Weekdays, 3:50pm,
CBBC
Medieval Mario Party Raven returns, although it’s not clear why it was ever axed in the first place, with a new slightly speedier tournament over three weeks rather than four and also, you cannot not notice, a new Raven in the form of River City‘s Aisha Toussant. Time will tell if she can make the role of guide and mentor her own but if the clips we’ve seen are anything to go by the style and intonation are practically identical to James Mackenzie’s to a spooky degree. Mackenzie also turns up to pass the mantle on, presumably as fan service.
We will have to wait and see to see if the concessions to modernism work well – by the sounds of it the lives system has gone (although gold rings will continue to keep score), as has The Way of the Warrior, each group is only four people and every three days a winner is found to go through to the final.
Will it be fair to judge this as someone in his mid-30s? Perhaps I will need to ask my nephew for his opinion. We should still be able to remark on the quality of the games and production though. So if you end up watching it, let us know what you think.
“cannot not notice”
That was impressive, Nick.
Episode one was pretty good as it turns out, pretty much what you’d probably expect Raven to be like in 2017. I think it could have probably done with another challenge, and I think under the revised rings-only scoring system there doesn’t feel like quite enough jeopardy in losing, they seem a bit reticient in punishing failure, which is lovely and all but does mean races/falling off a log aren’t quite so exciting.
Aisha’s good.
Pretty cool show. As a American I would have love this as a kid, we dont get stuff like this in the US. I have seen a bit of the old ones on youtube and im happy to see that have the old host tied in to the show as well.
It’s great they created a backstory for the years the show has been off air. It does show when they reboot they understand their fans. This leads to a great potential legacy.
It was alright. Lack of Way of the Warrior and the lives system were my main gripes, but other than that it was good.
Quite annoyed the kids solved one of the riddles before I did.
Day two continues to show this is a really neatly made show, but if I had one criticism it’s that with the speedy three-day cycle, there are too many team games and so not enough opportunities for relative scores to shift – not such an issue over five days and five events, a bit more of one with three days and four. I get the ‘teamwork is good’ message they’re trying to get across, but it very much dulls the competition. Also I do think it misses Way of the Warrior, which I always thought was a really cool way to get eliminated.
Okay after bear team cycle this is what I got to say. Yes the show is missing the way of the warrior as it gives you a chance to remain in the tournament. The last stand is on par with the previous generation and the boulder run at the end is a cool feature. At least the BBC aren’t doing a C4 and repeatedly doing the same games for each team cycle. It looks like we will be facing new games every time. In total I do hope another few runs are commissioned. And I do hope the BBC will go back in the catelogue and revive other children gameshows.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/raven/gunaydin
Well, two series have been filmed according to this interview with the series producer.
Someone here suggested a Gaelic series had been filmed for BBC Alba.
I’m quite dubious of that suggestion. I can only see three Google results for it, and two of them are the same. I wouldn’t believe it until the BBC publish a press release.
breaking news from Italy:
Just now, a giant €380,000 win happened on Soliti Ignoti!
And this morning Fabrizio Frizzi surprised everyone by showing up on Ready Steady Cook to wish happy birthday to the hostess and to say that he’s in good shape enough to return on L’Eredità.
Bit more old school today. Enjoyed the challenge with the cages.
Interestingly I think you can tell in which order the cycles were filmed by how angry Toussant sounds. I think the Stag phase going out today was the first one filmed.
Okay the final last stand definitly had a vibe of Ninja Warrior mixed with a Fun House Inspired obstacle course. I feel sorry for the overall winner as they were not given any form of trophy like the previous generation got. I guess budget was probably to blame on this account but after a first cycle it definitly calls for a new recommision even if the second reported series is in Galic. Producers of this series please revive the way of the warrior elimination round. It feels slightly dull with just the fourth place to be let off after the second day. If not in the heats then just for the tourdament final. This years tourdamnet was pretty one sided and it would of put more pressure in gaining rings be critical.
Did enjoy the final Last Stand. Also appreciated the finals had a load of new games.
My initial thoughts: yes. Yes, yes, yes. Not trashing the original, but not afraid to challenge it, and the result is for the better.
Particular highlights: the soundtrack, the camerawork, recognising many of the locations from ten years ago. Close-ups on the river course are fabulous, and they’ve meddled with time just enough to create tension without breaking reality. The Grand Final Last Stand is what Krypton Factor wanted to be in 1995.
Less convinced by: some slow pacing, a bit too much repetition, a day in the heats with just three challenges, a few too many team challenges – they don’t alter the scores, just advance the narrative.
As the structure stands, I don’t think a Surely Impossible Way of the Warrior is necessary – but there are ways to engineer tension in the final game of day two.
And the riddles are properly tough; I’d have been beaten more than I’d like. Well done.
They got James Mackenzie more involved this run by giving him a commentary role. Wether this was originally planned or a last minute addition i don’t know.