The Twelve Episode Series
Episodes 9 to 12
Reviewed by: Stoney Ripley and Terry Angus
(Production Creators and Performers)
Blizzard Island Episode Page episodes 9 to 12
Episode nine: The Legend Of The Last Leaf
written by: Carol Bolt
Directed by: George Bloomfield
Original Air Date: February 5, 1989
All of Blizzard Island is frozen with fear as the legend of the last leaf falling to the ground will start the winter that has no end. If that happens then all on Blizzard Island will freeze over forever. Tracey and Wayne show up but can they save the day and return life to normal on Blizzard Island?
Stoney Ripley:
I liked this episode very much. To me it ranks among the top five in the series. I really liked the Sir Python and Molcaster stuff in this show, especially when Molcaster is giving a frozen Python a massage. There is also good suspense in this episode and I liked the slow motion climax very much.
Terry Angus:
Again I agree with Stoney again on this one too. Good stuff for all. Two funny Bloopers in this episode: One: I had a hard time with saying the word Fickless feline that almost sounds like another word I will not say here. After I say it you can hear me almost lose it in that scene. I'm trying hard not to laugh cause I know that people are going to think I said this other word. The next Blooper is a scene that takes place at the door of Sidney's Lighthouse where the wind is blowing so hard that Sidney can hardly hang on to the bottom of her door. We can see her feet off the ground in mid air behind her. At the end of this scene the script calls for Sidney to be blown back into the Lighthouse. However her legs decided to stay up and there's Sidney's legs without her attached to them. If you watch it close you can see it just before it fades to black.
Episode ten: The River Of The Distant Thunder
written by: Susan Snooks and Scott Barrie
Directed by: George Bloomfield
Original Air Date: January 12, 1989
While searching for The River Of The Distant Thunder our heroes stumble across Uncle Eggbert who is reluctantly on a fishing trip with Sidney. As Sidney falls into the water Eggbert tells the threesome he is tired of living with his bumbling niece and convinces Tracey to take him with her on their quest. All goes well until Eggbert realizes that Sidney truly misses him and that more surprisingly he misses her.
Stoney Ripley:
I enjoyed shooting The River Of The Distant Thunder very much because it involved a lot of Location work. The cast and crew spent an entire day romping in the woods near Stewiacke, Nova Scotia on a beautiful fall day. Another reason why I liked this episode is because of the other side of Sidney and Eggbert that we get to see. We discover that Sidney The Witch is not just a power hungry tyrant but also a sensitive being with emotions like everyone else. My favorite scene is when Eggbert falls and although she tries to catch him, she doesn't.
Terry Angus:
Yet again I liked this episode for most of the same reasons that Stoney liked it. However, I sadly didn't get to go on location with the crew. So I felt a bit left out of this one. Although I loved the scene where Sidney is upset at Eggbert's disappearance and thus decides she's going to rescue him from those terrible kids!!,the only thing that really disappointed me was that we didn't see Sidney fall into the river as she's fishing. We only hear her fall in as we watch Eggbert complaining in his basket. I'm from the school that if it happens then we should see it happen. I brought this up at the time we were shooting. I was told that it was too late to tape such a scene. Oh well.
Episode eleven: The Vale Of Fears
written by: bp Nichol
Directed by: George Bloomfield
Original Air Date: February 19, 1989
Tracey, Wayne and Rog make it through the Vale of Fears and discover the Well of Dreams, the sleeping place of the Great Argon. However, hot on their trail are Sir Python and Molcaster with Sidney the Witch pulling up the rear.
Stoney Ripley:
The Vale Of Fears features some nice touches such as the miniatures used and the huge stone statues as well. This show also features the talents of Jamie Bradley as Flock The Caterpillar. Argon's chamber with the Bhok crystals was an impressive set however, it was murder for a puppeteer. All of us had to perform either sitting or on our knees.
Terry Angus:
Let's see what do I remember of this episode? Oh yes! I remember thinking as we were shooting the scene where Python and Molcaster were approaching a stone statue. "Finally Python is back to being the self-assured snake and full of confidence" Sadly it was not to be for long as we find in part two which is the next episode. However, yes as Stoney said Jamie did a wonderful job on this episode and in the next episode as well.
Episode twelve: When Giants Wake
written by: Bp Nichol and Andrew Cochran
Directed by: George Bloomfield
Original Air Date: February 26, 1989
Our heroes are finally able to wake the Great Argon and return the necklace to him. In doing so we learn the real meaning of the quest and we also learn that the true quest is yet to come.
Stoney Ripley:
Shooting this episode was a bottle of mixed emotions for myself and Terry. We were thrilled to see our creation become a reality and excited about completing our first twelve shows. However, it was during the shooting of this show that we learned of the death of our friend and the shows head writer, bp Nichol. To me that took the joy out of much of this episode. It was a shame that Blizzard Island had to end. For me the potential for future shows was endless. When this show was over we had lost both Blizzard Island and a good friend.
Terry Angus:
I hate being a pessimist but to be honest I really hated this episode for many reasons. I had many upsets with this one. Of course there was bp's passing which hit me hard as we not only worked on this show together but Fraggle Rock as well. Beep(as people sometimes called him.)wrote most if not all of my Storyteller Fraggle episodes. How I found out was another shock! I was very hurt by our Producer. It was decided by him that I was not to be told about bp's passing away until the end of the episode's shoot. Bp passed away over the weekend. This took place on a Monday. The episode was to be I believe wrapped up on Friday. I was performing Sidney the Witch on a low rolling dolly to which I had a lot of dialog to say as I was being pushed by a stage hand and I was to stop walking as I was still talking. However, the stage hand was always stopping suddenly and this caused me and the puppet to go flying ahead sudden like. I decided to be funny and make a joke at bp's writing me a lot of dialog. "Where's bp Nichol when you need him!!" I said aloud thinking this was funny. Suddenly our camera man Phil Levy came up to me and whispered in my ear. "Terry, I don't know if you heard but bp Nichol passed away over the weekend." I looked at Phil in disbelieve and shock. "What!" was my only response. Suddenly George Bloomfield called for a 15 minute break as he knew the jig was up. I went straight to the washroom to get it out, came back and carried on.
The next problem was in Sir Python, a character I had to fight to keep on the show in the first place. He was destined to lose from day one. The lady who was head of the Children's department of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hated snakes and hated Sir Python. She had us tame the snake because she was afraid that he would scare all of the kids in our audience. This episode was the last nail in Sir Python's coffin as they made the poor guy break down totally and become a total wimp. I later found out that Sir Python was written out of the second season totally and was never to return with Molcaster saying "Oh Argon sent him back to his home continent." however, we never got a second season and from reading the first three scripts of the second season I can see why it was canned. They were truly bad.
