The Crash Zone
| Crash Zone | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Children's science fiction |
| Created by | Philip Dalkin Jeff Peck |
| Developed by | Robert Greenberg |
| Written by | Robert Greenberg Pino Amenta Jeff Peck Philip Dalkin Kevin Nemeth Shane Brennan Anthony Morris |
| Directed by |
Esben Storm Steve Jodrell Julian McSwiney Pino Amenta Ray Boseley |
| Starring |
Damien Bodie Cassandra Magrath Richard Moss Nikolai Nikolaeff Paul Pantano Frances Wang Nicki Wendt |
| Voices of | Matt Parkinson |
| Composer(s) | Chris Neal Braedy Neal |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Patricia Edgar |
| Producer(s) | Patricia Edgar Bernadette O'Mahony |
| Location(s) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Cinematography | Graeme Wood |
| Editor(s) | Peter Carrodus Stephen Evans Ralph Strasser |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Australian Children's Television Foundation Disney Channel |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Original release | 13 February 1999 – 25 August 2001 |
Crash Zone is an Australian children's science fiction television series which aired on the Seven Network from 13 February 1999 to 25 August 2001. It was produced by Australian Children's Television Foundation, in association with the Disney Channel, and ran for 26 episodes. The series starred five high school students, "high-tech whiz kids" of varied backgrounds, who are hired by the president of the Catalyst software company to save her failing business. The premise of the series was unique in that it was one of the first series to examine the early use of the internet as well as the video game industry and artificial intelligence.
Mike Hansen (Nikolai Nikolaeff), Alison 'Pi' Renfrey (Cassandra Magrath), Rebecca 'Bec' Chan (Frances Wang), Marcello Di Campili (Paul Pantano) and Abraham 'Ram' Foley (Damien Bodie) are five Melbourne high school students who all have a strong interest in computers, online gaming and the internet. While playing an online computer game, they each discover a coded message. The message prompts them to follow a series of clues that eventually leads them to a meeting with Alexandra Davis (Nicki Wendt), president of the software company Catalyst.
Confessing that she was the author of the messages, Davis reveals to the teenagers that her company is struggling and she would like to hire one of the teens as game testers in order to design games for her company at "The Crash Zone". Davis proposes a competition in which the winner takes the job, and while the competition is fierce, she is impressed by their teamwork and offers them all positions in the company. The one exception is Ram, whom she feels is too young, but is allowed to remain with the teens. As well as the developing friendships with each other and their social lives, the teenagers also discover Virgil (Matt Parkinson), a mysterious artificial intelligence which exists on the internet.
The second series has the teenagers returning from their summer vacations to find the financial situation at Catalyst to have become much more serious. Davis has been forced to lay off most of her staff and they may be next. Two new characters are introduced in the second series, 12-year-old Penny Gallagher and her father Matthew Gallagher. Penny Gallagher, who is befriended by Ram, persuades her father to offer Davis a deal to save Catalyst from bankruptcy. Although knowing very little about the video gaming industry, Matthew Gallagher is a very successful businessman and very quickly turns the company around. However, his changes often results in conflict between him and the staff.
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