Leonardo (TV series)
| Leonardo | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Teen drama / Adventure |
| Starring |
Jonathan Bailey Flora Spencer-Longhurst Akemnji Ndifornyen Colin Ryan Alistair McGowan James Clyde |
| Theme music composer | Mark Russell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Anne Brogan, Melanie Stokes |
| Producer(s) | Bernard Krichefski |
| Cinematography | Dirk Nel |
| Editor(s) | Sue Wyatt, Philip Hookway |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBBC |
| Original release | 11 April 2011 – 6 December 2012 |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
Leonardo is a British children's television series broadcast on CBBC. The show is an adventure programme featuring a teenage Leonardo da Vinci starring Jonathan Bailey. The series is set in 15th-century Florence. A second series premiered on CBBC on 20 September 2012, starting with episodes one and two being shown back to back. For Series 2, actor James Clyde replaced Alistair McGowan in the role of Piero de' Medici.
Packed full of mystery, adventure and comedy, the series follows the adventures of the young Leonardo da Vinci and his friends in 15th century Florence.
Leonardo began as a novel outline by Tom Mason and Dan Danko portraying Leonardo da Vinci as a "teenage Renaissance Batman". Although never actually used in a book, Mason and Danko were able to interest the BBC in their unpublished story idea. It was optioned by the BBC in late 2009 and the pre-production was completed by summer 2010. The first series of Leonardo was shot on location in South Africa throughout the second half of 2010. A second series was completed on location in Cape Town and was aired in 2012.Roxane Hayward, Katie McGlynn and Pam St. Clement guest starred in the second series.
A Friday Download promotion for Leonardo suggested that the series is factual, but the series is misleading in certain respects. For example, in series 1, episode 5 the eponymous hero falls in love with a girl called Valentina. Art historians, including Lord Clark, have argued that Leonardo da Vinci was homosexual, and had no romantic interest in women. Another problem is that the action is said to take place in Florence in 1467. However, in episode 8 Leonardo is shown in competition with Michelangelo, who was not even born until 1475. In an interview with C21 Media, co-director Melanie Stokes said that "we play fast and loose with history and it's not the job of a drama to give facts... but to inspire imagination." Episode 8 accurately references Da Vinci's vegetarianism and love of nature (buying caged birds to release them).
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