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The series focuses on the adventures of 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke (Scott Haran) and his scientifically gifted best friend Benny Sherwood (Percelle Ascott) as they battle against an alien species called the Nekross, who have arrived on Earth with the intention of consuming all of wizardkind and feasting on their magic.
Production-wise, Wizards vs Aliens was created to fill the schedule gap left by the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures when it was cancelled due to the death of its lead actress Elisabeth Sladen. However, the show has no relation to Doctor Who.
Two series were commissioned by the BBC in late 2011 for broadcast in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Series 1 broadcast between 29 October 2012 and 4 December 2012 containing twelve episodes (six two-part stories). Series 2 aired between 28 October 2013 and 10 December 2013, containing fourteen episodes (seven two-part stories). A third series featuring ten episodes (five two-part stories) premiered on 27 October 2014 and ended 25 November 2014.
Co-creator and former executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the show could "easily run for ten years". In January 2015, it was announced that the series had been put on hiatus due to financial reasons, but could return at some point in the future.
Premise
Wizards vs Aliens is an action, adventure series which sees the collision of two very different worlds.
The first series focuses on Tom Clarke, a 16-year-old wizard, and his scientist best friend Benny Sherwood as they come across the forces of an alien race called the Nekross who have invaded Earth to consume anything or anyone connected to Magic.
The second series continues the battle between the two sides and sheds more focus on magical creatures and locations and Jathro and Kooth's plan to overthrow the Nekross royals.
In the third series, Tom and Benny part ways when Benny receives an opportunity to work with MIT in America. The Nekross return to Earth's galaxy, with Varg, now KingRegent of the empire, intending to have vengeance on Tom for turning his sister Lexi into a human (which he did to save her life) and sending her to Earth. He is assisted by his wife Lady Lyzera, who is secretly a sorceress who wishes to take Earth's magic for herself and take over the universe.
Wizards / Unenchanted
Scott Haran as Thomas Robert "Tom" Clarke - A football-loving teenage wizard who defends wizardkind and Earth from the alien Nekross.
Percelle Ascott as Benjamin Claude "Benny" Sherwood (Series 1–The Quantum Effect) - Tom's best friend whose extended knowledge of science and nerd-like qualities finds use in battle against the Nekross, although his experiments have occasionally gone wrong. As Benny is not a Wizard, he is known as an 'unenchanted' among Wizard-kind. Benny later comes out as gay to Tom and shortly after moves to America to study at MIT.
Annette Badland as Ursula Crowe - Tom's happy-go-lucky grandmother and Michael's mother-in-law, a wizard descended from the Magical Line of Crowe who occasionally has trouble casting the right spell. She is also Tom's tutor when training him in magic and spells.
Michael Higgs as Michael Clarke - Tom's widowed father and Ursula's son-in-law who works as a veterinarian. The voice of reason in Tom and Benny's plans, his main concern is Tom's safety when in battle and that he shouldn't just rely on magic all the time. Like Benny, Michael is not a Wizard and is therefore known as an 'unenchanted' among Wizard-kind.
Dan Starkey as Randal Moon - A hobgoblin who lives in the Chamber of Crowe - the source of the Magical Line of Crowe's magic - and aids the Wizards in their fight against the Nekross with his vast knowledge of potions and spells.
Nekross
Jefferson Hall (Series 1–2), later Kristian Phillips (Series 3) as Varg - Prince of Nekron and later Regent King; son of the Nekross King, Lexi's older brother and Lady Lyzera's husband, who fights the Wizards with brute strength. He is demanding and determined to locate and devour all magic on Earth, at any cost. As Regent King, Varg travels back to Earth to continue extracting Earth's magic but also wishes to find his sister Lexi and have vengeance on Tom for turning her into a human and sending her to Earth.
Gwendoline Christie as Lexi (Series 1–2) - 17-year-old Princess of Nekron; daughter of the Nekross King and Varg's younger sister, whose strategic skills and in-depth research into Earth's culture helps the Nekross in their battle against the Wizards. She and Tom later form an on-off relationship and eventually have a son together, Benny Junior, while trapped in the Neverside. They eventually lose him after returning to the Dayside. After sustaining Zanti-Scale contamination to save Tom back in the Dayside, he makes her human and sends her to live on Earth, bringing back Benny Jr to ensure her happiness.
Voice of Brian Blessed as The Nekross King (Series 1–2) - King of the Nekross's home planet Nekron and father to Varg and Lexi, in charge of their mission to find and consume all known magic on Earth. Due to his obese size, he is immobile on the Nekross starship "Zarantulus" and sits inside a large bay wall. Greedy and bossy, it is later revealed that the King consumed most of Earth's magic for himself and sent Nekron scraps of magic. He retires to Nekron to process the magic he consumed for his people.
Tom Bell as Technician Jathro 15 - A Nekross of the Zarantulustechnician class, who assisted Varg and Lexi in their schemes against the Wizards while secretly working for his mother, Chancellor Kooth, as part of their plan to overthrow the Royal Family. Thought to have been swept away with Kooth's armada, Jathro survived and crash-landed on Earth and disguised himself as an astrophysicist named Adam Wright. Months later, Varg and Lady Lyzera find him and make him the jester of Lyzera's pet bird Eelix as punishment for his betrayal. He meets his fate after being turned into beetroot bugs by Lyzera for Eelix after betraying her.
Alex Childs as Lady Lyzera (Series 3) - Regent Queen of Nekron and Varg's wife. Cunning, ambitious and charming, she stands by Varg in his mission to find all known magic on Earth and rid the universe of Tom Clarke. However, unknown to Varg, Lyzera is secretly a Nekross Sorceress who schemes to harvest Earth's magic for herself and use it to conquer the universe.
Recurring
Manpreet Bambra as Katie Lord - Tom and Benny's classmate and Tom's love interest, who is unaware that Tom is a Wizard. She briefly learns of Tom's nature as a wizard, but believing she couldn't handle the stress of worrying about him in his fight against the Nekross, asks him to perform a spell to wipe her memory.
Connor Scarlett as Quinn Christopher - Tom and Benny's jock-like classmate, who occasionally teased Benny but eventually befriends him. Like Katie, he has no idea of Tom's true nature as a Wizard.
International broadcasts and releases
Wizards vs Aliens made its American debut on the cable channel Hub Network on 1 June 2013, but only ran for four episodes due to poor ratings. The series is now available on hulu and Netflix.
In Poland, the show aired on teleTOON+ between 6 April 2013 – 1 January 2014. In Polish dub, the last episode was slightly censored – Benny's dialogue during his coming out was changed from "I’ll go on a date, one day. Just not with her. Not with a girl" to "I’ll go on a date, one day. Just not with her. Not yet".
