Spellbinder (TV series)

Synopsis

A group of teenagers go on a school camp in the Blue Mountains in Australia. While at the camp, Paul Reynolds accidentally goes into a parallel universe. This other world is inhabited by a more hierarchic and technologically different society, ruled by a group of people known as Spellbinders. Paul meets a girl there named Riana, and they become friends.

The Spellbinders have discovered the power to create and manipulate static electricity. They fly in gigantic copper-coloured machines that utilise large rotating orange crystals, presumably creating some form of magnetic levitation. The Spellbinders often use their power for good, but some abuse this power and use their discoveries for malevolence. One such malevolent Spellbinder is Ashka, who often manages to hide her true nature. Common people are often "banished" for their misdeeds, and sometimes Spellbinders are banished, also, if they are proven to have done wrong.

There is tension from Paul's forays into the land of the Spellbinders and his attempts to return to his own universe, and also from conversations Paul has with his friends across the barrier between the two universes. Paul and Riana's escapes also add tension, as do the interactions between Spellbinders.

Paul is eventually able to travel back home, but he is forced to take Riana with him in order to save her. Later, when Paul is able to take Riana back home, the Spellbinder Ashka follows Paul as he later returns home. Ashka seeks the unwitting help of Paul's father in making her a new high-tech 'flying suit' to replace her power suit in order to make her more powerful than the other Spellbinders.

However, Paul manages to expose her scheme and defeat Ashka, who is returned as an outcast to the Spellbinder world, while Riana becomes the new apprentice to Correon. In order to keep the Spellbinder world safe from the more advanced people from "modern" world, the gateway between the two universes is closed permanently.

Main cast

Recurring cast

The Spellbinder world

Very little is revealed about the history of the Spellbinder world. At some point in the distant past, a disaster befell the planet, leaving their land surrounded by a wasteland where nothing can survive. They refer to this disaster as "the Darkness," and the ancestors of a group called the Marauders (raiders who live on the outskirts of their society, bordering on the wastelands) are blamed for the past catastrophe. It is later learned that the Ancient Spellbinders were the ones actually responsible for the disaster, brought about by their own intellectual arrogance and desire for increasingly powerful weapons. Paul, the visitor from our world, speculates that "the Darkness" may have been the result of a nuclear winter, although this is not further elaborated upon. Regent Correon, with Paul's help, discovers an ancient book that describes an experiment of the ancient Spellbinders that went horribly wrong, but this book is destroyed by Ashka before more can be learned.

The Ancient Spellbinders were technologically advanced, although their everyday lives were relatively simple by the standards of our world. They lived in stone castles and relied on traditional agriculture for food, but they also developed electromagnetic power suits, long-distance radio communication, and metallic ships that used powerful magnetic fields in order to fly. Most of their knowledge was lost after the disaster, and today's Spellbinders only have a limited understanding of the science their technology is based on. Their flying ships and power suits are falling into disarray as they frantically search to rediscover the knowledge lost to them.

The Spellbinder world is governed by a council of three Regents who reside in the Spellbinder castle. The Regents are indifferent to the plight of the people outside their castle, enforce a very rigid code of laws designed to protect their power over the land, and ultimately are reluctant to believe Paul's claims about where he comes from. They imprison anyone who discovers or applies the principles of science, such as a toymaker who makes a toy that can fly. The basis of their power over the people is their technology, and they are ruthless in their desire to prevent anyone else from understanding it. People who are exiled to the wastelands are sometimes saved by, and then join, the group of raiders known as Marauders.

The people of the Spellbinder world are ignorant of the true nature of the Spellbinders' technology. To them, their power suits and flying ships are magic. The Spellbinders exploit this belief in order to maintain control over the people and use them for labour. Some people are allowed into the Spellbinder castle as servants, while exceptionally bright ones are taken on as apprentices to the Spellbinders. There is some degree of nepotism involved in the process though, as Gryvon is clearly only chosen to be an apprentice because his father is the village summoner.

The Spellbinders are beset with internal conflict due to the deterioration of their technology. Because there are only a limited number of power suits and flying ships still in operation, only a select few can be Spellbinders at any given time. At one point, a major dispute is legally settled by a ritualised duel in which Spellbinders fire power bolts at each other; such duels were noted to be somewhat archaic, however. The loser of such a match is stripped of his power suit and exiled to the wastelands to die. The same punishment is also given to anyone who violates the law against using science.

