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Road to Avonlea
Road to Avonlea.JPG
Created by Kevin Sullivan
Based on The Story Girl
The Golden Road
Chronicles of Avonlea
Further Chronicles of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Starring Sarah Polley
Jackie Burroughs
Lally Cadeau
Cedric Smith
Gema Zamprogna
Zachary Bennett
Michael Mahonen
Mag Ruffman
Composer(s) John Welsman,
Hagood Hardy
Country of origin Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 91 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 45 minutes
Production company(s) Sullivan Films
Release
Original network CBC
Original release January 7, 1990 (1990-01-07) – March 31, 1996 (1996-03-31)
Chronology
Preceded by Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987)
Followed by An Avonlea Christmas (1998)

Road to Avonlea a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. The program was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films (later Sullivan Entertainment) in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Disney Channel, with additional funding from Telefilm Canada. The Disney Channel began airing the series in the United States on March 5, 1990, and continued airing it in January 1997. The series was loosely adapted from a number of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery, with many of the series' characters and episodes inspired by her stories.

Some episodes of the show were turned into independent books by various authors. Around 30 titles have been released.

In the United States, its title was shortened to simply Avonlea, and a number of episodes were retitled and reordered. When the series was released on VHS and DVD in the United States, the title changed from Road to Avonlea to Tales from Avonlea.

Characters

Road to Avonlea Characters
Major characters in the series (from left to right): Hetty King, Jasper Dale, Olivia King- Dale, Sara Stanley, Alec King, Felix King, Janet King, Cecily King, Eliza Ward and Felicity King

Major characters

  • Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley): An adventurous 10-year-old girl used to fine living in Montreal who must learn to adjust to the simpler life in Avonlea. Her mother, Ruth King - sister to Hetty, Alec, Roger, and Olivia — died of tuberculosis when Sara was a toddler. When her father, Blair Stanley (Robert Collins), runs into legal trouble, he arranges to have his daughter stay in Avonlea for her safety. Sara lives with her single aunts, Hetty and Olivia, at Rose Cottage. In seasons three–five, Sara mostly concerns herself with matchmaking in Avonlea, which causes much controversy within the conservative town. Sarah Polley departed from the show after season five, though she made two guest appearances in the fifth episode of season six and in the series finale. She is mentioned but does not appear in An Avonlea Christmas.
  • Henrietta "Hetty" King (Jackie Burroughs): The oldest King sibling and head of the King family. She lives at Rose Cottage with her sister, Olivia. She is a strict disciplinarian and the Avonlea schoolteacher, and briefly quits teaching to write. In later seasons, she takes in Rachel Lynde and twins Davy and Dora Keith. In An Avonlea Christmas, Hetty plans a holiday concert with her students, but is injured and discovers she has a tumor, necessitating an operation. Burroughs had previously portrayed Amelia Evans in Anne of Green Gables.
  • Olivia King (Mag Ruffman): The youngest King sibling, Olivia is affectionate, sensitive, and social. Most of her experiences throughout the series involve her social dealings with other Avonlea citizens. She works as a newspaper reporter before marrying Jasper Dale and leaving Rose Cottage. They have a son, Montgomery, and later adopt a baby girl, Alicia, from one of their employees at a cannery. In An Avonlea Christmas, Jasper misses the ship to Avonlea and Olivia begins to question their marriage and considers leaving him and staying in Avonlea until her husband sends her a music box for Christmas Ruffman had previously portrayed Alice Lawson in Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel.
  • Alec King (Cedric Smith): Sara's uncle, firstborn-son and brother of Hetty, Olivia, Roger, and Sara's mother, Ruth, he is a farmer and lives with his family at King Farm, next door to Rose Cottage. He is typically more level-headed and the voice of reason when Hetty is being uncompromising or stubborn. Smith had previously portrayed Reverend Allan in Anne of Green Gables.
  • Janet King (Lally Cadeau): Alec's loving but independent-minded wife, she is mother to Felicity, Felix, Cecily, and Daniel King. She has a sister, Abigail McEwen.
  • Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna): Alec and Janet's eldest child and elder daughter, she often insists on taking on adult responsibilities and feels superior to her younger siblings and her cousin Sara. Throughout the series, she wants to be a wife, a teacher, and a doctor; eventually, she runs the Avonlea Foundling Home. She grows close to Gus Pike, starting in season two. Gus is her first kiss, and later she accepts his marriage proposal—only to learn that he was lost at sea. Later, he is found alive and blind; Felicity brings him back to Avonlea and marries him in the series finale. In the reunion movie, Gus is working for the War Department in Halifax, and Felicity realizes she is expecting their first child.
  • Felix King (Zachary Bennett): Alec and Janet's mischievous, troublesome older son, he befriends Izzy (Isolde), daughter of Mr. Pettibone, the widower schoolteacher who takes over after Hetty retires. In later seasons, Felix and Izzy's friendship turns into romance.
  • Cecily King (Harmony Cramp season 1–5, Molly Atkinson seasons 6-7): Alec and Janet's quiet younger daughter, the actress switch occurs when Cecily becomes ill with tuberculosis and goes to a sanitarium in the United States. She is more interested in farm work than her brother Felix, and Alec considers leaving the farm to her.
  • Daniel King (played by Alex and Ryan Floyd): Alec and Janet's youngest son, he is born at the end of season two.

