Guinevere Jones


Guinevere Jones is a fantasy television series and a series of four novels created by Elizabeth Stewart. It revolves around the adventures of the title character as she uses magic to fight evil, while at the same time dealing with problems and difficulties of high school. The show debuted in Canada on May 4, 2002, on YTV and ten days later in Australia. It ran for 26 episodes over two seasons.
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Cast

Main

The main protagonist. 14 year old Gwen is an independent, passionate and temperamental fourteen-year-old living in a strange world, using magic to fight evil. She is the reincarnation of Guinevere, the 6th century Queen of Britain and King Arthur's wife. She and her mother moved from Canada to Australia. But Gwen was placed into the care of the Rosens, after her mother became ill and was sent to the mental hospital. Reluctantly, she takes on the role of the hero, fighting dark magic, mentored by Merlin. She is determined to prove to Merlin that she is not the flighty queen he knew in Camelot. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.
Tasha is Gwen's intelligent and wacky best friend, and Josh's sister. She is into magic and new age stuff, but she is not an old soul like Gwen. She doesn't care about fitting in and shops at thrift stores, not always by choice, but that's how it is when money's a little tight. She works at a cafe called the Arc which is frequented by students at the school. She's a loyal sidekick to Gwen and with her knowledge of magic, she helps Gwen battle evil. She is excited that Gwen is the reincarnation of Guinevere and knows more about the legends of Camelot than Gwen does.
Josh is Tasha's older brother and Gwen's 'on and off' boyfriend. He is the utter opposite of his younger sister, Tasha. He is very much a foil to his sister. He's clean cut, responsible, and a hopeless romantic who's smitten with Gwen. Josh is jealous of Michael because he thinks Gwen is attracted to him. He's suspicious of the magic world, but when faced with competition for Gwen's attention, he decides to support Gwen and protect her, even though she doesn't want protection.
Dark, intense, mysterious - Michael is the bad risk that most girls find irresistible. He's a loner who spends as little time around school as he can get away with. Like Gwen, he's a misfit and an outsider, and he confides in her about the miseries of his home life. Gwen agrees to help Tasha win Michael's heart, while secretly harbouring her own feelings. Merlin warns Gwen away from him, but Gwen is attracted to him. He was unwillingly protected by the fairy Gadowain, until he used a magical gauntlet to repel against him.

Recurring

The legendary 6th century wizard, and King Arthur's advisor and mentor. He acts as Gwen's stubborn and temperamental teacher. Merlin guides her in the crusade to shine light into the darkness of human affairs. He opposes Morgana La Faye and is trying to protect his crystal from her. He magically projects himself from his own time in the 6th century into Gwen's time, so that he can teach her how to use her magic to defeat Morgana. Merlin doesn't have much faith in Gwen because he always compares her to the Guinevere he knew, who caused the downfall of Camelot. But in spite of him and Gwen butting heads frequently, he always has affection and pride in Gwen.
Spencer is one of Gwen's friends and is in on her secret. He's a genius with computers and a pretty good chess player.
The primary antagonist of Gwen and her friends. Reine is Gwen's classmate and rival in love and magic. She is the reincarnation of Morgana La Faye, but she is unaware of this fact. She resents the fact that Josh likes Gwen, because she has a crush on Josh. Reine later on has a crush on Michael. She has some magic and uses it for her own selfish gain.
Morgana is King Arthur's evil half-sister. She is the greatest practitioner of black magic the world has ever known. She is the evil witch who opposes Gwen and Merlin, and is trying to steal Merlin's Stone. She wants to use its power to make herself immortal and rule the world. Her dark purpose is to steer mankind towards the ignorance and conflict that feeds evil and her power. She rivals Merlin in magical skills; however, she is still mortal and will one day die. It is revealed that Morgana was really the one responsible for Camelot's destruction, by casting a spell on Guinevere to cheat on Arthur with Lancelot. Saying she needed to destroy Arthur, in order to destroy Merlin.
  • Don Halbert as Patrick O'Leary:
Patrick is Gwen's teacher at school, but she soon learns that he is much more than that. He just seemed to show up one day after a teacher mysteriously falls ill. He's up to something and whenever Gwen turns around, he's there. He is revealed to be the reincarnation of Morgana's son Mordred, but he has other more personal reasons for being involved in Morgana and Merlin's battle. It is later revealed that he is actually Gwen's father.
  • Ian Dixon as Gadowain:
Gad is Michael's Faerie protector. He hangs around the Arc a lot and bums food off Tasha. Faeries have a dislike for iron and the iron bracelet that Gwen made for Michael is the only thing that will keep Gad from doing his job.