Paul's visit may have changed the balance of power in the Spellbinder world. Regent Correon invites Riana to be his new apprentice, and Ashka is punished by being sent to a labour camp (as seen in Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord) for her abuse of power. Although Correon was previously only interested in rediscovering the secrets of the Ancient Spellbinders, he now seems sympathetic to the problems of the people outside his castle. The rigid hierarchy that defines the Spellbinder society may therefore be weakening. However, Paul decides that future contact between the two worlds should be avoided in order to prevent Riana's world from being exploited by his own.

Power suits

The power suit is the central piece of Spellbinder technology. It is powered by a set of power stones, which can be recharged in the castle complex. By rubbing the cuffs of the suit together, a Spellbinder can generate and discharge a power bolt. In combat, the power suit can be worn with a small shield capable of deflecting power bolts. Although the technology is never fully explained, it is implied that the power suit increases the voltage of energy stored within the power stones and releases it in the form of static electricity. Curiously, while usually capable of causing death or injury to anyone on the receiving end of a bolt, Paul survived a bolt impact unscathed at one point; a feat he put down to his rubber footwear insulating him and preventing the bolt from grounding through him.

Because the suit's copper circuitry is mounted outside the suit, it is easily disabled by splashing it with water, causing a short circuit. The new power suit created by Paul's father in our world is able to repel the Earth's magnetic field, allowing it to fly. Its circuitry has also been sealed against being shorted out by exposure to water and power bolts are generated and discharged through pressing a button on the suits gauntlet, rather than striking wrist plates together to generate the static electricity.

Power stones

Power stones are the primary power source for Spellbinder technology. Spellbinders get power stones from their lands. They are used to generate the power bolts released by power suits, and they are also used to create the magnetic fields that power flying ships. They are generally small, rectangular stones with a yellowish-hue, although the power stones found in flying ships are much larger. Power stones can be recharged by infusing them with electricity, which is done in the lower levels of the Spellbinders' castle.

Summoning towers

Summoning towers are large metal towers that resemble electrical transformers and radio towers. The primary purpose of the summoning tower is to contact the Spellbinders when they are needed. An eyestone is placed into a cradle at the base of the tower, which presumably amplifies the signal it generates. The summoning towers also produce a magnetic field used to give flying ships their 'lift' (as evidenced when Paul shorts the main power stone in the castle, causing all flying ships to crash) and can be used as a landing pad for the flying ships.

Eyestones

Spellbinders communicate with each other with a handheld eyestone. The device has an outer lattice bearing the Spellbinder insignia, and opens to reveal a small circuit board. An eyestone creates a weak radio signal, similar to a walkie-talkie. For communicating over great distances, an eyestone must be connected to a summoning tower. Village summoners are the only people besides the Spellbinders who are permitted to use eyestones.

Flying ships

The Spellbinders travel large distances in their metal flying ships. Unlike aeroplanes, which operate on aerodynamic principles, flying ships generate lift through powerful magnetic fields. Each flying ship is equipped with a pair of large power stones on either side, which rotate slowly as the ship moves. This motion creates a magnetic field powerful enough to repel against another magnetic field created by the summoning towers. Flying ships can be used for transportation and also to dust crops with pesticide. Although the technology that powers them is impressive, flying ships generally move somewhat slowly. By the time of Paul's visit to the Spellbinder's world, only six remain in operation.

Compass

Spellbinders use a small magnetic compass to navigate when travelling on foot or horseback. The compass contains a gyro device that is pulled into motion with a piece of string. The arrow of the compass then moves to detect north.

Broadcast

The original Spellbinder series ran on Australia's Nine Network between January and July 1995. Internationally, the series was shown in the United States on The Disney Channel beginning on 5 February 1996, and the sequel appeared on Fox Family Channel beginning in 1998. Due to a license dispute, The Disney Channel airing used a different opening and closing sequence.

The series was screened in the United Kingdom and Ireland on ITV and Network 2's The Den respectively in 1996 (only episodes 1–13 aired on ITV). It was aired in Sri Lanka by Rupavahini (Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation) with Sinhala subtitles.