Secondary characters

  • Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen): A young vagabond, he gradually earns the townsfolk's respect throughout seasons two–five. A sailor, he is known for using Maritimer English. He leaves Avonlea for a time to find his mother, whom he had thought was long dead. After word of a hurricane, he is presumed dead, but Felicity and Hetty find him along the eastern shore of the United States. He has gone blind and they bring him back to Canada for sight-restoration surgery, after which he marries Felicity.
  • Jasper Dale (R.H. Thomson): An inventor and photographer with a stutter, he eventually marries Olivia. They buy the local cannery in later seasons. In the final season, it burns down, and they adopt a baby girl from a former cannery worker and move to Europe
  • Eliza Ward (Kay Tremblay): Janet and Abigail's great-aunt has often visited King Farm and been eccentric and overbearing. Later in the series, she moves in with the Kings and becomes a more permanent King Farm fixture, and her wit and wisdom become indispensable to the King family.
  • Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton): Rachel is the local busybody and self-appointed moral guardian of Avonlea. Her character originally appeared in Anne of Green Gables. In the beginning of the series, Rachel lives with her best friend, Marilla Cuthbert, at Green Gables. After Marilla's death, Rachel suffers a stroke and moves in with her friend (and sometimes enemy) Hetty King and they raise Davy and Dora Keith.
  • Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst): Rachel's more-tolerant best friend and fellow character, originally from Anne of Green Gables. After raising Anne Shirley, she adopts the orphaned children of her distant relative Mary Keith, although Rachel is initially opposed to this. After Marilla's sudden death, Rachel continues to care for Davy and Dora Keith at Green Gables, but after she has a stroke, Davy, Dora, and she move to Rose Cottage with Hetty and Sara.
  • Davy Keith (Kyle Labine): Marilla's orphaned relative, he comes to live at Green Gables with his twin sister, Dora. Davy is wild and rambunctious, often getting into trouble. Later, Dora, Rachel, and he move in with Hetty after Marilla's death and Rachel's stroke; he and Hetty do not get along. He does not appear in An Avonlea Christmas. In Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story, Anne Shirley Blythe runs into Rachel Lynde, who reveals that Davy has enlisted in World War I.
  • Dora Keith (Ashley Muscroft, Lindsay Murrell): Davy's twin sister, she came to Green Gables with Davy after their mother died. Dora is sweet-natured and well-behaved.
  • Muriel Stacy (Marilyn Lightstone): A schoolteacher, she was recently promoted to superintendent, and is Hetty's rival. The two women are polar opposites. Her character originally appeared in Anne of Green Gables. Later in the series, Muriel moves back to Avonlea permanently, takes over the general store from the Lawsons, and marries Clive Pettibone. Though she does not appear in An Avonlea Christmas, her voice narrates the beginning.
  • Clive Pettibone (David Fox): Clive is the widower of Jessica Hepworth, and the father of three children: Arthur, Izzy, and Morgan. Clive's family moves to Avonlea so he can take over for Hetty as teacher at the Avonlea School. A former Army colonel, he is extremely strict with discipline-oriented attitudes. Soon after he arrives, Hetty and he are both revealed to be successful novelists writing under pseudonyms. Later, he is promoted to superintendent and marries Muriel Stacy.
  • Jessica Hepworth: Clive's late wife and late mother of Arthur, Izzy, and Morgan. Clive was away fighting a war when Jessica became ill and died.
  • Lillian Hepworth (Dianne Wiest): Jessica's sister, a former women's milliner whose business failed, and has gone into debt. Izzy once considered moving in with Lillian, but Clive hated Lillian for being "irresponsible."
  • Isolde "Izzy" Pettibone (Heather Brown): Clive's youngest child and only daughter. A tomboy, she quickly befriends Felix King and eventually becomes his romantic interest. As a child, she wanted to be like her father and aspires to be the first female general in the British army. She has two older brothers, Morgan and Arthur.
  • Morgan Pettibone (played by Mark Bigney, and later by Toby Proctor): He is Clive's middle child. Clive sent Morgan to military school as a punishment for "misbehaving," but Morgan eventually left after the Commandant criticized his artwork and love for art. Arthur helped Morgan realize his dream of becoming an artist and Clive accepted Morgan's decision to attend art school.
  • Arthur Pettibone (Zachary Ansley): Clive's oldest child, he is much older than his siblings. Initially, he resents his father for his mother's death, but their relationship improves gradually after the family moves to Avonlea. For some time, he is Gus's rival for Felicity's affection. Despite making several returns to Avonlea, Felicity and he never seem to run into each other after that. They both starred together in An Avonlea Christmas, but never ran into each other. He is an independent thinker who goes by his feelings, and studied to become a veterinarian.
  • Clara Potts (Maja Ardal): One of the main town gossips, she is quite often seen with Eulalie Bugle. She is fond of Felicity, who is her daughter Sally's rival. Marilla Cuthbert disliked her, and even Rachel Lynde once said she gave women a bad name.
  • Eulalie Bugle (Barbara Hamilton): Another town gossip, she is most often seen with Clara Potts or Rachel Lynde. She is introduced in season three's first episode. Barbara Hamilton is the sister of Patricia Hamilton and had played Marilla Cuthbert in the 1972 British miniseries Anne of Green Gables and its sequel Anne of Avonlea.
  • Andrew King (Joel Blake): - Another King cousin, he is sent to live on King Farm at the same time as Sara, in the first two seasons. His father Roger is the brother of Hetty, Olivia, Alec, and Ruth; he and Sara were born exactly a year apart.
  • Peg Bowen (Susan E. Cox): A reclusive herbalist, she is thought of as Avonlea's own witch.
  • Mr. Harrison: The next door neighbor of Green Gables, he buys it after Marilla's death. He is first seen as an enemy of Mrs. Lynde, but later a love interest. He is mentioned in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story by a horrified Anne, who realizes the new residents have basically destroyed Green Gables.
  • Peter Craig (Miklos Perlus): A hired hand about Sara's age, he works at King Farm in season one. He is the son of Maud Craig.

