General questions:
What is the Dreamstone about?
The Dreamstone is about a magical stone used and guarded by the old Dreammaker. He uses the Dreamstone to send out happy dreams to the sleeping world and shield the world from Nightmares. The Dreammaker lives in a small valley which is populated by 'Noops'. Two Noops work for the Dreammaker called 'Rufus' and 'Amberley' and together with 'Albert' (the Dreammaker's watch dog fish) they make and send out dreams keeping the sleeping world safe from evil. Evil nightmares come from Viltheed where the Dreammaker's long time enemy, Zordrak, lord of nightmares lives. Zordrak is served by his loyal Urpney's who he sends to steal the Dreamstone, so he can send his 'Argorribles' (living nightmares) to the land of dreams. The only thing that can stop them from invading is the power of the Dreamstone.
Who created The Dreamstone?
The Dreamstone was created by a cartoonist called Mike Jupp www.mikejupp.co.uk The Soundtrack was produced by Mike Batt www.mikebatt.co.uk
Who produced The Dreamstone cartoon?
The Dreamstone was a joint production by FilmFair animation and Martin Gates productions for Central Television (now Carlton Television)
Who owns The Dreamstone cartoon?
Cookie Jar Entertainment are the current rights holders of The Dreamstone cartoon series.
What channel(s)did The Dreamstone air on in the U.K.?
In the U.K. The Dreamstone debuted on ITV in 1990, and went on to air 4 series up to 1995 as part of Childrens ITV. Around 1993-1994, The Dreamstone also aired on the U.K. satellite and cable channel, TCC (aka The Childrens channel) I know that series 1 and 2 aired on TCC, but I'm not sure whether series 3 and 4 did as well?
Did The Dreamstone air on any channels in other countries?
Yes. The Dreamstone has aired on ABC network in Australia and New Zealand and it has also been broadcast in Europe. RTL aired it in Germany and it has been shown on the ORF 1 channel in Austria. It was broadcast in Brazil on the TV Cultura channel and in Canada on the Showtime network between 1996 and 1997. I'm almost certain that it has never been shown in the United States.
Is The Dreamstone still on TV in the U.K.?
Unfortunately The Dreamstone is not airing at all in the U.K. on any channels. The last time it aired (as far as I know) was when ITV aired series 4 in 1995. I heard that ITV re-looked at The Dreamstone and decided the animation is a bit dated for todays kids. However with the possible new ITV kids channel launching in the autumn, they might decide to include the Dreamstone in the channels schedule. Fingers crossed!
Is The Dreamstone still on TV somewhere?
No, not at the moment. It did air on the United Arab Emerites English language channel called 'Dubai 33', every Thursday in 2004.
It is also aired in Austria on the ORF 1 channel from May 2004, but has now finished it's run.
The Cartoons:
How many episodes of The Dreamstone were produced?
52 episodes of The Dreamstone were made. There were never any TV specials made.
Were any of the episodes released on home video?
Yes. A total of 24 known* Dreamstone episodes were released on home video. 16 episodes in the U.K. and 8 episodes in Australia. For more information on the video releases please visit the video section of the site.
(*= At present it is not known what episodes were on the volumes 5 and 6 Reel Entertainment releases, therefore those episodes are not included in this episode tally)
Have any episodes been released on DVD?
On 6th March 2006, the first volume of The Dreamstone will be released on DVD. This first disc has a running time of 74 minutes and it will contain the following episodes:
-The Dreamstone Opening Special (part 1)
-The Dreamstone Opening Special (part 2)
-The Knitted Balloon
The DVD's are being released by Abbey Home Media
I have asked Abbey Home Media which version of the pilot episode they intend to use for the DVD. They told me they will be using the uncut opening special version so we will get the full episodes with no edits!
Will the Dreamstone DVD play on my DVD player if I'm outside the UK/Europe?
Yes. The DVD's that are being released by Abbey Home Media are region 0 encoded discs, which means that they are universal and will play on any DVD player in the world!
Where can I buy the Dreamstone DVD?
You can buy the Dreamstone DVD from Amazon.co.uk by following this link: Dreamstone Volume 1
I want to see all the Dreamstone episodes, but only 24 known episodes* were released to home video. Is it possible to find the other 28 episodes?
To get the 28 episodes that were not released on home video you would have to get a TV recording of each episode.
You have Synopsis on most episodes in your guide as well as some screen captures, so does this mean you have all the episodes?
Yes, I do have all the episodes, but some of them are not 100% complete. I'm still missing complete copies of the 2 episodes, Auntie Again and The Jolly Bird. The Jolly Bird is only missing it's title card, while Auntie Again is missing around 4 minutes of the start.
If anyone reading this has these 2 episodes fully complete from title card (the theme music isn't important) please send me an email as I would love to get a copy so I have all the episodes 100% complete!