dracula, Series 3, Hide and Seek". BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  4. "Behind the scenes at Young Dracula". BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  5. Clare Thomas Prosser [@clarelucythomas] (20 December 2012). "So we've had some good news. Young Dracula WILL be filming again next summer for a 5th Series. Happy Christmas YD fans!" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  6. "2008 Children's Awards - Children's - Awards - The BAFTA site". Bafta.org. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
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