''Strange Days at Blake Holsey High'' (also known as ''Black Hole High'') is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series which first aired in North America in October 2002 on Global TV. It is set at the fictional

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

of the title, where a Science Club (five students and their teacher) investigates mysterious phenomena, most of which is centered on a

wormhole A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are base ...

located on the school grounds. Spanning four seasons, the series developed into a success, and has been sold to networks around the globe. Created by Jim Rapsas, the series intertwines elements of mystery, drama, romance, and comedy. The writing of the show is structured around various scientific principles, with emotional and academic struggles combined with unfolding mysteries of a preternatural nature. In addition to its consistent popularity among children, it has been recognised by adults as strong family entertainment. Forty-two episodes of the series, each roughly twenty-five minutes in length, have been produced, the last three of which premiered in January 2006. Those three final episodes that aired were combined into a film, '' Strange Days: Conclusions''. The show was filmed at the Auchmar Estate on the Hamilton Escarpment in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

Premise

The show revolves around a group of five friends and their favorite teacher. Together they join the Science Club at Blake Holsey High, a boarding school located in southern Ontario. The name "Blake Holsey" is a pun on the concept of a

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

in that preternatural events constantly happen at the school and affect the students, sometimes as an unexpectedly drastic consequence of their own minor misbehavior. The school's science club considers what a

, a floating

Qigong Qigong ()) is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine, Chin ...

ball, and Pearadyne Industries, a lab that was destroyed years ago right next to the school, all have to do with the mystery.

Characters

* Josie Trent (portrayed by Emma Taylor-Isherwood) is the show's main protagonist, an intelligent and curious new student who transfers to Blake Holsey High at the beginning of the series, and is the one who discovered the wormhole first. * Corrine Baxter (portrayed by Shadia Simmons) is Josie's best friend and roommate, Corrine is the so-called "brains" (with a self-claimed IQ of 172) in the Science Club. * Lucas Randall (portrayed by Michael Seater) is a conspiracy theorist and the most driven member of the Science Club. * Marshall Wheeler (portrayed by Noah Reid) is Lucas' best friend and roommate, Marshall is more social and fun loving than Lucas. * Vaughn Pearson (portrayed by Robert Clark) is the fifth student in the Science Club. Vaughn is intelligent but sometimes struggles in school as a result of

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

and has preferred pursuing athletic activities. His father is Victor Pearson, the owner and founder of Pearadyne Industries. * Professor Noel Zachary (portrayed by Jeff Douglas) – Professor Zachary, or "Z", is the presiding teacher of the Science Club. * Principal Amanda Durst (portrayed by Valerie Boyle) is the disagreeable Principal Durst is a looming presence over the Science Club, and differs with Professor Zachary's easygoing ways. A former science teacher, she is a reluctant conspirator in Victor Pearson's plans. * Victor Pearson (portrayed by Lawrence Bayne) is a benefactor of the school and a constant antagonist to the Science Club's investigations. * The Janitor (portrayed by Tony Munch) is an enigmatic character who seems to understand the mysteries at Blake Holsey High.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2002–2003)

Season 2 (2003–2004)

Season 3 (2004–2005)

Season 4 (2006)

Significant objects and locations

* Qigong Ball/Chi Ball/Floating Ball: Once a normal ball used to handle stress, but became a source of unlimited potential. Josie had used these balls for relaxation, but during Science Club, one was taken from her by Professor Zachary. The other one was affected by the energy of the wormhole in a trip to the 1970s, which made it gravity-less. It defies the laws of physics, which was why a younger Victor Pearson steals it from Josie years ago when he was in Blake Holsey High. Presenting it to Sarah Lynch, they started their plan to create Pearadyne Industries. Using the Chi Ball to power their lab, it caused an explosion, which led to the destruction of Pearadyne and Sarah's disappearance. Consequently, a wormhole formed at Blake Holsey and caused other strange occurrences. When Josie finds the ball again, she assumes that Vaughn and Victor had plotted to use it. Josie steals it back from them and replaces it with the Chi Ball's original normal partner, leaving Victor under the impression that the Chi Ball has somehow lost its power. However, Josie's clone from the future steals the floating ball back and places it back into Victor's hands. * Wormhole: A powerful vortex that can lead to either the future or the past that can be found in the office of Blake Holsey's science teacher. The exact time and duration the wormhole is open is apparently sporadic and it is uncertain when it will lead. Many agents have attempted to keep the knowledge of the wormhole a secret from everyone, however the energy released from the wormhole has affected the students and the school due to the emotions and conditions of the students. * Pearadyne Industries/Labs: A laboratory created by Victor Pearson and Sarah Lynch. It was used to create inventions and master quantum physics. On October 4, 1987, Pearadyne was destroyed in an explosion that covered the disappearance of many workers, including Sarah Lynch (Vaughn's mother).

