Friends and Heroes Series 2 and 3

Back in 2007 I spent quite a bit of time talking about the Friends and Heroes series that was being broadcast on BBC2. Four years on I've finally had a chance to see a handful of episodes of series 2 and 3.

The original series was set in Alexandria and followed the adventures of Macky and Portia (pictured above). Macky is a Jewish Christian who by chance befriends Portia, the daughter of Alexandria's Roman governor Tiberius. Series 2 covers a new phase in Tiberius' career. He is now the general in charge of the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 and has taken Portia with him. Macky on the other hand has travelled to the holy city to attempt to find the father of Leah and Rebecca from series 1. As with that series Portia and Macky are caught on opposite sides of the conflict as Macky fights with the rebels stuck in Jerusalem.

On the basis of the two episodes from this series that I've had a chance to see it's difficult to compare this series to the original. That said the animation quality is broadly the same, and the style of the programmes seem to be more or less the same. However, the stories don't seem to carry the momentum of the previous series, though that is an inevitable consequence of watching them out of the context of the series as a whole.

Series 3 brings things to a head as Portia and Macky find themselves in Rome. Macky has connected with the Roman underground church and the prominent Roman citizen, and Christian, Antonius. The series comes to a head with the Roman senate trying to execute Antonius whilst Macky and his new friends seek to free him.

The final few episodes of this series certainly carry the kind of plot tension that made the first series so addictive. In particular the last episode is surprisingly absorbing as Macky attempts to save not only Antonius but a large collection of early Christian writings.

The weak point of the first series was the 3D animated sections of the programme which portrayed the biblical episodes. Four years ago these sections were clearly inferior to the very best work in the medium, but not to the extent that it was a significant weakness in the series as a whole. Alas today, with the advances that have been seen over recent years, the 3D sections do look very dated now, to the detriment of the rest of the programme.

Yet overall the series still exhibits much of what made it appeal to me back in 2007. The way the story bridges the gap between the biblical narratives from the first century and today's culture is still a great way of making the biblical history accessible to younger children. The pacing and 2D animation are still very good. And even though its these final episodes which culminate in the stories of death and resurrection of Jesus, it avoids being preachy whilst still managing to explore difficult issues and challenge its young audience to a better way of living.

Scene Guide for Friends and Heroes

Back in 2007 I wrote quite a bit about the animated TV series Friends and Heroes. I'm going to post some thoughts on series two and three shortly, but for now I wanted to relay a couple of useful resources I've been sent:

Story Order
Bible Order
Episode Order
Churches and Schools Lesson material
Stills from the series

I'm wishing I'd discovered these a little earlier. In particular, the story order one and the Bible order one are particularly useful when trying to find a clip to illustrate a given passage. The former lists incidents covered in the Bible alphabetically (giving details of the relevant episode) whereas the latter does the same only by the biblical order.

Friends and Heroes Coming to BBC2

Earlier in the year I was tracking the progress of the strangely addictive Friends and Heroes series. It seems like I'm not the only one who enjoyed the series (see my review) as the BBC has upgraded this to appear on BBC2 through the autumn. It's also got a regular weekly slot. There is a little more on this on the official website, but here are the dates and times. I guess this is also good news for those of us who are looking forward to series 2 and 3.

DVD News

There are a number of Bible films that have recently been released on DVD which I've yet to pass comment on.

Firstly, episodes 1 and 2 of the children's animated adventure series Friends and Heroes has been released. Friends and Heroes is currently showing at lunchtimes on CBBC. Initially, the DVDs are to be released through the official website. A Friends and Heroes DVD Club has also been set up for those wanting to get the whole series. The site also includes the release schedule for the remaining episodes, the next of which is released on 14th May. Releases of Series 2 will begin on the 21st January 2008.

Secondly, one of my favourite Jesus films, the animated film The Miracle Maker, was somehow re-released on the 6th March in a special edition without any of my usual sources or me noticing. That is, until my friend Steven D Greydanus of Decent Films found out. Steven also tipped off Peter Chattaway who has posted some interesting comments about the new DVD at FilmChat. The main extra that this disc has is a commentary with Derek Hayes (one of the directors) and one of the producers.

