Raven

Future Quadrophenia and EastEnders star Phil Daniels is Raven, alongside Michael Aldridge of Last of the Summer Wine and Carry On… stalwart Patsy Rowlands, in this six-part fantasy series in which occult and supernatural themes are interwoven with environmental concerns.

Raven was written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray, creators of the groundbreaking Children of the Stones, and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Graphics. The series, produced by ATV, first aired in 1977 and has long been believed to be incomplete in the archive due to ATV’s previous policy of re-using the tapes many programmes were recorded onto –and in more recent years the previous owners of the material, Polygram, losing/destroying film/VT deemed un-sellable. However the good news is Network DVD have tracked down the original 2” VT tapes for transfer, specifically for this DVD release.

Storyline

Raven, a 15-year-old Borstal boy, is released on probation to live with Professor Young, an archaeologist immersed in research into Arthurian legend, and his wife, an amateur ornithologist. The professor is working in deep underground caves whose carved symbols suggest that King Arthur may have used them as a hiding place, and Raven is intrigued by his belief that Arthur was not one man, but a succession of chiefs.

But the professor’s research in is peril: the government plans to build a nuclear waste reprocessing plant on the ancient site. As Raven is drawn into the battle to save the cave system, he begins to understand its mysteries – and the brightly coloured bird that has accompanied him on his journey holds the key to the discovery of his own unique destiny.