7.2 /10 1 Votes
6.9/10 TV Country of origin Australia No. of seasons 3 Network Network Ten | 7.6/10 IMDb Original language(s) English Final episode date 8 September 2000 Program creator Jonathan M. Shiff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starring Jeffrey WalkerMereoni VukiEmily BrowningDaniel DaperisGerard KennedyStuart HaluszJim Daly Cast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thunderstone is an Australian children's science fiction television series produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions set in a post-apocalyptic world after Earth is hit by a comet. The main character Noah is played by Jeffrey Walker (also known for his roles in Ocean Girl, The Wayne Manifesto, and Mirror, Mirror). Other actors who appear in the series are Gerard Kennedy, Christopher Elliott (who later appeared in Under Jakob's Ladder), Emily Browning (who later appeared in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events), and Daniel Daperis.
Contents
The show was originally broadcast on Network Ten from 12 February 1999 until 8 September 2000. Both the first and second seasons were also shown on ABC Kids.
Synopsis
The main character Noah Daniels, his family and other survivors who live in an underground colony called North Col in the year 2020. It is impossible to live on the planet's surface, because of the extreme cold and constant snow storms caused by the impact of a comet known as Nemesis. As all animal life was destroyed by the comet's strike, the children are taught about these extinct animals with the aid of a holodeck. As a side effect of the holodeck, Noah finds himself transported into the future, into a place called Haven, where a group of children known as the Nomads battle the evil Tao and his men, The Protectors, for control of a valuable blue mineral called thunderstone.
Thunderstone is the name given to the chemical compound of which the Nemesis comet was made. It is a source of energy and power, and can be used to do anything from making explosives to allowing vehicles to run on it like gas. It also reacts violently when it comes into contact with itself, causing it to disintegrate if enough impact is made. When drunk as a compounded solution, it grants long life to the drinker. Much of the plot revolves around attempts to control the supplies of thunderstone due to its many useful properties.
North Col
Haven
Season 1
Season one revolves around Noah's adventures in Haven. As he brings more and more animals from the past to inhabit Haven and continues to jump back and forth through North Col, Haven, and the past before the Nemesis Comet hit, he attracts attention from the Triumvirate in North Col and the Shadow Master in Haven. This causes a chain of events that reveal the true identity of the Shadow Master (in itself a plot twist), and his goal to acquire enough thunderstone to become immortal. Noah and company devise a plot to destroy the core of the Nemesis Comet which was recently discovered by the Shadow Master, to prevent him from gaining absolute control over Haven. They destroy it using its explosive property by combining it with huge amounts of salt and igniting it. The Shadow Master is killed as he approaches the supply of thunderstone, watching his life's work become terminated. Tao's true nature is also revealed, and his minions flee and become no more.
Season 2
With the Shadow Master and his minions defeated, Noah stays at North Col but misses Haven and is tempted to go back. When he does, he becomes stranded since there is no longer any thunderstone left, or so it seems. In this season, the plot revolves around acquiring a large Thunderstone Cube, which Noah learns about from fugitives from the future, named Mayah and her brothers, who brought it there under a lake. After obtaining it, Noah realises he could travel back in time and use its power to destroy the Nemesis Comet completely, preventing the apocalypse. The season ends with Noah using the energy to completely incinerate the comet and thus, ironically, cause everything he did in Season 1 to cease to exist, in his own words: "Not in this dimension". This causes Mayah and her brothers to cease to exist, and the Earth now has a brighter future. The comet broke off into a ring of thunderstone that revolves around the Earth, which is a major plot point for season three.
Season 3
Noah is recognised for his genius, and this season begins with experimental wormholes of his design. This allows him to set up a space colony. The people from the future of this space colony wish to assassinate young Noah, because his future self was said to have murdered their parents. They use Noah’s time travel technology and make several attempts on his life. The season involves Noah trying to find the truth about what happened and making peace with these people.
DVD releases
Season 1 was released on a three-disc DVD set by Umbrella Entertainment on June 28, 2008.