Alex Rider (Fernsehserie)
Alex Rider is a British spy thriller web television series based on the novel series of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. Adapted by Guy Burt, it stars Otto Farrant as the eponymous character, who is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 as a teenage spy to infiltrate places that others are unable to. The series is jointly produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television. The eight-episode first season premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2020.
Premise
London teenager Alex Rider is recruited by the Department of Special Operations, a subdivision of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), to infiltrate a controversial corrective academy for the wayward offspring of the ultra-rich.[1]
Cast
Main
- Otto Farrant as Alex Rider,[2] a highly-skilled teenager who is recruited by the Department of Special Operations.
- Stephen Dillane as Alan Blunt,[2] the shrewd head of the Department of Special Operations.
- Vicky McClure as Mrs Jones,[2] deputy head of the Department of Special Operations and Alex's handler.
- Andrew Buchan as Ian Rider,[2] an agent of the Department of Special Operations and Alex's uncle.
- Brenock O'Connor as Tom Harris,[2] Alex's best friend.
- Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo as Jack Starbright,[2] a UCL graduate from America, who is Alex's primary carer.
- Liam Garrigan as Martin Wilby, an agent of the Department of Special Operations and a colleague of Ian.
- Ace Bhatti as John Crawley,[2] chief of staff of the Department of Special Operations.
- Thomas Levin as Yassen Gregorovitch, a mysterious assassin.
- Haluk Bilginer as Dr Greif,[2] director of Point Blanc, a mysterious academy.
- Howard Charles as Wolf, the leader of a Special Air Service (SAS) squad.
- Nyasha Hatendi as Smithers,[2] the quartermaster of the Department of Special Operations.
- Ana Ularu as Eva Stellenbosch, Dean of Students at Point Blanc.
- Marli Siu as Kyra Vashenko-Chao,[2] a hacker from Singapore and a student at Point Blanc who keeps to herself.
Recurring
- George Sear as Parker Roscoe, an American graduate of Point Blanc and the heir to a media empire.
- Andrew Buzzeo as Mr Boswell, Alex and Tom's english teacher.
- Macy Nyman as Steph, a student at Alex's school who is attracted to Tom.
- Shalisha James-Davis as Ayisha, a popular student at Alex's school who has a mutual attraction with him.
- Ky Discala as Eagle, the sniper in Wolf's squad.
- Rebecca Scroggs as Snake, a member of Wolf's squad.
- Ben Peel as Fox, a member of Wolf's squad.
- Talitha Wing as Sasha,[2] a model student at Point Blanc who is attracted to Alex.
- Nathan Clarke as Arrash,[2] a model student at Point Blanc.
- Katrin Vankova as Laura,[2] a student at Point Blanc who befriends Alex.
- Earl Cave as James,[2] the Australian[3] heir to an arms industry corporation and a student at Point Blanc who befriends Alex.
Guest
- Steven Brand as Michael Roscoe, the CEO of Roscorp Media and Parker's father.
- Llewella Gideon as Miss Baker, a teacher at Alex's school.
- Simon Shepherd as Sir David Friend, the owner of the Friend Foundation, a multi-billion pound food production and distribution empire.
- Josh Herdman as Stan, a barber.
- Lucy Akhurst as Lady Caroline Friend, Sir David's wife.
- Alana Boden as Fiona Friend, Sir David and Lady Caroline's spoilt daughter.
- Ralph Prosser as Rafe, a friend of Fiona.
- Simon Paisley Day as Dr Baxter, the physician and physical education teacher at Point Blanc.
- James Gracie as Langham, Parker's personal assistant.
- Ali Hadji-Heshmati as Javid, a friend of Tom and Alex.
Production
In May 2017, Variety reported that Eleventh Hour Films had optioned the film rights for Horowitz's Alex Rider series and would produce the series for ITV. Guy Burt was attached as showrunner.[4]
In July 2018, Variety reported that Eleventh Hour Films would be teaming up with Sony Pictures Television to produce an eight episode adaptation of Point Blanc, the second book in the Alex Rider series. Horowitz will be executive producer for the series. Sony Pictures Television's international and worldwide distribution divisions under Wayne Garvie and Keith Le Goy were attached to the film series. Sony will be responsible for funding and looking for broadcasting or platform distributors.[1]
In late September 2019, the series' first teaser trailer was released. Otto Farrant, Brenock O'Connor, Stephen Dillane, Vicky McClure, Andrew Buchan, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Ace Bhatti and Nyasha Hatendi were announced as cast members.[2] The series is directed by Andreas Prochaska and Christopher Smith. Filming locations included London and, for the French Alps scenes, around Sinaia in Prahova County, Romania.[5]
Episodes
Release
Marketing
The official trailer was released in late October 2019.[6] While promoting the series, lead star Otto Farrant praised the show for addressing societal shifts which allowed men to talk about their feelings, sensitivities, and vulnerabilities. He also stated that the series would appeal to a new teenage audience that was discovering the Alex Rider novel series for the first time by avoiding darker themes.[7]
Distribution
The eight-episode first season was released on Amazon Prime Video in the UK on 4 June 2020.[8] In New Zealand, the television series is distributed by TVNZ On Demand.[9]
In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the series is distributed by the Nordic Entertainment Group's streaming service Viaplay. In the Middle East and North Africa, the series is distributed by Lionsgate's streaming service Starzplay. In sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa, the series is distributed by the South African Showmax streaming service. The series airs on Moviestar Plus in Spain, KinoPoisk HD in Russia, Nova Cinema in Greece, D-Smart in Turkey, and AXN across multiple European territories including Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.[10]
