Spellbinder (TV series)

Spellbinder (Polish: Dwa światy "Two worlds") is a 1995 English-language fantasy adventure science fiction children's television series, co-produced between Australia and Poland, and filmed in both countries.

The series follows the adventures of Sydney high-schooler Paul Reynolds (Zbych Trofimiuk) as he is accidentally stranded in a parallel world where the industrial revolution never happened.

Paul, with the help of a local girl called Riana (Gosia Piotrowska), uses his wits and his own knowledge of science to survive, whilst his high-school friends try to rescue him.

[2][4] Spellbinder was shot on location in Australia (Sydney, and the Blue Mountains), and in Poland where most scenes of the parallel world were filmed in Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Ogrodzieniec, Zawiercie, Czocha Castle, and Książ.

They fly in gigantic copper-coloured machines that utilise large rotating orange crystals, presumably creating some form of magnetic levitation.

However, Paul manages to expose her scheme and defeat Ashka, who is returned as an outcast to the Spellbinder world, while Riana becomes the new apprentice to Correon.

[6] They decided that the Spellbinder world was undergoing a partially self-inflicted dark age following a civilizational collapse triggered by a man made ecological disaster.

At some point in the distant past, a disaster befell the planet, leaving their land surrounded by a wasteland where nothing can survive.

They refer to this disaster as "the Darkness," and the ancestors of a group called the Marauders (raiders who live on the outskirts of their society, bordering on the wastelands) are blamed for the past catastrophe.

The spellbinders rely and appear to understand some of their ancient technology, however their everyday lives were relatively simple by the standards of Paul's world.

Regent Correon invites Riana to be his new apprentice, and Ashka and Gryvon are punished by being sent to a labour camp (as seen in Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord) for their abuse of power.

The country overseen by the spellbinders is relatively small, comprising an approximate area of 20,000 kilometres bordered by a vast, desert called the wasteland.

The Regents are indifferent to the plight of the people outside their castle, enforce a very rigid code of laws designed to protect their hegemony.

While it is said that working in the castle is a high honour, it is unclear whether servants get any additional privileges and based on Ashka's behaviour with them, it is acceptable for Spellbinders to abuse them.

Firstly, the Spellbinders strictly control any knowledge they consider dangerous and forbid engineering and technology use by non-spellbinders.

Experimentation with these stones seems to have allowed Spellbinders to develop sophisticated knowledge of electromagnetism, without the energy generating infrastructure necessary in Paul’s world.

They do not seem to have any knowledge of steam power or combustion, though the existence of flying ships and summoning towers would suggest they have some facility with industrial metallurgy.

[11] The Spellbinders also appear to have no knowledge of indoor plumbing, with their baths being filled manually, and Ashka asking Paul's father "where's the outhouse."

The Spellbinders also have an advanced understanding of astronomy; Regent Coreon both knew about and had a Heliocentric model of the solar system in his rooms.

The new power suit (named 'Prototype KX4') created by Brian in Paul's world is able to repel the Earth's magnetic field, allowing it to fly.

Unlike aeroplanes, which operate on aerodynamic principles, flying ships generate lift through powerful magnetic fields.

Paul attracts attention from Gryvon, an apprentice (who is also the Summoner's son) after he creates some labour-saving devices and saves Jal from drowning via CPR.

Paul is then detained in the castle dungeons, when he is reunited with Zander, a boy who he helped build a flying toy earlier on.

After Correon finds a book, they make a surprising discovery: the Darkness was caused not by the Marauders, but by the old Spellbinders, who attempted to increase their power.

That night, Paul and Correon try to escape the Marauder's base but they get lost in a maze of rock formations which surround the camp.

At the castle, Ashka and Gryvon inform the Regents that Paul drowned in a river, ending the threat of an invasion from his world.

Paul promises to find a way to send Riana home, while Alex and Katrina reluctantly agree not to tell anyone about the Spellbinder's world.

At the Marauder's camp, Correon hears this and leaves with Zander to find Bron, hoping to know what happened to Paul.

After fixing the powersuit, Paul, Alex and Katrina return to the hospital and learn Riana is transferred to a high-security ward, after her escape attempt.

It was broadcast in France and Mauritius in the late 1990s and early 2000s under the title "Les Maîtres des Sortilèges" (The Masters of Spells)

The Spellbinders Rule from a Castle. The Czocha Castle in Poland was used for exterior shots.