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| Chocky | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chocky Titles | |
| Based on | Chocky byJohn Wyndham |
| Written by | Anthony Read |
| Directed by | Vic Hughes |
| Starring | James Hazeldine Carol Drinkwater Andrew Ellams Zoe Hart Anabel Worrell Prentis Hancock Glynis Brooks |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Vic Hughes Pamela Lonsdale |
| Cinematography | Alan Jonas |
| Editor | Oscar Webb |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | January 9, 1984 (1984-01-09) – October 16, 1986 (1986-10-16) |
Chocky is a 1984 children's six-part television drama based on the 1968novel of the same name byJohn Wyndham. It was first broadcast onITV in the United Kingdom from 9 January to 13 February 1984. Two six-part sequels—Chocky's Children (1985) andChocky's Challenge (1986)—were later produced. All were written byAnthony Read, directed by Vic Hughes and produced byThames Television.
While the 1968 novel was set in an unspecified 'near future', the TV adaptation was set contemporaneously in the mid-1980s in Surrey. The Gore family acquire a second generationCitroën CX car which was marketed as being technologically advanced at the time.
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| Chocky | 6 | 9 January 1984 (1984-01-09) | 13 February 1984 (1984-02-13) | |
| Chocky's Children | 6 | 7 January 1985 (1985-01-07) | 11 February 1985 (1985-02-11) | |
| Chocky's Challenge | 6 | 29 September 1986 (1986-09-29) | 16 October 1986 (1986-10-16) | |
Chocky was subsequently repeated in a re-edited single episode on 31 December 1984, with a similar single-episode edit repeat ofChocky's Children following on 27 December 1985.
Matthew Gore is an intelligent boy chosen by a mysteriousextraterrestrial visitor to be a source of information about life onEarth. As his schoolwork and artistic talent improve dramatically he arouses the suspicion of powerful groups who wish to tap into the amazing fund of knowledge to which he is now party.
A year has passed since Matthew said goodbye to his alien friend, and in the summer holidays he meets Albertine, a mathematical prodigy, with whom he discovers he can communicatetelepathically. One day Chocky returns to warn Matthew that they are both in danger. When he returns to tell Albertine, he finds she has disappeared.
Chocky hopes, with Matthew and Albertine's help, to help the human race discover cosmic power, which unlike Earth's finite natural resources, will sustain them for as long as the universe itself exists. But their knowledge has aroused a great deal of interest from the military, and they are willing to take drastic action if they don't get what they want.
The main cast includes:
The series was also broadcast and popular inCzechoslovakia where it was dubbed in both Czech and Slovak languages. It was also dubbed in French and broadcast in Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s; in Spanish and broadcast in Spain in the late 1980s. It was hugely popular in Bulgaria in the second half of 1980s. Also in Cuba. All episodes of Season 1 and Season 2 were shown numerous times. It was also broadcast in The Netherlands and Sweden with subtitles.
The re-edited single episode ofChocky, originally broadcast at the end of 1984, was released on VHS by Thames Video in the July 1985.
The completeChocky saga was available onDVD (all-region PAL, UK) from Second Sight. Revelation Films re-released the whole series in August 2010.
The theme music fromChocky is known asCoral and is taken from the 1982 library music album entitledRed Kite by group Astral Sounds. It is track number 4 on side A and was composed by John Hyde. The album was intended to have an underwater feel.[1]
Works byJohn Wyndham | |
|---|---|
| Novels | |
| Short stories | |
| Short story collections | |
| Film adaptations | |
| TV adaptations | |
| Other | |