Last week, Peter also noted that the release of The Final Inquiry appears to have been delayed - a date is no longer given on the FoxFaith website.

I have also discussed previously the forthcoming releases of a The Gospel According to St. Matthew (colourised version) (26th March) and The Nativity Story (20th March).

Friends and Heroes (Review)

Bible stories have always been a popular target for animators, going right back to Disney's early Noah's Ark short. The new Friends and Heroes series continues this tradition which has had it's fair share of highs and lows. Its approach is relatively novel. Instead of focussing directly on the characters from the Old and New Testaments, the biblical narratives are introduced into a series of stories about the fictional characters Macky and Portia. Macky is a young Jewish Christian living in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century A.D. He has a chance meeting with Portia, who turns out to be the niece of the governor of Alexandria, Tiberius.

Whereas some of the more recent animated bible stories, such as Testaments, have been aimed at all the family, Friends and Heroes is pitched specifically at children. Macky and Portia are just a little older than this target audience, and it's easy for children to relate to them and be inspired by their exciting lives. They are brave and resourceful, but they are not superheroes. Children can aspire to be like them rather than simply be entertained by them.

However, what this series does do well is balance the need to create engaging plots whilst retaining a sense of realism. Locating the story in the first century helps in this respect, as there were hazards facing children then that most children in the 21st century western world are unlikely to come up against. But many of the perils that they and their friends face are not so far detached from those of today.

A classic example is episode 7, where Macky's sister Leah wanders off and gets lost. But rather than rushing headlong into some far fetched tale, it moves, with perfect pacing, through increasing degrees of danger, maximising the impact of each one. Most children will be able to relate to the fear being lost and being without their parents, and the episode takes time to explore this. But is also moves on to look at forced child labour - unlikely to effect the target audience, but still a reality for many of their contemporaries in other parts of the world. The result is that the episodes are engaging, and exciting, yet at the same time touching and personal.

Such disciplined, well thought out, pacing is also in evidence in the way that the biblical stories are introduced. Just when the attention spans of the younger audience members might begin to wane, a new story is introduced and, crucially, it's in a new animated medium - 3D CGI. This gear change both draws the audience back in, but also highlights the importance of these stories in their own right. They sit both within and without the Macky / Portia narrative. Important stories in their own right, but tales that should not just entertain, but be digested and applied. As Macky and family are applying them to their situations, it encourages the audience to do likewise.

Yet thankfully these are not dogmatic, overly moralising cartoons. In times gone by, children's programmes often ended with one of the characters spelling out the moral, in a way that even when I was young felt like it cheapened the programme as a whole. Here the biblical stories are shown, and characters are shown applying them to their lives, but it is left up to the audience what they do with that example.

From a technical point of view, the 2D animation is of a very high standard. Bright colours and quirky characters are complemented by vivid , smooth animation. The quality of the 3D sections of the show doesn't quite attain such high standards, but it should be borne in mind that 3D CGI is still very much an emerging medium. Whilst the 3D work here is not quite up to the high standards set by Pixar (specifically in The Incredibles) it still works well in the short bursts it is used for. Finally, the music is catchy and the dialogue is generally solid.

More information on Friends and Heroes

Following up from last month's post about the new BBC animated adventure series Friends and Heroes, more details have become available, and as the first episode airs in just 4 days (Monday), I thought it was about time I made some more comments. I'll review the episode I was sent as a screener tomorrow.

First of all the broadcast details(with video plus codes) have been announced as follows:

Ep 1: Monday 12th March @ 12:00 noon
Ep 2: Monday 12th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 3: Tuesday 13th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 4: Wednesday 14th March @ 12:00 noon
Ep 5: Wednesday 14th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 6: Thursday 15th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 7: Friday 16th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 8: Monday 19th March @ 12:00 noon
Ep 9: Tuesday 20th March @ 12.30pm
Ep 10: Wednesday 21st March @ 12:00 noon
Ep 11: Wednesday 21st March @ 12.30pm
Ep 12: Thursday 22nd March @ 12.30pm
Ep 13: Friday 23rd March @ 12.30pm

Secondly, it's clear that this project has a good range of talent involved. Gary Kurtz (producer for the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back) is named as the "Supervising Producer". Kurtz has been doing animation for the last 15 years. Other established names are composers Karl Twigg and Mark Topham, who have written a number of UK chart hits for bands such as Steps, Five and Westlife.

