Raven

Contents

Host

James Mackenzie

Co-hosts

Gayanne Potter (Voice of The Riddle Book)

Gareth Thomas (Voice of The Wisdom Tree)

Broadcast

BBC Scotland for CBBC, 2002 - present

Synopsis

Six contestants gather to compete in Raven's weekly tournament. They will face perils, they will face challenges, and they can garner rich rewards. Each week of the qualifying heats sees the six face similar challenges, four tests per day.

Failure in any challenge costs the contestants a life. Success is often rewarded with gold rings, used as a tie-break for contestants equal on lives; after the first series, seven gold rings could be exchanged to win back a life.

A lot of thought goes into the arrangement of the games. Individual challenges, pair games, peg-back-the-leader games, and all-against-all contests are carefully arranged so that while it's possible for a contestant to run out of lives during the course of a day, it's highly unlikely to happen.

Raven is primarily set out of doors, with everything used appearing to be carved out of nature, though with little additions like safety ropes and flotation devices. The contestants dress in mediaeval garb, are given made-up names, and there is a charming mystical air to the whole show. The only item that chimes against this fantasy is the speech of the contestants. James Mackenzie, who plays Raven, is perfectly credible as an ancient Scots warlord. Though most of the contestants in early series came from stage school, these thirteen year olds haven't been asked to speak in ancient language. It slightly jars to hear modern patois interrupt the mood, and this has become a less noticeable feature as the series progressed.

The show clearly hasn't had a huge budget, but it more than makes up for that in inventiveness and ingenuity. The games compare well with those on previous Childrens' department productions Incredible Games and Sub Zero, and a few would not have been out of place on The Crystal Maze or Fort Boyard. Indeed, the Spider Cave Challenge is a dead ringer for something out of the Scavengers playbook.

Raven's unstinting praise of the contestants can be a little cloying, but when one finds oneself cheering on contestants for diving through the correct ring, the show is clearly on to a winner. Raven's courtesy extends to insisting that everyone "leave the tournament with honour."

The First Tournament

First broadcast 16 December 2002 - 10 January 2003. Contestants began with seven lives, gold rings were collected only to break ties. Games on the final day were played to win back lives. For this Tournament, the Raven's Eye was a brass disk on a wooden backing.

  • Hunt for the Standard In which the new contestants follow subtle markings to find their standard.
  • The Eyeless Demons In pairs, the warriors race down the course, hoping to unhook a ring from its pole. Barring their way are Eyeless Demons, who will hear them from the bells on the end of their hooks. This challenge was also played in the Second and Fourth Tournaments.
  • The Old Troll Posed a riddle, the contestants submitted their answers on slate and chalk.
  • Treasure Ring In which our contestants race off, one at a time, in small coracles. The object is to haul oneself to the middle of the course, and claim the gold ring. Winner of the race stays on, winner of the final race keeps a life; an occasional variant sees each warrior race just once, the three winners keeping lives. A fairly basic test of strength and technique, played each year.
  • Deep Loch Swim across a deep, cold lake. First three to the other side win rings, anyone who needs help loses a life. Played each year.
  • Vale of Dunan The Riddle Book gives a clue to a word, the contestant must step on stones to spell out that word. Became Riddle Bridge from the Second Tournament.
  • Leap Of Faith In turn, jump off a high platform and grab some rings. Openly tests courage.
  • Stepping Stones Either a solo or a two-person race along the stones. Best not to fall in. Rarely played after the First Tournament.
  • Spider's Cave Tied together in pairs, contestants go through a series of spider's webs to collect pairs of gold rings. Take too long, and the rings and a life is lost. Tests teamwork as much as physical prowess, and played in each tournament.
  • Forest Of Chains The remaining warriors have become trapped in a forest containing chains. They must reach out for keys to unhook themselves.
  • The High Walk Walk along a small wooden path, high in the trees, collecting rings as you go. Played in the Second and Third Tournaments.
  • Burning Mountain Pull up a sled containing a 3d jigsaw that will make a statue. First to erect their statue wins. In the First Tournament, this was played as two games - pulling the sled and erecting the statue.
  • Raven's Shield A game involving teams of three tilting a maze to get a ball in a hole was played once, during the first series' final week.
  • Mystic Pools Qualification from the weekly final was by a simple riddle, attempted first by the warrior who led on lives. The grand prize was also awarded by a riddle.
  • The Way Of The Warrior A fearsome set of traps aim to knock the warrior from the true path - swinging bodies, falling rocks, a clothes dryer spinning with heavy leather balls, a falling anvil, a narrow section, moving shields, a swinging contraption that requires the brave to crawl underneath, and swinging blades bar the way. Success grants a rich reward - progression to the next stage of the quest. Played daily, this is Raven's signature game. It has been modified between each Tournament.

The Second Tournament

First broadcast 8 December 2003 - 2 January 2004. Warriors again began with seven lives, but could exchange seven rings for a new life. Failure in any challenge resulted in the loss of a life. Raven's Eye was now part of the carving atop the staff carried by Raven. This tournament also brought in colours for each player, and used the logos on the warrior's standard to greater effect.

