Eye of the Storm

Very few dramas that I saw in my childhood made an impression on me - but Eye of the Storm did. It is one of the more forgotten CITV series from the early 90s, with a classic serial vibe to it more typical of the 70s/80s dramas they'd show than the safer, blander fare from the 90s onward. The handling of its story alone is beyond many of its contemporaries, with themes of anti-authority and child abuse abound. It has criminally never been rereleased or repeated even once since 1994, though there does seem to have been an uptick in interest in it recently with clips and episodes appearing online at the very least.

Alongside better acting from its child leads (Cordelia Bugeja and Kristopher Milnes) than one would usually expect, where it particularly shines is from a production point of view, with great use of its coastal setting. Most of all the underwater scenes in the claustrophobic caves and tunnels; real care and attention has been put into them, to the extent that you often can't easily tell if they're happening in a set or a real place. The only aspect I think it could've done better on is the characterisation of its older cast, despite some (Judy Parfitt, Bill Nighy) putting in decent performances - but as a youth drama serial with only 25 minute long episodes, perhaps that's expecting too much. Nonetheless, a less-remembered gem of a series overall.