Children of the Dog Star

Children of The Dog Star was broadcast in the mid 1980s when I would have been around 10. It was one of a number of dark, quite superior children's shows that were being made at time - Chooky, Dark Season, Moondail, Aliens In The Family, The Lion, The Witch...etc.

I think it appealed to me because aside from being a sci-fi nut as a kid, during those long summer breaks, with a lot more fields to explore, and with a different perspective on the world (when it was not raining!), I could identify with the main character and her sense of curiousity and restlessness.

But of course this vacation will be different for this young adventurer and her friends. Something is buried in these swamps near her uncle's farm - sacred Maori lands earmarked for destruction by the greedy and unscrupulous; much like today's open spaces- something that is ancient and not made of wood or stone...and not of this Earth.

CODS is dark, mysterious and multi layered and is a must if you can remember those school holidays that are gone forever, when the world seemed new...and at some indeterminate point was somehow never quite the same again.

I remember every Monday morning the class would be bursting with energy as everyone, guys and girls alike, came rushing back to school after the weekend to discuss the most recent episode of this show. I can still hear the opening music in my head after all these years. What I would do for a copy of this series on DVD. This series started my interest in the space program and even today after so long the star Sirius, blazing away in the night sky, is still one of my all time favourites. Thanks COTDS for starting my passion for the stars and planets. Thanks NASA for the Terrestrial Planet Finder that will take it into the next decade. Currently I am chasing around trying to find copies of this series. If anyone has any copies please let me know as I would like to ad them to my collection. Despite the low ranking. (Why I don't know) this is a great series. Like I said, the entire class was addicted to it and considering the low quality of shows that came out at that time I think the producers did great. No wonder they won a golden globe for it.)

Being a kiwi (before moving to OZ) and therefore growing up in New Zealand I distinctly remember when this first screened. I was around 10 at the time and was really absorbed by it. There were 6 episodes in the series if I remember correctly. Think I rated this series slightly above the other NZ Science Fiction series I remember as a kid (Under the Mountain) which was created in 1981 if memory serves me. Amazing I found it on the web! I wish I could remember more about it. The daisy wheel pressed tin star is a prominent memory as does uncovering the "spaceship" in a forest of some sort. I believe it was filmed in New Zealand although I couldn't tell you where (North Island I imagine). Being a child of course you are easily influenced and like so many other things in life - revisiting such material would no doubt leave a very different impression upon me. Damn rational thinking, age and wisdom! I can't recall much of the special effects but being over 20 years old now and filmed in little old New Zealand as a children's feature on probably a minuscule budget would probably have not aged this well. Wish I could find a copy somewhere and revisit some lost innocence.

When budding astronomer Gretchen Kierney goes to stay at her uncle's farm for the holidays, she finds herself embroiled in an adventure that began a thousand years ago and which leads all the way to the white dwarf star Sirius B.

Many children of the 80s will vaguely remember a TV serial having something to do with a strange weathervane on top of an old barn and the presence of aliens. This was 'Children Of The Dog Star', tying in Marcel Griaule's interpretation of Dogon mythology, Maori culture, and modern sci-fi storytelling, all of which come together to produce a highly-enjoyable miniseries that uses rural New Zealand as its backdrop. It came to our screens at a time when intelligently-written speculative fiction on children's television was the norm, from 'Chocky' to 'The Tripods' and 'Under The Mountain' - the latter sharing screenwriter Ken Catran and director Chris Bailey, by now practiced hands at the genre. While 'Children Of The Dog Star' differs from these others in not being adapted from a novel, it does take much of its inspiration from Robert K.G Temple's 1976 book, 'The Sirius Mystery', sparking of a period of intense debate over how the Dogon could possibly have known the brightest star in the heavens had a small white dwarf orbiting it without modern astronomical equipment. Could we have been guided by aliens in the past?

While child performers Sarah Dunn, Jeison Wallace and Hamish Bartle did not appear to build a career out of acting, they give a decent first performance here, for which some credit must go to Bailey, already a skilled hand at getting the most out of young newcomers. The production's adult cast ranges from seasoned veterans like Roy Billing and Catherine Wilkin to lesser-known actors like Anzac Wallace, who also has a cameo in the classic sci-fi film 'The Quiet Earth'. The special effects are pre-cgi and of their time, but hold up enough for all but the most demanding of audiences. Matthew Brown provides a memorable theme tune and his incidental music is both fitting and never overused. Perhaps the biggest compliment I could give the production is that I still enjoyed it very much as an adult. While it has '1984' stamped all over it, time has not been especially unkind in the areas that count.

2009 saw 'Children Of The Dog Star' finally make it to DVD. Alas, TVNZ made no effort to clean up their print or produce even the most minimal of extras. I bet Catran and Bailey for example, would have liked to have produced a commentary, and we'd all have enjoyed hearing it. Nonetheless, the serial is finally available, and will hopefully be a nice nostalgia trip for older fans, and better still, entertain a new generation of children.

It is truly, absolutely fascinating to read the other comments for this series, for they say the same, and I can do neither. I have had a weak but clear memory of this show since I saw when I was 9, but no one else has recognized it when I've told about it and I didn't remember the name of the series. Frustation! Until yesterday when I put out a question at a community and a guy answered and told me it was this series. It feels wonderful to know that my weak memory of this wasn't just in my head! I was also completely absorbed by this show. But the only thing I can remember is that mysterious lamp on roof and it scared the hell out of me. :) Anyway, I think my fascination for sci-fi and astronomy started with this show too. It's great to read that other have experienced the same. Aah, that youth... :)