Guinevere Jones
| Guinevere Jones | |
|---|---|
 The cover of the first book. | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Elizabeth Stewart |
| Starring |
Damien Bodie Pepe Trevor |
| Country of origin |
Canada Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Kim Todd |
| Producer(s) | Tim Williams |
| Production company(s) |
Crawford Productions Original Pictures Ibis Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network |
YTV (Canada) Network Ten (Australia) |
| Original release | 4 May – 7 December 2002 |
Guinevere Jones is a Canadian/Australian fantasy television series and a series of four novels. It revolves around the adventures of the title character as she uses magic to fight evil, while at the same time dealing with problems and difficulties of high school. The show debuted in Canada on May 4, 2002 on YTV and ten days later in Australia. It ran for twenty-six episodes over two seasons.
Television Show
Elizabeth Stewart created the television show. Both seasons aired in 2002.
Episodes
There are a total of twenty-six episodes, with thirteen in each season. Each episode has a self-contained little plot, but there are also several story arcs stretching across multiple episodes. Indeed, most episodes start with both a teaser and a "Last Time on Guinevere Jones..." plot review. The last three episodes are direct continuations of each other and are like a miniature serial.
Season 1
Season 1 Aired in May, June, and July 2002.
| Episode | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Hard Rain | The series opener. Running from sinister things in Canada, Gwen and her mother move to suburban Melbourne. Gwen's Mom is declared insane and is put in a hospital. Gwen is put in foster care. She meets Merlin and finds out that she is the reincarnation of Guinevere and learns that her true destiny is to fight evil. |
| 1.2 | Psyched | People in St. James' Hospital are seeing things. Gwen and her Mom see them too. |
| 1.3 | That Old Black Magic | Morgana kidnaps Tasha. Josh and Gwen must rescue her. |
| 1.4 | Ordinary Evil | Katie is removed from Harve and Louise's foster care. Gwen believes that she may have inadvertently cast a spell to cause that. |
| 1.5 | Weird Sisters | During a rehearsal for a school production of MacBeth, Gwen starts to see visions of the future. They start coming true. Meanwhile, her pendant goes missing, and Reine develops a crush on Josh. |
| 1.6 | Dybbukkin | A mischievous demon possesses Spencer. Reine finds out that Gwen can do magic. |
| 1.7 | First Date | Josh and Gwen start falling in love. |
| 1.8 | Warwe and Mineer | A magical rock with Aborigine paintings and magical powers traps Spencer inside. |
| 1.9 | Love Hurts | This is the first episode with Michael. Tasha has a crush on him, and tries to get Gwen to cast a love spell on him. It goes wrong. |
| 1.10 | The Dryad | A dryad named Fern lives in the huge tree near the glade where Gwen meets Merlin. The tree is due to be cut down by a company owned by Reine's father. |
| 1.11 | Solo Act | Michael's father bribes the school so Michael will make the basketball team. However, that is exactly what Michael does not want. Meanwhile, Gwen finds that there is something Magical about Michael. |
| 1.12 | Shadows | Gwen manages to get Gadowain to stop following Michael around while invisible, but now he can't leave Tasha's shop and starts eating all of the snacks. |
| 1.13 | Choices | A woman named Amanda enters Gwen's life and provides proof that she is her Aunt. However, there is something disturbing about Amanda. |
Season 2
Season 2 aired in September, October, November, and December 2002.
| Episode | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Lost and Found | -- |
| 2.2 | Time Cuts | Tasha sees Black Angus, an evil dog that dooms everyone who sees it to death. Using a faerie device, Gwen goes back in time to prevent anyone from seeing it. |
| 2.3 | Detention | While studying time capsules left behind by a class long ago, Gwen and Tasha discover find a horrible secret about a teacher who disappeared fifty years go. |
| 2.4 | Wishes | Using an artifact, Josh wishes for Gwen's love. His wish comes true and Gwen loves him... at the cost of everything else. |
| 2.5 | Tribes | -- |
| 2.6 | Easy Money | Someone casts a spell and tries to frame Gwen for stealing money. Gwen must find the real culprit and contend with an over-zealous police investigator who thinks she is guilty. |
| 2.7 | No Place Like Home | This is a partial clip show. Someone casts a spell on Gwen to prevent her from leaving her foster parents' shop. She must find out who did it, why they did it, and how to stop them. |
| 2.8 | Bloodlines | Michael's parents are in a car accident. This unleashes a chain of events that leads to him finding out a dark secret about his past. |
| 2.9 | Fifi | Spencer accidentally sells his emotions for complete knowledge of the secrets of the universe. Gwen must get them back. Meanwhile, Michael has disappeared. |
| 2.10 | Spellbound | No one remembers who Michael is. Gwen must restore people's knowledge of him. |
| 2.11 | What Guinevere Knew | Gwen finds the crystal, and exorcises the demon possessing her mother. |
| 2.12 | Darkness Falls | While returning Merlin's crystal to its proper place, Gwen loses it to Morgana. Darkness falls across the land. |
| 2.13 | Rebellion | The series finale. Gwen learns who Morgana really is, and finds who is her father, and restores the world to its proper order. |
Characters
There are several major characters in the television show and books:
Main characters
- Gwen Jones is the protagonist. She uses magic to fight evil. She finds out in the first episode that she is the reincarnation of Guinevere from King Arthur's time. Her mother (Karen Jones) was captured by an evil spirit and spent her days in the mental hospital. Gwen was adopted by the Rosens who lived in a shop called New Sage which sell magical stuffs. (portrayed by Tamara Hope).