In addition to some games from the first tournament, the warriors faced following new challenges:

  • Fire Demon In which the warriors are blindfolded, and wave about a big white stick with knobbly bits, hoping to hit a water-filled balloon controlled by wires before the balloon hits them. Thanks to some CGI trickery, the balloon is transformed into a blazing fireball.
  • Ring Climb Climb up a ladder of rings and beat your opponent to the top. A simple test of strength and technique. Also played in the Third Tournament.
  • Dragons' Blood Collect four saucers of dragons' blood, and put them in a chest to gain a gold ring. Spill a drop, and a life is lost. This is a clever game, as the saucers have to be picked up on a horizontal pole, and that pole has to gently traverse an up-and-down maze. Played in each Tournament since.
  • High Tower Contestants stand about ten feet in the air, on towers of enlarged brown sugar cubes, and bat each other about with oversized cotton wool sticks. The towers are stuck together, but are unstable, and the first person to fall off, or topple their tower, loses. Often, a vigorous approach will be someone's (literal) downfall. The idea wouldn't have been out of place on Gladiators. Another of those winner stays on games, with only the ultimate winner retaining a life. Variants have the contestants swinging a ball between them, sitting astride a beam, standing on a draught excluder, or playing on stones floating in the water. Something along these lines has been played each week.
  • Demon Square A bush asks true-or-false questions in rhyming couplets: contestants must get five answers right to claim a ring; two errors will cost a life. Shades of general knowledge, but with everyone playing, the effect is more Runaround than Fifteen-to-One.
  • Burning Battlements Effectively, a solo skill test - shooting a catapult at those water-filled balloons against the clock. Again, CGI turns the balloons into fires, and this time the effect is more credible. CGI appears to work best in two dimensions. Played again in the Third Tournament.
  • Thrall Demons The leader is blindfolded and someone else calls out to guide them round a course containing rings and threads. Touch a thread, the bell will ring, and the demon will get you. Tests communication skills. A variant - with Raven calling the moves - was played on the final day of the First Tournament, and the game has featured in each week since.
  • The Dark Path Blindfolded, the contestants must follow a trail of vines and avoid false leads and beat their opponent to the finish. Probably the most atmospheric game of the week, testing touch and thought. Played in each subsequent Tournament.
  • Dragon's Lair Climb up a rope ladder faster than your opponent, collecting rings en route, to retain a life. Came back in the Third Tournament.
  • The Last Stand Nevar sits atop a portal. He has scattered pieces of a key to open the portal around the field, and there are a lot of wooden walls around. Yes, this is paintball, only without the paint, and with only one person being able to shoot. The player who can gather the pieces of their key and turn it first will win, go through the portal, and come back in finals week. This replaced the Dark Pools from the previous year, and came back without change in the Third Tournament.

The Third Tournament

First broadcast 22 November - 17 December 2004. No changes to the rules, and only slight changes to the presentation. The emphasis early in the week became team games.

  • Millstone Tower, in which three warriors work as a team to move three large millstones through some slalom gates, on which dragon's eggs are placed. Disturbing the eggs incurs a time penalty in the race game. Returned in the subsequent Tournament.
  • Water Demon, in which two warriors on short work to pull one of their number back before they're caught by a demon. Also came back in the next Tournament.
  • Troll Trap, where rings must be retrieved without touching the floor, by using a pole through the sides of the cage, and within a time limit. A very well-executed game, which hasn't come back.
  • Enchanted Stream and Goldrush. The warriors are to build a bridge over a river, or to allow gold to flow down into a crucible and forge a ring. In each case, the fundamental task is to lay out five pieces in the correct order, and the right way round, to complete the path. A very satisfactory visual effect in Goldrush sees the pieces of the puzzle give off little sparks when they first touch the playing floor. Enchanted Stream was also played in the following tournament.
  • Serpent's Eye, an archery challenge. Each warrior has three arrows to hit the target at all to avoid losing a life. Hit the serpent's eye in the middle to win a gold ring. This game returned in the following tournament.
  • Rune Rock, where the warriors are challenged to complete a three-dimensional jigsaw displaying a particular pattern. We had a suspicion that one of the jigsaws is easier than the other.

The Fourth Tournament

First broadcast 21 November - 16 December 2005. Warriors now began the tournament with nine lives, with nine rings required for a new life. The designs on the standard were re-drawn in bolder colours, and were now animated on screen. In an attempt to build a back-story into the programme, Nevar, the guardian of the portal, was seen on screen without his mask.

  • Snake Pit, where teams of three take a wooden box each, and cross a pit by moving the boxes from the back to the front of the line.
  • Pole Climb, which is Poleaxe from Gladiators, but using telegraph poles rather than plastic poles, and with the added distraction of rings between the warriors for either to grab.
  • Dwarf Mine, where the two leaders go into a mine. One has to describe complex hieroglyphics to the other, in the hope of gaining rings.
  • Tower Build. Warriors are paired off, and build a tower out of cuboid boxes. The first pair to reach the rings placed within everyone's reach wins.
  • Demon Causeway, a game that rather reminds of the Dark Knight from Incredible Games, or the Vortex from The Adventure Game. Alternately, warriors and demons move around a 6x6 grid, the warriors are trying to avoid bumping into the demons. Gold rings are scattered liberally around the grid. This clearly worked well on paper, but not in practice - the demons played a perfect game each time, the warriors didn't, and the result was tedious for its predictability.
  • The Last Stand was changed into a physical challenge, passing through various obstacles, under a net, over some hurdles, and up a slope with water running down. The time advantage for the leader was slim, and seemed to vary from week to week.

A follow-up series, working title Raven: The Island is scheduled for transmission late in 2006.

Catchphrases

Let the challenge -- begin!

You must be quicker, young warrior.

May the luck of the Raven's Eye be with you.

You leave with honour.

Trivia

The programme is filmed on location at Castle Toward in Dunoon.

See also

Weaver's Week reviews: Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4

Web links

Wikipedia entry

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