Stanley's Dragon (1994)

Interesting facts

Stanley's Dragon is a 1994's British family fantasy TV miniseries on CITV starring Judd Trichter and Mia Fothergill. It received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Children's Programme.

Production

Stanley's Dragon was written by Richard Carpenter and directed by Gerry Poulson, with Dave Bainbridge composing the score. Bob Keen handled make-up. Nigel Walters served as the director of photography. Sarah Franzl handled stunt driving for the series.

The show was commissioned by Dawn Airey and was based on the Stanley's Dragon series of books also by Carpenter. All funding for the show came from the UK. It had a production budget of £1,000,000.

Filming took place in Nottingham, at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, at the Twycross Zoo, and at Black Rocks. Three different dragon constructs were used, one of which was thirty-two feet in length and capable of emitting fire. It also had an articulated head and face. The initial constructs did not appear close enough to a real animal for Carpenter's vision. A crew of twenty-five built the constructs over the course of twelve weeks.

During the filming at Black Rocks, Fothergill slipped while climbing, tearing ligaments, requiring a visit to hospital. She spent the remainder of the day on crutches, and had to be carried to her position for the scenes where she and Trichter blocked the path to the dragon.

A theatrical film sequel had been planned, to be produced through the United States, with a budget limited to £5,000,000. The story was expected to continue from Olly's escape from the UK and take place in New York City.

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