Guest stars

Many famous actors made guest appearances on the show, including

Episodes

Main article: List of Road to Avonlea episodes

Locations

The Road to Avonlea set was constructed in Uxbridge, Ontario—the town where Lucy Maud Montgomery lived and wrote for a decade after moving from Prince Edward Island. The town of Avonlea was adapted from existing buildings. Its roads were painted red in an attempt to match the distinctive color of the island's iron-rich soil. Filming also took place regularly at Westfield Heritage Centre in Flamborough, Ontario. Photography and enhanced digital matter work married second-unit scenes of Prince Edward Island with the Leaskdale location where necessary.

Home media

Sullivan Entertainment released all seven seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the first time between 2005 and 2006. In 2009, they began re-releasing the series in wide screen format. As of December, 2012, all seven seasons and the Christmas special had been released in widescreen format.

In 2016, Sullivan Entertainment announced it would launch their own streaming service called Gazebo TV that would feature the Road to Avonlea series among other titles produced by the company. The service launched in early 2017.

Ratings

The series debut garnered 2.527 million (2+ viewers).

Awards and nominations

During Road to Avonlea's seven-year run, it won and was nominated for numerous awards worldwide:

  • 16 Emmy nominations, four Emmy Award wins: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series (Christopher Lloyd) - "Another Point of View", 1992; Outstanding Children's Program - "Incident At Vernon River", 1993; Outstanding Costume Design for a Series - "Strictly Melodrama", 1995; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Dramatic Series (Dianne Wiest) - "Woman of Importance", 1997.
  • 17 CableAce nominations, four CableAce Awards: Best Dramatic Series, 1991; Best Dramatic Series, 1993; Best Dramatic Series, 1994; Best Writing in a Dramatic Series (Heather Conkie)
  • 18 Gemini Awards: Best Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score (John Welsman), Best Performance by a Lead Actress (Jackie Burroughs), 1990; Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Lead Actress (Jackie Burroughs), 1991; Best Leading Actor (Cedric Smith), Best Guest Performance in a Series (Kate Nelligan), Best Direction in a Series (Allan King), 1992; Best Actress (Jackie Burroughs), 1993; Best Guest Performance in a Series (Bruce Greenwood), Best Original Score, Best Actress (Lally Cadeau), 1994; Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Hamilton), Best Original Score, 1995; Best Supporting Actress (Kay Tremblay), Best Guest Actress (Frances Bay), Best Original Score, 1996.
  • Six Gemini nominations
  • Three John Labatt Classic Awards for Most Popular Program in Canada (chosen by the public), 1990, 1991, and 1992

International broadcasters of Road to Avonlea

North America

Central America

South America

  •  Argentina: Canal 9 Libertad (1992-1997) (2000-2002 known Azul TV) / Channel 20 (2005-2010) / Magazine TV Pay (Cable, Satellite and IPTV) (2004–present).
  •  Paraguay: Canal 13 RPC (1992-1997) (2000-2002) / Paravisión (2005-2010) / Channel 8 of CVC and 31 of TVD (2004-present)
  •  Uruguay: Canal 10 (1992-1997) / TCC (2004-present)

Europe

Asia

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