''Friends and Heroes'' is a Canadian Christian children's program that airs on TBN,

Smile of a Child TV Smile (shortened from its former name of Smile of a Child) is an American Christian free-to-air television network owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The network is aimed at children between the ages 2 to 12, and offer ...

, and was also shown on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

. The show is both traditionally animated (for the adventure story) and computer animated (for the Bible stories). It takes place from 69–71 AD, during the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called the Great Jewish Revolt ( he, המרד הגדול '), or The Jewish War, was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire, fought in Roman-controlled ...

. There are three seasons or "series", each comprising 13 episodes: Season 1 is set in Alexandria, Egypt; Season 2 in Jerusalem and Season 3 in Rome. The series was created by Brian D. Brown and Eric J. Danenberg, who also worked on The Storykeepers. Starting with the second season, the show is produced in HD. All three series have now been translated and dubbed into Arabic, Chinese (both Mandarin, and Taiwan Mandarin), French, German, Hindi, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, North American Spanish, and Manx Gaelic.

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Retu ...

, the producer for season one, also produced ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

'', '' Star Wars'', and ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...

''. It was Also Broadcast on the Australian Christian Channel in Australia.

Format overview

The show starts with a recap of last week's episode, relevant or not. Then the theme song plays. Act 1 begins with the name of the episode. There's usually about ten minutes of story and then a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

story, followed by Act 2. There's more story and then another Bible story. Unless it is a two-part episode, the problem is resolved after the second Bible story. There are, however, three Bible stories in one episode.

Story

Alexandria (AD 69)

The series begins in the year 69 AD, in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. There is a rebellion going on in nearby

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

by the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. In response, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

orders his men, led by Brutacus and Tobias, to crack down on the Jews and Christians. In the first episode introduces the family of Samuel, Diana, their son Macky, and their rarely seen parrot, Pontius, who live in Delta Quarter on the port of

. They are rebels who hide other rebels in their house. Samuel's friend, a commander for the rebels in Judea, sends his daughters, Leah and Rebecca, to live with Samuel's family. In episode two, Macky and Rebecca have an encounter with a girl named Portia while riding horses. After talking, they find out that she is the Governor's niece. She becomes fast friends with Samuel's family, but they never tell her that they are rebels. Episode three introduces the characters of Miriam and Nathan, Samuel and Diana's friends, as well as fellow rebels. We are also introduced to their adopted African son, Sollie. The entire first season is primarily a series of journeys, trying to protect rebels without the Governor or his cronies finding out. In the third-to-last episode, however, Tobias finds out the truth and they are all forced to flee Alexandria.

Jerusalem (AD 70)

Macky and Portia arrive in Jerusalem during the Roman siege. The people inside are starving, whilst the Romans grow desperate to break through the city walls. Outside the city, Macky makes several key acquaintances. One is Isaac, who pretends to be senile most of the time, but is actually an active member of the rebel underground. His house, filled with hidden rooms and secret passages, is a safe house for the oppressed. Here Macky links up with the rebels (zealots) who live inside Jerusalem and soon becomes a courier between Jerusalem and the outside world. Inside Jerusalem, Macky meets a girl, Sarah. Macky is drawn to Sarah's idealism, which puts a strain on his relationship with Portia. He also meets a Roman officer named Lucius, widowed father of two young children and secretly a Friend of Jesus – he was one of Paul's guards, many years earlier in Rome. Macky learns to trust Lucius and he becomes a valued secret ally as Macky faces two old adversaries from Alexandria: Tobias and Brutacus. Towards the end of the siege, Macky takes greater and greater risks, and is finally captured by the Romans. Portia tries to intervene, but can’t get him released. Instead she ensures that Macky is sent to Rome, her next destination, and his only hope.

Rome (AD 71)

Arriving in Rome, Macky finds himself in a gladiator school for the Circus Maximus, where the only rule is kill or be killed. Macky wants to do neither, so Portia intervenes with a Senator, Antonius, who takes Macky as a slave. Macky discovers that Antonius is a secret Friend of Jesus and that at night, he dons a mask and goes out and rescues fellow Friends of Jesus from jail or helps them escape from slave-masters. Soon Macky in a disguise of his own starts helping the Senator. Antonius has an enemy in the Senate – Marcus, who blames all the Empire's woes on the Friends of Jesus. Marcus would like to prove the notorious masked rebel is actually his enemy, Antonius. But Antonius is too clever for him. Marcus enlists the help of Tiberius, Brutacus, Tobias and Tobias’ mother Luciana, an expert manipulator and political in-fighter with friends in high places. Marcus begins to tighten his grip on Macky and Antonius, and Macky's and Portia's relationship deepens and matures through the difficult choices they have to make.

