Aquila (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aquila |
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Aquila's intertitle
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| Genre | Children's television series |
| Created by | Andrew Norriss |
| Directed by | David Bell |
| Starring | Ben Brooks Craig Vye |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20–25 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC |
| Original release | 2 December 1997 – 17 December 1998 |
Aquila is a British children's television show that aired on the BBC. It ran from 1997 to 1998. Each week, a new episode showed the adventures of two boys. Their names are Tom Baxter and Geoff Reynolds. They find a mysterious spacecraft while digging in a field. The first series was based on a 1997 book. It was called Aquila by British author Andrew Norriss. He also wrote a book for the second series, but it was published much later in 2010.
Contents
Discovering the Spaceship
Tom and Geoff are on a weekend holiday with their mothers. They decide to dig for treasure at a local moor. Geoff is digging when he suddenly falls into a cavern. Tom carefully follows him down. Inside, they find the skeleton of an ancient Roman Centurion. Next to it is a large, red object. It looks like a giant boulder.
One of the boys notices a hollowed-out area in this "boulder." It turns out to be a two-seat cockpit! The craft is called 'Aquila'. It quickly becomes clear that it is much more advanced than anything from Roman times. The boys press many colored buttons in the cockpit. They learn more about this strange craft. Soon, they take off into the sky!
Hiding the Secret
The story gets exciting and funny as the boys try to hide their amazing discovery. They also try to avoid causing trouble with it. At first, they can only talk to Aquila in Latin. But eventually, they find a way to communicate with it in English.
Even then, each episode ended with a thrilling moment. A new problem always popped up! In the very last line of the series, the boys find out where Aquila came from. The camera then shows a huge, abandoned spaceship orbiting the sun. They realize how important this is. They exclaim, "A battle cruiser! You could have some serious fun with a battle cruiser!"
Episode List
Series 1 (1997)
| # | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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| 1 | 1 | "The Eagle Has Landed" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 2 December 1997 | LCNA291S |
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While on holiday with their mothers, Tom and Geoff fall into a cave and make a discovery that will change their lives
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| 2 | 2 | "Homeward Bound" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 4 December 1997 | LCNA292L |
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With their holiday over, Tom and Geoff are left in the awkward position of how to get Aquila home without their parents knowing
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| 3 | 3 | "Losing Sight" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 9 December 1997 | LCNA293F |
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Tom and Geoff test buttons, and discover the invisibility function
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| 4 | 4 | "Manual Control" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 11 December 1997 | LCNA294A |
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Tom acquires powers after his hand becomes trapped in Aquila's dashboard
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| 5 | 5 | "Energy Levels" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 16 December 1997 | LCNA295T |
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Tom and Geoff are uncertain what to do when Aquila begins to run out of power
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| 6 | 6 | "Comprehension Exercise" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 18 December 1997 | LCNA296N |
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Geoff learns Aquila's origins while Tom's patience with his inquisitive neighbour reaches its limits
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| 7 | 7 | "The Eagle's Eyrie" | David Bell | Andrew Norriss | 23 December 1997 | LCNA297H |
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Tom and Geoff's secret is nearly discovered, with the threat of Aquila being taken away
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Series 2 (1998)
| # | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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| 8 | 1 | "The Birthday Surprise" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 1 December 1998 | LCNC141T |
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Geoff takes Aquila to visit his father in Paris, and Tom considers travelling to Australia in an attempt to track down his father
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| 9 | 2 | "Battling Bobby" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 3 December 1998 | LCNC142N |
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A new boy at school picks a fight with Geoff and Tom
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| 10 | 3 | "An Elephant Surrounded by Blind Men" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 8 December 1998 | LCNC143H |
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Geoff and Tom learn Aquila's history after discovering its black box recorder
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| 11 | 4 | "The Gooseberry" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 10 December 1998 | LCNC144B |
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Tom is displeased when Geoff's pen friend arrives to meet him
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| 12 | 5 | "End of an Eyrie" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 15 December 1998 | LCNC145W |
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The arrival of Alan's son and a demolition team at Eyrie leave Geoff and Tom in a difficult position as they try to find a new location to keep Aquila
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| 13 | 6 | "On Second Thoughts, Let's Panic" | David Bell | Richard Fegen & Andrew Norriss | 17 December 1998 | LCNC146P |
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Returning from a trip to Mars Geoff and Tom read in the newspaper that they have been seen and photographed then they lose control over Aquila after landing
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About the Aquila Spaceship
'Aquila' is actually a liferaft from a much larger spaceship. It was built by beings called Yrrillians from the planet Deneb. This amazing ship can fly almost forever. It can also travel in space without needing special suits for its crew. However, its air system was damaged before the boys found it. So, the air inside the ship only lasts for about 6 hours. This was a big problem in one of the TV episodes!
Aquila's Cool Abilities
Aquila has many cool powers:
- Invisibility: It can become completely invisible.
- Remote Control: The boys can control it with their voices.
- Lasers: It has powerful lasers.
- Holographic Screen: It has a screen that shows 3D images.
- Core Defence Wave Gun: This weapon can make everything in a certain area (about 109 meters) pass out.
Aquila can also be programmed to do simple actions when it detects certain signals. For example, the boys programmed it to fly to the sound of an inaudible dog whistle. This caused a problem when a dog owner blew his whistle. Aquila, while invisible, flew away to a stately home. Luckily, the boys' friend, Dunstan, found it and brought it back. He also discovered that Aquila could connect to a computer. This meant they could contact it by email! In the 2010 book, Aquila can even be contacted using mobile phones. This was much easier than the dog whistle. Aquila can also use phones to talk, since its voice system was broken a long time ago.
Other Features
Aquila can fly right through solid objects, like brick walls, without getting damaged. The boys used this ability to test its powers. After flying through a wall, the ship was perfectly fine!
Aquila records everything it sees. It stores this information on special egg-shaped objects. These recordings can be played back on the holographic screen. It can hold about 1600 years of data! If the eggs aren't replaced, the ship starts recording over the oldest footage. This also happened in a TV episode. Aquila even has a lie detector. It can tell if someone is lying by listening to conversations, both live and from its recordings.
What 'Aquila' Means
The name 'Aquila' is the Latin word for eagle. There's a saying inscribed on the Roman Centurion's harness: 'Licat volare si super tergum aquila volat'. This means 'A man can fly where he will, if he rides on the back of an eagle.' This proverb comes from an old Greek story. In the story, the gods held a race to find the noblest bird. The eagle seemed to be winning. But a tiny sparrow had been resting on the eagle's back the whole time. At the very last moment, the sparrow leaped off and won the race!
The name 'AQVILA' is written on the ship's outside. In old Latin, 'u' and 'v' were different ways of writing the same sound. 'U' was used for small letters, and 'V' for capital letters.