The series airs on Sony Liv in India, KT Corporation in South Korea, and U-Next in Japan. Sony also plans to find distributors for the series in the United States, Spain, China, and Australia.[10]
Reception
The GuardianVorlage:'s reviewer Lucy Managan gave the series three out of five stars, describing it as an "improbable, action-packed romp for all your escapism needs." She described Alex Rider as a teenage James Bond, praising the lead star Otto Farrant for bringing more to the role than was written into what she described as a "serviceable script." She described the series as a blend of Jason Bourne and Spooks.[11]
NMEVorlage:'s Will Richards gave the series three out of five stars, describing it as a second-chance for the Alex Rider series following the failure of the 2006 Stormbreaker movie adaptation. Richards observed that the series avoided the cliched James Bond gadgets for the first two episodes. Richards praised Farrant's performance as Alex Rider but opined that the series needed tinkering to identify its target audience. Richards also described co-star Brenock O'Connor's performance as Alex's best friend Tom Harris as charismatic. While praising Marli Siu's character Kyra as a worthy addition to the male-centric world of the series, he expressed disappointment that Vicky McClure and Stephen Dillane's characters were under-utilised.[7]
The IndependentVorlage:'s Ed Cumming awarded the series three out of five stars, describing it as "stylish but not sanitised, catching more of the books' momentum and bringing them up to speed with the 21st century." He regarded Alex Rider as more faithful to the series than the 2006 Stormbreaker film. He also praised Farrant's version of Alex Rider as more plausible than Alex Pettyfer's version of the character, describing the "former as a teenage schoolboy with a footballer haircut but less of a male-model energy." Cumming also praised the series for aiming at both young adults and adults, inclusion of modern communications technologies like smartphones and social media, and more diverse cast.[12]
The SpinoffVorlage:'s reviewer Sam Brooks praised the TV series for capturing the spirit of the original novel series and appealing to both teenagers and adult fans who had grown up reading the novel series. Brooks also praised Farrant's performance as Alex Rider, opining that he nailed the soul of the teenage protagonist by capturing his strengths, moods, and fears.[9]
The TelegraphVorlage:'s Anita Singh gave the series four out of five stars, describing it as "slick and stylish, bringing the stories up-to-date with smartphones and cybertechnology while sticking to the spirit of Boy’s Own adventures". She regarded it as far superior to the 2006 film and praised the series for its unique cinematography of London. Singh also positively compared it to the Bourne franchise and praised the series for being able to entertain adults and teenagers alike.[13]
Emmy Griffiths of Hello! magazine compared the television series favourably to the 2006 film, praising the show's pacing, worldbuilding, and family-oriented audience. She described the series as both a "coming-of-age tale" for Alex Rider with a police-procedural subplot focusing on MI6's efforts to track down Alex's uncle Ian's killer. Griffiths also praised Farrant, McClure, and O'Connor's performances.[14]
References
External links
- ↑ a b Stewart Clarke: Alex Rider Series Heads to TV with Sony, Eleventh Hour In: Variety, 24 July 2018. Abgerufen im 4 December 2019
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o When will the Alex Rider TV series be released?, Radio Times, 22 January 2020
- ↑ Rob Leane: Amazon’s Alex Rider TV Show: Differences From the Stormbreaker and Point Blanc Books. In: Den of Geek. 8. Juni 2020, abgerufen am 8. Juni 2020: „Alex gets chummy with a pupil named James in both versions, but the book one is German and the TV one is Australian, played by Earl Cave.“
- ↑ Stewart Clarke: Alex Rider Books Being Developed Into Series by ITV, Eleventh Hour Films. In: Variety. 31. Mai 2017.
- ↑ Tom Llewellyn: Amazon Prime: Where was Alex Rider filmed? Spy drama fakes the French Alps! In: HITC. 4. Juni 2020, abgerufen am 4. Juni 2020.
- ↑ "Alex Rider Official Trailer" auf YouTube
- ↑ a b Will Richards: ‘Alex Rider’ review: a fresh start for the teenage super-spy In: NME, 5 June 2020
- ↑ Jake Kanter: ‘Alex Rider’: Amazon Snags UK Rights To Anthony Horowitz Spy Franchise. In: Deadline Hollywood. 13. Mai 2020, abgerufen am 18. Mai 2020.
- ↑ a b Sam Brooks: Bond, Teen Bond: The brilliance of the Alex Rider series In: The Spinoff, 5 June 2020
- ↑ a b Tim Dams: Sony Sells Teen Spy Series ‘Alex Rider’ to Viaplay, Starzplay and Showmax in Slate of Deals ( des vom 13 June 2020 im Internet Archive) In: Variety, 20 May 2020. Abgerufen im 13 June 2020
- ↑ Lucy Managan: Alex Rider review – slick, silly fun with the teenage James Bond In: The Guardian, 4 June 2020. Abgerufen im 5 June 2020
- ↑ Ed Cuming: Alex Rider review: Buckle up for polished yet safe spy thriller that leaves 2006’s Stormbreaker in the dust In: The Independent, 3 June 2020. Abgerufen im 5 June 2020
- ↑ Anita Singh: Alex Rider, review: Jason Bourne Jr will keep the whole family entertained In: The Telegraph, 4 June 2020. Abgerufen im 5 June 2020
- ↑ Emmy Griffiths: Alex Rider Amazon show is the adaptation fans have been waiting for ( des vom 6 June 2020 im Internet Archive) In: Hello!, 4 June 2020. Abgerufen im 6 June 2020