It's also really encouraging to see Naomi Jones involved. Jones was involved with the brilliant Testament: Bible in Animation series, as well as The Miracle Maker, one of my favourite Jesus films.

And then there's Stan Berkowitz who has worked on recent animated versions of Superman and Batman. There are various other names associated with the project, although the only one I really know is Stephen Gaukroger a regular speaker at the Spring Harvest conference over here in the UK.

Away from the names and back to the project. As mentioned previously this is the first of three series, and the opening episodes introduce the main characters (Macky and Portia) to us and to each other. Macky is from a family of first century Jewish Christians, whilst Portia is the niece of the Governor of Alexandria - Tiberius.

It's Tiberius's meteoric rise that allows each series to take place in a different city. Tiberius's promotion to leader of the siege of Jerusalem moves the action for series two to the heart of Judea, and finally his move to Rome provides the setting for the third series. So there will be something in this for Roman history buffs too (although how accurate a depiction of Tiberius it will be remains to be seen).

One final point. The animation will be a mix of 2D and 3D, with the 2D animation making up the majority of each episode, and the 3D being introduced for the sections where the biblical stories are narrated. This is an interesting technique. The use of 3D suggests that these stories are more real than those in 2D, but the way they are narrated stresses the importance of them being stories that are owned and identified with, rather than just stories for the sake of it.

Children's Bible Programme Friends and Heroes to Air on BBC

Mark Goodacre posts about a new BBC TV series dealing with Bible stories for children. According to Christian Today Friends and Heroes will start on the 12th March on CBBC (Children's BBC). It will show either once or twice a day starting at either noon (if 2 episodes) or 12:30pm (if only one episode).

The official Friends and Heroes website describes the series as follows:

Friends and Heroes is the epic animated tale of two young people in the First Century - Macky and Portia - whose idealism and friendship leads them across the ancient world, from the fabled Egyptian port of Alexandria, to the besieged city of Jerusalem and finally, to the very heart of the Empire: Rome. As they fight for justice and even survival against the might of the Roman Empire, they become friends and then, in turn, heroes.

Through Macky and Portia, Friends and Heroes brings the inspiring stories of the Old and New Testament to a new, worldwide generation of children in the Twenty-First Century, whatever their faith or background.

The 13 episodes will be broadcast on weekdays between March 12 and 23, sometimes twice a day, starting at 12 noon and 12.30pm, or in single episodes starting at 12.30pm. The series will form part of the BBC's factual output on CBBC which is also used by schools. The website also has an intro video, a making of featurette as well as an episode guide which I've summarised below. These 13 episodes are only the first of three series which combine 2D and 3D animation. Each episode is 26 minutes long.

Episode 1 - Daniel in the Lions’ Den, The Miraculous Catch of Fish
Episode 2 - Samson and Delilah, Peter and Cornelius
Episode 3 - David and Goliath, Peter released from prison
Episode 4 - Rahab and Caleb, Peter raises Tabitha
Episode 5 - Gideon, The Christmas Story
Episode 6 - Moses and the Egyptian, Paul on the Damascus Road
Episode 7 - Ruth and Naomi, The Good Samaritan
Episode 8 - Peter and John healing people, Shadrach and the Furnace
Episode 9 - Esther, Joseph of Cyprus (Barnabas)
Episode 10 - Joseph and his Brothers, Simon Magus
Episode 11 - The Burning Bush and the Exodus, The Last Supper
Episode 12 - Jonah, The Prodigal Son
Episode 13 - Elijah and King Ahab, The First Pentecost

There's quite a bit there, and I'm encouraged that there are a number of lesser known stories included as well as some of the classics. It seems like the characters will be involved in their own adventures in the 1st Century, but the biblical content will be recounted by stories. It's aimed at 6-10 year olds so it will be interesting to see how they deal with the stories. It's noticeable that stories where God/Israelites kill lots of people have been avoided (although that may figure in some - time will tell. This I think is a better approach than that of the Veggie Tales series (where the fate of the enemies are things like perpetual tickling, and thus process of concealing the difficult passages in scripture starts at a young age).

Edit: My review for this series is now available.