ElvenQuest
 | |
| Other names | Elvenquest Elven Quest Elven's Quest (working title) |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comic fantasy |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Stephen Mangan Alistair McGowan Darren Boyd Kevin Eldon Sophie Winkleman Dave Lamb |
| Written by | Anil Gupta Richard Pinto |
| Produced by | Anil Gupta Paul Schlesinger |
| Original release | 29 March 2009 |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Website | BBC website |
ElvenQuest is a comic fantasy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto, and starring Stephen Mangan, Alistair McGowan, Darren Boyd, Kevin Eldon, Sophie Winkleman and Dave Lamb.[1] The series takes place in the world of Lower Earth, a parody of Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. In Lower Earth, a band of warriors go forth to search for a mythical sword to save Lower Earth from the evil Lord Darkness (played by McGowan). In order to do so, they must find "The Chosen One" who will save Lower Earth. The Chosen One is Amis, a dog in the real world which belongs to a fantasy novelist called Sam Porter (played by Mangan).[2] The first series was broadcast from 29 March to 3 June 2009 and the second from 18 November 2010.
Plot
During the Third Age of Elven Princes of Lower Earth, a band of noble warriors - Vidar the Elf Lord (Boyd), Penthiselea the Warrior Princess (Winkleman) and Dean the Dwarf (Eldon) - plan to save Lower Earth from the evil rule of Lord Darkness by searching for the Sword of Asnagar, "for whoso'er wields the sword shall rule all of Lower Earth."[2] However, they first have to discover "The Chosen One" who will lead them to the Sword, whose name is "Amis". Amis is a dog belonging to Sam Porter, a misanthropic fantasy novelist in the real world. Vidar, Penthiselea and Dean travel via a portal to take Amis, who is with Sam at a book signing in Totnes High Street, to Lower Earth. When they take Amis, Sam follows them and both Sam and Amis arrive in Lower Earth. When they arrive in Lower Earth, Amis is transformed into a human (played by Lamb). Sam believes he has been kidnapped by deranged fans, until he sees the world outside the room they arrived in. He asks to be sent back home, but is told that the portal is closed and can only be opened by the same Sword of Asnagar that Amis must seek.
Sam decides to travel with Amis, Vidar, Penthiselea and Dean to find the Sword. Meanwhile, Lord Darkness (Alistair McGowan) is planning to stop them from finding the Sword, helped by his evil but dimwitted assistant Kreech (also played by Eldon). Sam proves invaluable in using his modern instincts to trick his way past various creatures barring their way. For instance, he bluffs a three-headed troll guardian of Darkness's fortress in the same way as he would a security guard at a nightclub, distracting it long enough for Dean the dwarf to attack.
Production
One of the writers, Gupta, said in an interview with the BBC Comedy website that ElvenQuest is not designed to be a spoof of Lord of the Rings, because this had already been done in an earlier radio sitcom, Hordes of the Things. He also said that: "we wanted to create a show which would exist in its own right. In the best sitcoms the comedy should come from the characters and their inter-relationships, which means they can't simply be two dimensional parodies."[3]
See also
References
- ^ Wolf, Ian. "ElvenQuest - Production Details, Plus Regular Cast and Crew". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
- ^ a b Wolf, Ian. "ElvenQuest". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
- ^ Thair, David (28 April 2009). "ElvenQuest: a new adventure begins". BBC. Retrieved 3 May 2009.