Wizards Vs Aliens Gets Two Series At LeastBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 23 October 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Two series of the new CBBC show Wizards vs Aliens have been made, according to the new edition of Radio Times.

The action adventure drama, created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, starts on Monday 29th October at 5.15pm. Two episodes will air each week, on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the new Radio Times, out today, which has a colour feature promoting the show, says a total of 26 episodes have been filmed, with 12 of them comprising the first series and the remaining 14 making up a second one. Just when the second series will be broadcast is unknown as yet.

The show sees the alien Nekross intent on devouring all the magic on Earth and 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke (Scott Haran), helped by his friend Benny Sherwood (Percelle Ascott), determined to defeat them.

Also appearing in the series are Annette Badland as Tom's grandmother Ursula Crowe, Michael Higgs as Tom's dad Michael Clarke, Jefferson Hall as Varg, Gwendoline Christie as Lexi, Brian Blessed as the Nekross King, Dan Starkey as Randal Moon, Manpreet Bambra as Katie Lord, Connor Scarlett as Quinn Christopher, Brian Miller (Elisabeth Sladen's husband) as Old Mark, and Sara Stewart as Miss Webster, with Don Gilet and Nina Sosanya making guest appearances as Benny's parents. The writers include Clayton Hickman, Joseph Lidster, and Gareth Roberts.

In Radio Times, Davies talks about the genesis of the show, which aims to fill the void left by The Sarah Jane Adventures following the death of Elisabeth Sladen in April 2011.

This show came out of the oddest circumstances, which we'd never been in before - our lead actor died . . . and it was just the most bizarre, tragic thing. It's still strange and sad that she's gone, but the brutal truth is that there were also a lot of people out of work - writers, designers, crew and everyone - in that brand-new studio in Cardiff, so we had to come up with something. We could have got another old Who companion and put them on that set, but it would have been so fake.

He added:
I love spaceships and robots and Phil loves the supernatural and everything magic, so it just made perfect sense to bring those worlds together, precisely because it doesn't happen. If you suggested that a spaceship should land in Merlin, they'd chuck you out of the room and tell you that it's the wrong mythology. Similarly, you could never cast actual spells in Doctor Who. Wizards vs Aliens is a genre-shock of two genres that never usually meet - there are stories spilling out because of that.

Episodes 1 and 2 make up the adventure Dawn Of The Nekross, and episodes 3 and 4 have been revealed to be collectively called Grazlax Attacks.

In part one, Tom Clarke is hiding a secret – he's a schoolboy wizard! But when the magic-eating alien Nekross arrive on Earth, a battle for survival begins. Tom must use his magical powers to protect his family – but only the school geek, Benny, can help him against the plans of the terrifying Nekross King.

In part two, with his gran trapped in outer space, Tom and Benny must dare to go inside the mystical Chamber to ask the mysterious Randal Moon for help. But with time running out for Ursula and Tom's dad joining the fight, can even a magical hobgoblin fight an enemy from beyond Earth?

In part one, Tom's quiet Saturday at Benny's house becomes a thrilling fight for their lives when the vicious alien Grazlax hunts them down. The two boys must learn to fight together, combining Tom's magic with Benny's science, or the Nekross's savage pet will succeed – and devour them.

In part two, the Grazlax is out of control. But Tom has used up all of his magic, and Benny's scientific genius is useless against a creature from beyond the stars. It's a race against time for both humans and Nekross as the Grazlax menace grows – but will stopping the rampage leave any survivors at all?

Promotional images from the show were released by the BBC today, as seen above and here:









FILTER: - CBBC - Wizards Vs Aliens