Voice cast

Main

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman duri ...

(season 1) and Adam James (seasons 2–3) – Narrator * Austin Di Iulio – Macky *

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

– Portia * Cedric Smith – Tiberius *

Tony Daniels Tony Daniels is a Canadian voice actor. He is well known for providing the voices of Uncle Flippy in ''JoJo's Circus'', as well as Jedite and Wiseman in the original English dub of ''Sailor Moon''. He is also known for providing the voice of ...

– Tobias *Howard Jerome – Brutacus *Jamie Watson – Pontius *

Benedict Campbell Benedict Campbell (born June 12, 1957) is a Canadian actor whose work has consisted primarily of providing voices for television cartoons, video games and acting on stage, particularly at Canada's Stratford Festival between 1965 and 2000. Early i ...

– Samuel * Alyson Court – Diana *Bailey Stocker – Rebecca *Emma Pustil – Leah

Recurring

* A.J. Saudin – Sollie *Diane Fabian – Miriam * John Stocker – Nathan * Aaryn Doyle – Flore *Scott Beaudin – Anthony * John Ralston – Lucius/Elijah/Jonah * Philip Akin – Isaac/John Ralston *

Martha MacIsaac Martha MacIsaac (born October 11, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She has appeared in several feature films, including ''Superbad (film), Superbad'' (2007), ''The Last House on the Left (2009 film), The Last House on the Left'' (2009), ''Dead Before ...

– Sarah * Alison Sealy-Smith – Devorah *Tim Hamaguchi – Abe *Vanessa Thompson – Rachel * Robert Bockstael – Senator Antonius/Masked Rebel *

Elizabeth Hanna Elizabeth Hanna is a Canadian film and television actress, most notable for her voice acting work in animated films. She later complemented her voice acting skills by becoming a speech-language pathologist. She is also the voice of Miss Biscuit ...

– Luciana *

Scott McCord William Scott McCord is a Canadian actor. He is known for his versatility and character work in film, television, animation and on stage. He is a Lifetime Member of ''The Actors Studio''. On television he has appeared in series regular, recurri ...

– Dudemus * Paul O'Sullivan – Marcus *Lyon Smith – Absolom *

Jordan Todosey Jordan Todosey ( , born February 8, 1995) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adam Torres, the first transgender character on the long-running TV series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', and as Lizzie McDonald on ''Life wit ...

– Sophia *David Keeley – Amikam *Juan Chioran – Peter/Pompano/2nd Judean Rebel/Fisherman #2 *Martin Roach – Jesus/God/1st Judean Rebel *

Robert Norman Smith Robert Norman Smith ( 1965 – July 22, 2020) was a Canadian actor who was known as Rob Smith in his earlier works. Criminal charges In 2008, Smith pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing and one charge of distributing child sexual abu ...

– Aischros/2nd Guard/Judah/Pharaoh/King Xerxes * Shauna MacDonald – Jezebel/Lydia/Naomi *Lawrence Bayne – Caleb *Stephen Bogaert – Aaron *Tony Fleury – Courtier/Thomas * Adrian Truss – Courtier 1+2/Joseph/Supervisor * John Neville – Claxus *

Ruth Marshall Ruth Marshall (born June 7, 1965) is a Canadian actress from Toronto, Ontario. She is known for her role in the hit television series '' Flashpoint''. She graduated with a degree in English from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and then ret ...

– Delilah/Eza * Mitchell Eisner – Caius *Kristina Nicoll – Esther/Ruth *Marty Moreau – Spy 2 * Ron Rubin – Soldier *Olive French – King David *

Peter Oldring Peter James Edward Oldring (born August 25, 1971) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Early life Oldring was born on August 25, 1971, in Drayton Valley, Alberta. He graduated from Sir Winston Churchill High School in 1989 in Calgary, Alberta, ...

– Young David *Larry Byrne – Ahab

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2007)

Series 2 (2008)

Series 3 (2008–09)

Reception

The program was shown in BBC TV in 2007, and since then is available on DVD with accompanying school and Sunday school lessons. It is hailed as "The Best Youth/Children's Programme of 2007" by the UK's Religious Broadcasting Council.Award-winning Friends and Heroes release next instalments
Christian Today. 12 May 2008.

References

External links

USA & Canada official site

Kids' site

UK official site

IMDb Page

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