History

''Strange Days at Blake Holsey High'' began airing in Canada on

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

as well as

VRAK.TV Vrak (stylized as VRΔK) was a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcast live-action programming aimed at 13-to-35 age group audiences. Launched in 1988 as Le Canal Fa ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. In the United States, meanwhile, it aired on Discovery Kids and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, Also airing in the Philippines on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

. In late March 2003, almost six months after its North American debut, the series was sold to several international markets at the annual MipTV, which was held at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France. After the series ended, reruns aired on The Hub until June 25, 2011. The British broadcasting network ITV acquired UK

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

rights to the series, while

Fox Kids Europe Jetix Europe N.V. (formerly known as Fox Kids Europe N.V.) was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across Europe and Asia, such as Jetix and Jetix Play. History Fox Kids E ...

acquired

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

rights in the UK, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Scandinavia, who themselves pre-sold the series to Disney Channel for Latin American and Australia. In Russia (

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

), the series airs on CTC. In Denmark, it airs on TV2 Denmark. It also airs in other European countries such as Norway (and other Scandinavian nations), the Netherlands, Portugal, Israel, Poland, Turkey and Italy, as well as Colombia in South America. The children's television channel in the UK, PopGirl, acquired the rights to show the series in 2012 with a host of other acquired programmes including another season of ''

Life With Derek ''Life with Derek'' is a Canadian television teen sitcom that aired on Family Channel (English) and VRAK.TV (French) in Canada and on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on Family on September 18, 2005, and ran for four s ...

'', '' Family Biz'', '' Mortified'' and ''

Zoey 101 ''Zoey 101'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. It aired from January 9, 2005, to May 2, 2008, spanning a total of 61 episodes across four seasons. It focuses on the lives of Zoey Brooks ( J ...

''. They were bought together and ''Black Hole High'' was the last to be shown. ''Coming Soon'' trailers started broadcasting on the channel until its 29 September debut. It was the first airing of the show in almost five years. The series is currently airing. Fireworks Entertainment, the company behind ''Strange Days at Blake Holsey High'', closed down after the production of Season 3. There were three additional episodes of the series, which aired as a finale film event on January 28, 2006 on the Discovery Kids channel, as "Strange Days Conclusions". As of June 2006, no episode or season of ''Strange Days at Blake Holsey High'' has been legally released to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in any country. In 2004 it was announced that a DVD box set of season one was to be released in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2004, and websites such as

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

put up the DVD for pre-order. The release was later pulled without explanation. ''Strange Days at Blake Holsey High'' has been nominated for several awards, but won none. Writers Jeff King, Jeff Schechter and Thérèse Beaupré were nominated for episodes broadcast in the year 2003 at the 31st Daytime Emmy Awards in 2004, in the category Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series. Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Shadia Simmons and Robert Clark were each given

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

nominations in early 2003, although Taylor-Isherwood was placed in the supporting category, Simmons was elevated to lead, and Clark was considered a "guest actor". Simmons received a second nomination the following year, alongside Talia Schlanger (Madison). The

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

nominated creative team Tony Thatcher, Adam Haight, Jeff King and Kevin May for Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series at the annual

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s in late 2004, and the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

also recognised the show in areas such as sound editing, team achievement, and the product as a whole in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 ''Strange Days'' was nominated for two Emmy Awards: "Outstanding Children's Series" and "Outstanding Writing". The series went on hiatus in the UK in early September 2006, but returned on November 6, 2006. The show has since been removed from the

Jetix Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...

schedules. The series is currently available for streaming on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

Sequel

A continuation

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

has been announced as a sequel to ''Strange Days''. Called ''Echoes'', the show takes place 16 years after the events of "Conclusions" and is intended to show how the events impacted individuals in and out of the school. The web series is currently being released as

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

that will lead into a full on sequel. The first episode of ''Echoes'' was released on YouTube on June 16, 2022.

Notes

References

* Stewart, Lianne
BlackHole High still strong!
WatchFireworks.com. April 3, 2003. Retrieved August 4, 2005.
Strange Days at Blake Holsey High
Family Screen Scene. Retrieved August 4, 2005. * Tillson, Tamsen
Fireworks founder Firestone exits
'' Variety''. May 5, 2003 (in print May 6, 2003). Retrieved August 8, 2005.
Fox Kids Europe acquires ''Black Hole High'' in multi-territory deal

Europe. March 24, 2003. Retrieved August 8, 2005, using the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

.
Discovery Kids
Discovery Communications Inc. Retrieved August 8, 2005.
Discovery Kids on NBC Returns This Fall With a Compelling New Comedy, Rousing Reality Shows, Animated Adventures and a Gripping Mystery Series
PR Newswire (press release from Discovery Kids). July 22, 2004. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * Ford Sullivan, Brian
'Mutant X' to End as Fireworks' Future Dims
The Futon Critic. April 26, 2004. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * Edwards, Ian

. Playback. April 26, 2004. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * Lees, Nancy and Edwards, Ian

''Kid Screen'' magazine, pp. 11. May 1, 2004. Retrieved August 8, 2005. *

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

The National Television Academy announces 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations
The Futon Critic (press release). March 2, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * Moore, Frazier (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

)
NBC unwraps Saturday morning package of kids’ adventure programs
'' The Anniston Star''. October 5, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2005.
Mutant X Producers: Adam Haight, Executive Producer
MutantX.net. Retrieved August 8, 2005.
Strange Days at Blake Holsey High
Canada.com. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * Wener, Kevin
Auchmar estate gets top billing with television productions
'' Dundas Star News''. August 5, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2005. * L. Thompson, Susan
Strange Days at Blake Holsey High
. Common Sense Media. Retrieved August 8, 2005.

External links