The Dark Side Of The Sun (television)
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''The Dark Side of the Sun'' is a
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
serial written by Michael J. Bird and produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1983.
Dennis Hackett Dennis Hackett (5 February 1929 – 23 August 2016) was a British magazine and newspaper editor whom many would say played significant roles on game-changing publications that reshaped the language of British journalism. Hackett grew up in Sheffi ...
. "Television." Times ondon, England14 Sept. 1983: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 1 May 2012.


Plot

''The Dark Side of the Sun'' takes place on the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
. The story combines elements of supernatural
Gothic romance Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
with the contemporary conspiracy thriller. There are themes of
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
and
hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
, and a secret society, descended from the
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
, holding clandestine meetings on the island. The historical back-story is linked to the suppression of the Templars, and seems also loosely inspired by the overthrow of
Foulques de Villaret Foulques de Villaret ( Occitan: Folco del Vilaret, Catalan: Folc del Vilaret; died 1 September 1327), a native of Languedoc-Roussillon, France, was the 25th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, succeeding his paternal uncle Guillaume de Vill ...
, 25th Grand Master of the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
. His former stronghold at Lindos was one of the main filming locations. The Templar conspiracy theory element in the modern plot-line shows some influences from ''
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' (published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States) is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh (author), Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in ...
'', which had been published the previous year.


Critical reaction

Writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', television critic
Nancy Banks-Smith Nancy Banks-Smith (born 1929) is a British television and radio critic, who spent most of her career writing for ''The Guardian''. Life and career Born in Manchester and raised in a pub, she was educated at Roedean School. Banks-Smith began her ...
said "I don't understand any of it". Writing in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', critic
Dennis Hackett Dennis Hackett (5 February 1929 – 23 August 2016) was a British magazine and newspaper editor whom many would say played significant roles on game-changing publications that reshaped the language of British journalism. Hackett grew up in Sheffi ...
stated he enjoyed the scenery and special effects but was less impressed by the rest.


Main cast

*
Peter Egan Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor and animal rights activist. He is known for his television roles, including Hogarth in ''Big Breadwinner Hog'', the future George IV of the United Kingdom in ''Prince Regent'' (1979 ...
as Raoul Lavallière *
Patrick Mower Patrick Mower (born Patrick Archibald Shaw; 12 September 1938) is an English actor who has portrayed the role of Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' since 2000. As well as portraying Rodney, Mower has appeared in various films ...
as Don Tierney *
Emily Richard Emily Richard (born 25 January 1948) is a British actress and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. One of three sisters, Richard was born in London, where she attended drama school in 1966, aged 18, but she was asked to leave afte ...
as Anne Tierney *
Betty Arvaniti Betty Arvaniti ( el, Ελισσάβετ (Μπέττυ, Μπέτυ) Αρβανίτη; born 4 August 1939) is a Greek actress. She appeared in 40 films and television shows between 1965 and 2002. Selected filmography * '' Istoria mias zois'' (196 ...
as Ismini Christoyannis *Christopher Scoular as David Bascombe *
Godfrey James Godfrey James (16 April 1931 – 29 October 2019) was an English actor. His film appearances include: '' Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), ''Witchfinder General'' (1968), '' The Oblong Box'' (1969), ''Cry of the Banshee'' (1970), ''The Blood ...
as Harry Brennan *
Michael Sheard Michael Sheard (18 June 1938 – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish character actor who featured in many films and television programmes, and was known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Mauric ...
as Colonel von Reitz *Mark Barratt as Max *Brian Attree as Simon


Crew

*Series written by: Michael J. Bird *Directed by: David Askey *Produced by:
Vere Lorrimer Vere Lorrimer (8 June 1920 – 1 October 1998) was a British television producer and director. His work as director included many BBC dramas including ''Compact'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', ''Doomwatch'' and ''Blake's 7''. He later moved on to p ...
*Designed by: Alex Gourlay *Theme music composed by:
Stavros Xarhakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the M ...


Episodes


Production

The serial was the last in an unofficial quartet of serials written by Bird and set in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. The previous three were '' The Lotus Eaters'', ''
Who Pays the Ferryman? ''Who Pays the Ferryman?'' is a television series produced by the BBC in 1977. The title of the series refers to the ancient religious belief and mythology of Charon, the ferryman to Hades. In ancient times, it was custom to place coins in or on t ...
'' and ''
The Aphrodite Inheritance ''The Aphrodite Inheritance'' is a BBC television series broadcast in 1979. The eight-part serial, written by Michael J. Bird, followed his previous successful Mediterranean-set series '' The Lotus Eaters'' and ''Who Pays the Ferryman?''. Where ...
''. Michael J. Bird Tribute Site: ''The Dark Side of the Sun''
/ref> The program's music was composed by the Greek composer
Stavros Xarchakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Mani ...
."Stavros Xarchakos", BBC Music website, https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/6598c5e5-bfe5-48e7-b341-66cc6db310ea (accessed 1 May 2012)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Side of the Sun, The 1983 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings BBC television dramas 1980s British drama television series English-language television shows British fantasy television series