Eye of the Storm is a British fantasy children's television serial first broadcast in early 1993 on ITV. Made by Childsplay Productions and writer Richard Cooper for then-new ITV franchisee Meridian Broadcasting, the six-part drama was among its first contributions to the Children's ITV strand. It starred Bill Nighy, Judy Parfitt, and Cordelia Bugeja.
Set on location in Devon and Hampshire on the south coast of England, a conservationist father and daughter investigate what transpires to be a government cover-up of an imminent pollution crisis from their converted trawler boat. Their efforts collide with a more fantastical threat, involving a malevolent guardian's abuse of clairvoyant abilities held by her blind young boy, and his link to ancient powers foretold by a 17th century alchemist forefather.
The serial was a critically acclaimed, award-winning success at the time of its original broadcast, though would remain self-contained and receive no subsequent continuation or adaption in any form. With the exception of one repeat run the following year, Eye of the Storm has not been made commercially available in full for public viewing since.
Overview
Former popstar-turned-environmental conservationist Tom Frewen lives at sea on the south coast of England alongside his teenage daughter Nell, regularly observing it from their eponymous trawler boat home, the 'Eye of the Storm'. Docking at Montliskeard Bay in Devon, they investigate its connection to an incident that took place during the great storm of 1987, where a ship bound for Felixstowe shedded five barrel drums of highly toxic material. Though four of the discarded canisters were recovered, the fifth appears to remain lost. Its major hazard to marine life concerns Tom, swiftly beginning a search for the whereabouts of the barrel. With their boat then wrecked and Nell attacked whilst diving, the two have their lives threatened at the epicenter of a cover-up by governmental authorities.
At the same time, a blind young boy, Luke Montliskeard, is being drugged and abused at Montliskeard Place mansion on the nearby bay cliffs by his malevolent guardian Martha. She desires to create another ecological crisis through this exploitation; one of Luke's alchemist 17th century forefathers, Gilbert, believed that bringing five of his family's jewels together would grant ancient destructive powers. However, before he was able to gather all of them, they were scattered by relatives upon the discovery of his ill intent. Martha tries to find the stones by tracking down Montliskeard descendants and manipulating Luke's extraordinary clairvoyant visions of events he was not present for, intending to summon the destruction in a cave ritual, but has her plans thwarted when the Frewens' efforts collide.
Production and broadcast
In preparation for the on-air launch of Meridian Broadcasting as an ITV station, the then-new franchise holder’s controller of children’s and daytime programming Janie Grace (formerly of predecessor Television South) bought three shows by independent production companies for the former audience during 1992. Each were intended to cover a different segment of the network’s youth remit; of these, Eye of the Storm was seen as Meridian’s drama contribution for its older end.
Made for Meridian by independent television production company Childsplay Productions, the series was devised by Peter Tabern and Richard Cooper. As head of Childsplay since its 1984 inception, the former had left Thames Television to make several series of teenage courier drama Streetwise for TVS and sitcom All Change for Yorkshire Television through it, whereas the latter had moved from theatre to television over a decade prior, predominantly writing several other critically-acclaimed thriller serials for youths. These included Quest of Eagles for Tyne Tees, Codename Icarus for the BBC, and Knights of God, also for TVS.
Eye of the Storm was solely produced and directed by Tabern, with Cooper similarly credited for all writing. Its budget was reported to be £1 million. Principal photography took place on-location off the coasts of Devon and Hampshire. Due to numerous action scenes taking place in the sea, a diving consultant was used to choreograph sequences in which actors were underwater. Several of these featured Cordelia Bugeja, in her first lead television role. Kristopher Milnes also made one of his first major on-screen appearances, after voice actor work and recently portraying a younger Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