- Tasha Myers is Josh's sister. She works at a cafe called the Arc which is frequented by students at the school. She is Gwen's best friend and a great helper in Gwen's fight against evil. (portrayed by Greta Larkins).
- Josh Myers Tasha's brother. He is very much a foil to his sister. Sometime he acts like a boyfriend to Gwen along with Michael. (portrayed by Damien Bodie).
- Michael Medina is Gwen's friend and sometimes boyfriend. He was unwillingly protected by Gadowain until he used a magical gauntlet to repel the fairy. (portrayed by Yani Gellman). Only after Episode 9.
- Spencer Huang is a friend of Tasha's. (portrayed by Aljin Abella).
- Reine Davidson is the primary antagonist of Gwen and her friends. She has some knowledge of magic herself. She has a crush on Josh as well as later on Michal. (portrayed by Bridget Neval).
- Merlin often offers Gwen advice but is also difficult. He is actually a spirit projecting himself from the past. (portrayed by Ted Hamilton).
- Patrick O'Leary is one of Gwen's teachers at the school. There seems to be something sinister about him, but he is actually Gwens father. (portrayed by Don Halbert).
- Gadowain is a troublesome fairy. Michael's protector. (portrayed by Ian Dixon).
Minor characters
These all appear in relatively few episodes or are not very important to the advancement of the overall story arc.
- Fire Bromsky is a member of Reine's gang. Her real name is Frances. (portrayed by Vanessa Elliott).
- Wind Winters, whose real name is Winifred Winters, is a member of Reine's gang. (portrayed by Katie Campbell).
- Morgana La Faye is an evil witch who opposes Gwen and Merlin. (portrayed by Mercia Deane-Johns).
- Penelope Blatt is the Socials teacher. (portrayed by Pepe Trevor).
- Harve Rosen is Gwen's foster father. (portrayed by Dennis Coard).
- Louise Rosen is Gwen's foster mother. (portrayed by Briony Behets).
- Katie Dawson is Gwen's foster sister and in foster care herself. (portrayed by Madeline Page).
- Karen Jones is Gwen's mom. (portrayed by Trudy Hellier).
There are other characters, such as one-episode appearers, who are very unimportant or are only relevant in one episode.
Magic
Based on the discussions in the series, people whose souls have been around for many lifetimes have magical ability. There appears to be a direct relationship between the age of the soul and a character's magic. Gwen, who has had many lifetimes, has powerful magic. Her Mom has some magic but not as much as Gwen. This is specifically discussed in the second episode.
It is specifically mentioned in the fifth episode (Weird Sisters) that objects do not have any magical ability. They just assist the bearer. This does not mean that objects cannot have spells cast on them. For example, the stone from Warwe and Mineer has magic on it.
The glade where Gwen talks to Merlin is near two Ley lines. This allows Gwen to focus her magic better.
Magical artifacts
There are several magical items. The most important is a large fluorescent blue gemstone called Merlin's Stone. It is so powerful that it could allow the bearer to become immortal and break away from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. That is the reason Morgana seeks it.
Formed from a tiny piece of the stone is Gwen's pendant. Assists her in using magic. She has used for some of these purposes: erasing memories, influencing the actions of other people, and moving objects through telekinesis, as well as other purposes. The pendant lights up when near Merlin's stone.
In the first episode, Gwen receives a book from an unknown person. In the third episode the book gets destroyed because evil magic is in it.
Eventually, in Rebellion, it is revealed that Merlin's Stone is actually relatively unimportant; Gwen's Pendant is actually more powerful.
Settings
The majority of the action takes place in several places. The fictional Griffin High School is where most of the scenes involving school take place. It is casually mentioned in the thirteenth episode that the setting is near Melbourne, Australia.
Near the school is a small forest glade where Gwen can talk to Merlin. Merlin mentions that the glade is near where two ley lines intersect. That is also where Gwen learns much of her magic.
The Arc is the cafe and arcade where Tasha works. It is frequented by other students. The store Gwen's foster parents run is called The New Sage. It sells herbs. Gwen and her foster family live on the second floor of that same building. The hospital is called St. James's Hospital.
Production
The series was a co-production between Canada and Australia. The Canadian production companies were Original Pictures Inc and Ibis Entertainment. They are based in Winnipeg. The Australian production company was Crawford Productions. The show was filmed at St. Hellier's Convent, a 120-year-old building and heritage site in Melbourne, Australia.
Airings
Guinevere Jones is or was aired on: YTV and several other networks for its initial run. On March 1, 2005, YTV announced that it would be airing reruns of the show during the last half of March through May. In 2005, it appeared on Disney Italy, Nickelodeon UK, Nickelodeon Arabia, and France 2. In Australia it was aired on Network Ten. The show debuted in the UK on Film 24 (Sky 157) on 7 November 2009.
Books
- The four novels are a direct novelization of the television series.
- The first book is called A River Through Time and covers the events from the first fourth of the series. It was written by Sophie Masson.
- Book two covers the events of the remainder of the first season. It was written by Felicity Pulman. Its title is Love and Other Magic.
- The third book, titled The Dark Side of Magic covers the first part of the second season. It was also written by Pulman.
- Book four, also by Masson, is called No Place Like Home. It covers the events from the last part of the second season.
- All four books are published by Random House Australia.
Selected quotes
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Guinevere Jones |
- "I told you, my name is Gwen." - Said by Gwen in every opening credit sequence.
- "We all have many lifetimes. We first met when you were King Arthur's queen. Your destiny is magic, Guinevere. Your task is to fight evil." - Said by Merlin in the opening credits.
External links
- Guinevere Jones at the Internet Movie Database
- Guinevere Jones at YTV (Inactive at least by May 29, 2010)