Prince Caspian & The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (BBC serial)

Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader were the 2nd and 3rd Narnian miniseries produced by the BBC and originally airing in 1989. They were collected together into a feature-length fil and released on DVD.

Main Cast

 * Richard Dempsey - Peter Pevensie
 * Sophie Cook - Susan Pevensie
 * Jonathan R. Scott - Edmund Pevensie
 * Sophie Wilcox - Lucy Pevensie
 * David Thwaites - Eustace Scrubb
 * Warwick Davis - Reepicheep
 * Jean Marc Perret, Samuel West - Caspian
 * Robert Lang - Miraz
 * Guy Fithen - Rhince
 * Angela Barlow - Queen Prunaprismia
 * Henry Woolf - Dr. Cornelius
 * Julie Peters - Trufflehunter
 * Joanna David - Trufflehunter (voice)
 * George Claydon - Nikabrik
 * Big Mick - Trumpkin
 * William Todd Jones - Glenstorm
 * Joe McGann - Lord Glozelle
 * Rory Edwards - Lord Sopespian
 * Timothy M. Rose - Aslan
 * Ronald Pickup - Aslan (voice)


 * Directed By: Alex Kirby
 * Teleplay By: Alan Seymour
 * Produced by: Paul Stone

Prince Caspian

 * Episode One: 19 November 1989
 * Episode Two: 26 November 1989

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

 * Episode One: 3 December 1989
 * Episode Two: 10 December 1989
 * Episode Three: 17 December 1989
 * Episode Four: 24 December 1989

The four Pevensie children are waiting at a train station when a magical force pulls them into Narnia. They land at an overgrown castle which they quickly recognise as Cair Paravel, and among the castle ruins they find some of their possessions from their time as Kings and Queens in Narnia.

Susan saves the life of a Dwarf who was about to be drowned by two soldiers on a boat. They tell him that they are the old Kings and Queens of Narnia, and he says that he has heard about them in Narnian legends. The dwarf introduces himself as Trumpkin. He has met Prince Caspian - nephew of the current monarch, King Miraz.

Caspian lives in a great castle with King Miraz and Queen Prunaprismia, who are his uncle and aunt. He has a tutor called Dr Cornelius who one night wakes him up because the Queen has given birth to a baby, and now Miraz has a direct heir Caspian is no longer any use to him and he plans to kill him. Caspian escaped on a horse but fell from his horeseback and was taken in by Trumpkin, a badger called Trufflehunter and a black dwarf called Nikabrik. These are people who live in hiding, because King Miraz hates the Old Narnians as his ancestors defeated them on their invasion hundreds of years earlier.

Meanwhile, the four Pevensies and Trumpkin are passing through woods when they encounter Miraz's soldiers. They managed to hide in bushes and the soldiers are soon gone.

That night, Lucy wakes up and hears someone calling her name. She soon realises that it is Aslan and he instructs the other to follow him. They meet him the next morning at the Stone Table - or Aslan's How at it is now known. He takes them to meet the Old Narnians and they see Caspian for the first time, after Nikabrik introduces them to two strangers that he thinks can help them defeat Miraz - a hag and a werewolf. Nikabrik even suggests that they should call on the White Witch - who has been dead 1,000 years - to try and defeat Miraz. But Caspian points out that the White Witch was 100 times worse than Miraz, and soon afterwards a fight breaks out. Nikabrik, the hag and the wer-wolf are all killed.

Peter sends a letter of challenge to King Miraz and the guard who gave it to him is Glozelle, one of the King's courtiers who along with Sopespian has been conspiring against the King. Miraz then has an argument with his two courtiers and had intended to refuse the challenge, but changes his mind at the last minute and accepts the offer. Peter eventually fights Miraz and in the struggle he stabs Miraz in the back. Miraz lies wounded on the floor and Glozelle finishes him off with a spear. A battle then begins but is quickly over. A brave mouse called Reepicheep has his tail cut off but Aslan restores it in recognition of his bravery. Aslan also names Caspian as the King of Narnia, and the Old Order is restored so Old Narnians and Telmarines are no longer enemies.

The four Pevensies then return home. Peter and Susan will not return, but Edmund and Lucy will.

This story follows on from Prince Caspian. Peter and Susan are not featured in this as Peter had to stay at the Professor's house in which we met the children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Susan was invited to go to America for a holiday. It would have cost too much to send all four of them, so while Peter worked at the Professor's house, Edmund and Lucy were sent to stay at their cousin Eustace Scrubb's home. Unfortunately he is a selfish, boring, bossy boy who always kept complaining.

The story begins in Lucy's room with Edmund and they are both commenting on a picture on the wall and how it resembles a Narnian ship. In bursts Eustace and starts rubbishing the painting. Suddenly Lucy notices something strange about the painting and all three are sucked into it.

They find themselves reunited with their dear friend Caspian who has grown into a young man since they last saw him. He tells them of his quest to find seven lords who were friends of his father's. The quest requires them to sail through dangerous waters, encountering new islands where things are not what they seem and finally to sail to the end of the world, hoping to reach Aslan's Land.

The three children eventually return home, and before leaving they know that Caspian will marry the daughter of Ramandu (who lives on an island at the end of the world) and that the four lords who were in a deep sleep on Ramandu's island will awaken.

Surprisingly, Lucy Pevensie's character did not go barefoot for a part of the journey, a prominent feature of her character in the book that symbolises her innocence. Neither did Coriakin and Ramandu, this was due to major social taboos on going barefoot at the time.