Guest

The legendary 6th century King of Britain, and Guinevere's husband. He was betrayed by Guinevere when she cheated on him with Lancelot, and Camelot was brought to ruin as a result. Unbeknownst to Arthur, it was actually his evil half-sister Morgana who caused Camelot's downfall, by casting a spell on Guinevere and Lancelot. Legend says, Arthur was killed in battle by Mordred. '
The legendary Knight of the Round Table in Camelot, whom Guinevere cheated on King Arthur with. Unbeknownst to Lancelot, he and Guinevere were enchanted to fall in love by Morgana to bring about Camelot's destruction. '
  • Vanessa Elliott as Fire Bromsky:
She is a member of Reine's gang. Her real name is Frances.
  • Katie Campbell as Wind Winters:
Her real name is Winifred Winters, is a member of Reine's gang.
She is the Socials teacher.
  • Dennis Coard as Harve Rosen:
He is Gwen's foster father. He and his family live in a thrift store called New Sage which sells magical stuff, which comes in handy when Gwen is looking for ingredients for her spells.
She is Gwen's foster mother.
  • Madeline Page as Katie Dawson:
Katie is Gwen's younger foster sister. She has a habit of lying so people usually don't believe her when she's telling the truth. She loves having a big sister.
Karen is Gwen's mother. Her body was inhabited by a demon, which was what caused her illness, and she spent her days in the mental hospital. She has a little magic.

Magic

Based on the discussions in the series, people whose souls have been around for many lifetimes have magical ability. There appears to be a direct relationship between the age of the soul and a character's magic. Gwen, who has had many lifetimes, has powerful magic. Her Mom has some magic but not as much as Gwen. This is specifically discussed in the second episode.
It is specifically mentioned in the fifth episode that objects do not have any magical ability. They just assist the bearer. This does not mean that objects cannot have spells cast on them. For example, the stone from Warwe and Mineer has magic on it.
The glade where Gwen talks to Merlin is near two Ley lines. This allows Gwen to focus her magic better.

Magical artifacts

There are several magical items. The most important is a large fluorescent blue gemstone called Merlin's Stone. It is so powerful that it could allow the bearer to become immortal and break away from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. That is the reason Morgana seeks it.
Formed from a tiny piece of the stone is Gwen's pendant. Assists her in using magic. She has used it for some of these purposes: erasing memories, influencing the actions of other people, and moving objects through telekinesis, as well as other purposes. The pendant lights up when it's near Merlin's stone.
In the first episode, Gwen receives a book from an unknown person. In the third episode, the book gets destroyed because evil magic is in it.
Eventually, in Rebellion, it is revealed that Merlin's Stone is actually relatively unimportant; Gwen's Pendant is actually more powerful.

Settings

The majority of the action takes place in several places. The fictional Griffin High School is where most of the scenes involving school take place. It is casually mentioned in the thirteenth episode that the setting is near Melbourne, Australia.
Near the school is a small forest glade where Gwen can talk to Merlin. Merlin mentions that the glade is near where two ley lines intersect. That is also where Gwen learns much of her magic.
The Arc is the cafe and arcade where Tasha works. It is frequented by other students. The store Gwen's foster parents run is called The New Sage. It sells herbs. Gwen and her foster family live on the second floor of that same building. The hospital is called St. James's Hospital.

Production

The series was a co-production between Canada and Australia. The Canadian production companies were Original Pictures Inc and Ibis Entertainment. They are based in Winnipeg. The Australian production company was Crawford Productions. The show was filmed at St. Hellier's Convent, a 120-year-old building and heritage site in Melbourne, Australia.

Airings

Guinevere Jones is or was aired on: YTV and several other networks for its initial run. On March 1, 2005, YTV announced that it would be airing reruns of the show during the last half of March through May. In 2005, it appeared on Disney Channel Italy, Nickelodeon's UK and Middle East channels, and France 2. In Australia it was aired on Network Ten. The show also aired in the UK on Film 24 on 7 November 2009.

Books

  • The four novels are a direct novelization of the television series.
  • The first book is called A River Through Time and covers the events from the first fourth of the series. It was written by Sophie Masson.
  • Book 2 covers the events of the remainder of the first season. It was written by Felicity Pulman. Its title is Love and Other Magic.
  • The third book, titled The Dark Side of Magic covers the first part of the second season. It was also written by Pulman.
  • Book 4, also by Masson, is called No Place Like Home. It covers the events from the last part of the second season.
  • All four books are published by Random House Australia.

Selected quotes

  • "I told you, my name is Gwen." - Said by Gwen in every opening credit sequence.
  • "We all have many lifetimes. We first met when you were King Arthur's queen. Your destiny is magic, Guinevere. Your task is to fight evil." - Said by Merlin in the opening credits.