Children of the Dog Star
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Children of the Dog Star was a science fiction television program for children produced in New Zealand in 1984. It consisted of six episodes of thirty minutes each. It was written by Ken Catran and directed by Chris Bailey, with the novellisation written by Marie Stuttard.
It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival that year as well as the New Zealand Feltex 1984 best drama award.
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[edit] Book synopsis
Twelve-year-old Gretchen has a passion for science and a talent for all things mechanical, which is why the strange old brass "weathervane" (referred to as the "daisy rod") on her uncle's farm fascinates her. But the brass daisy rod has a complex and terrifying significance, and Gretchen and her new friend Ronny discover its links with the far distant Sirius, the Dog Star.
[edit] Synopsis
On holiday at her uncle's farm in New Zealand, Gretchen befriends Ronny, a Māori boy with a troubled city past, and Bevis the birdwatching son of a loathed developer. Tension is already high as the developer wants to buy and drain a local swamp for a housing estate, but Ronny's uncle is the guardian of a traditional Māori tapu (taboo/curse) upon the swamp. The swamp must not be touched—something sleeps there that must not be awakened. Something unnatural.
Gradually, the children discover the pieces of an ancient alien space probe named Kolob. During the series they assemble the missing parts and strange things start to happen. The probe was one of three sent to earth to educate the human race in science. In the end a communication link is set up with the star Sirius B, from where the probe came, and the aliens tell them they should not have interfered.
[edit] Episodes
- The Brass Daisy
- Power Stop
- Swamp Light
- Alien Summons
- Kolob
- Alien Contact
[edit] Availability
TVNZ has stated this series is unavailable due to complex copyright issues.
[edit] Influences
The main idea for the plot, that of space probes sent out from Sirius to educate primitive people, is lifted from the 1976 book The Sirius Mystery by Robert K. G. Temple. See the Dogon people article for a discussion.
The storyline has similarities with Stephen King's The Tommyknockers which was released seven years later.
