Programme 1: Pirate's Island

Research and Analysis 

This 2003 Australian production was aired on Nicklodeon UK in 2008 and on the CITV channel.

Trailer:

Episode 1:

Synopsis (mine)

Three Australian kids - children of a video game designer - get accidentally 'scanned' into his latest creation, 'Pirate Islands', to do battle with Captain Blackheart and his crew, aided by the game's main character, Mars - a young Peter Pan-esque heartthrob - with his band of young friends.





According to Jonathan M Shiff Productions (the programme makers) website:
http://www.jmsp.com.au/jmsp/public/public#custom-lightbox/0/

'Synopsis:

There’s plenty of action and adventure when 15-year old KATE and her younger brother and sister are zapped into their computer game and find themselves in a land of eighteenth century Pirates.  Marooned in an exotic archipelago, the three children set up base in a secret tree house and battle the sinister CAPTAIN BLACKHEART, and his motley band of fearsome Pirates.'

Purpose

Entertainment: this is an action-adventure drama TV series for children/ families.

According to the Jonathan M Shiff Productions website:

'Program Type:  

Children’s live action drama series'

Target Audience

This is a children's TV programme but has a wider family appeal. It has been aired on Nickelodeon UK (descibed as 'a children's and teenager's television channel' - wikipedia) and CITV, descibed on its own website as: 'the home for ITV's younger viewers. A mix of animated and live action series for school aged children'.

Key features of Pirate Islands

Genre codes and conventions:
Pirate Islands borrows heavily from the well-used genre of pirates and desert island adventures and, apart from the addition of the video game aspect, which provides characters with additional special powers at certain times, the plot, action and tropes are very derivative.

The characters, particularly Captain Blackheart are entirely typical and echo typical pirate storybook characters like Captain Hook, from Peter Pan, who has an over-the top mock-pirate accent and appearance; long curly hair large hat and flowing coat.

All the action takes place on the pirate ship or on the desert island archipelago that it is moored off - home to the Castaway Children - similar to the 'Lost Boys' in Peter Pan.

The game's main character, Mars, is a teenager/ young man who has some special acrobatic powers and swordsman skills, also very much in the vein of Peter Pan, being able to make huge leaps as opposed to being able fly outright. He is the subject of an immediate romantic interest between him and female protaganist, Kate, the eldest of the Redding children.

This romance is regarded jealously by Mars' female companion, Carmen, who is ultimately motivated to betray Mars and Kate to Captain Blackheart.

The action is also typical pirate fayre: swashbuckling, sword-figthing, treasure hunting, rescuing captives/ hostage situations, sliding and swinging down rigging etc. The Redding children are made to walk the plank within ten minutes of the start of the first episode.

Narrative Structure/ Plot
The ultimate aim of the Redding chidlren is to escape the game and return back to 'reality', however, in order to do so they must prevent Captain Blackheart from getting control of the 'scanner' that sent them into the game. Each episode therefore involves them combating him and his crew, aided by Mars and the Castaway Children and along the way meeting the 'game achievements' that are written into the Pirate Islands game programme. Each episode is therefore self-contained but moves the storyline of the whole series (of 26 episodes) further forward.

Mars, played by Oliver Ackland


Style
In keeping with the target audience, the mood of the programme is not too dark; almost all the action takes place in bright sunshine with occasional scenes inside the pirate ship or caves. There is a sense of mild danger when the pirates are encountered, but there is never really a sense that anyone will be injured or killed, even when fighting with swords. The pirates are portrayed as being quite inept and never a real or mortal threat to the children.

The music seems to underline this, it reflects the mood but never overdoes the emotion. Being entirely synth/ keyboard-generated, it gives a rather jaunty but artificial feel to the show, which prevents it being taken too seriously.

Production values are high (which the production company website also boasts). Effects are quite realistic. There is some use of special effects for example when Mars jumps or somersaults and when game 'power-ups' are discovered such as walk-on water boots. Location shooting in particular is very effective and lighting, colour and costume is used with a very rich eye-catching effect which would be particularly appealing to children.

Themes and Subtext
Themes such as friendship, camaraderie, bravery, loyalty and using imagination and ingenuity to overcome adversity are present in Pirate Islands. The Redding children and in particular the eldest, Kate, have to find a way to survive and work within the game, working with the Castaway Children to defeat the pirates and find a way back to the real world. They realise that special powers within the game world are available to them if they can use there imaginations and free themselves from the bounds of what would be impossible in the real-world.

Romance between Mars and Kate is a continual storyline, which is given added spice by the jealousy of Carmen.

Representation
Children of various ages are represented; ranging from 6 up to 16, with the main characters being between 10 and 16. The pirates are adults but are very much the enemy and represented as greedy, obsessed with treasure and power and also rather inept. All the heroes are children, creating an appealing kids vs grown-ups dynamic.

The female lead, Kate Redding, is an earnest self-reliant pretty young teenager/adolescent of about 14 with fair hair.

Mars appears to be older, perhaps 16+, good-looking with brown curly hair. Mars companion within the game, Carmen, appears to be about the same age as him with dark hair and clearly represents the romantic lead boy's jealous friend.

The main characters do not represent the ages of the target audience but need to be older in order to make the action more realistic and to lead the Castaway and Redding children. The other Redding children, being probably 10 and 12 are probably more representative of the target audience and have key roles to play in supporting their older sister. Nevertheless it is probable that most viewers would identify themselves with the older, key characters.