The Queen's Nose is a 1995 BBC children's television series. It was adapted by Steve Attridge from the novel of the same name written by Dick King-Smith. It ran for seven series.
Premise Harmony Parker, a twelve-year-old girl who loves animals, receives a magical 50-pence coin from her Uncle Ginger that can grant wishes when Queen Elizabeth II's nose is rubbed.
Production
The novel was adapted into three television series by the BBC which were broadcast during the CBBC slot between 1995 and 1998. The stories remained faithful to the book, although in the book Harmony is granted only seven wishes compared to the ten wishes being granted upon rubbing the coin in the TV series. The first series by Steve Attridge, directed by Carol Wiseman and edited by Sue Robinson, won the Royal Television Society 1996 award for best Children's Drama,BFI | Film & TV Database|1996 and the third series also by Steve Attridge winning the Indie Awards 1999 prize for Digital Cinematography.BFI | Film & TV Database|1999 According to a podtail interview with Victoria Shalet in February 2021, the director Carol Wiseman was responsible for her being cast in the role of Harmony Parker after she had been impressed with the actress after working with her on the TV series Goggle-Eyes in 1993.
In 2000, the BBC revived the series with new stories, but without the main character Harmony, with a further four series being made between 2000 and 2003. Many viewers felt that the departure from the novels and the loss of the main character, played by Shalet, diminished the series."The Queen's Nose" (1995) – IMDb user comments The later series did however still feature other members of the Parker family in various roles. Harmony's sister Melody, played by Heather-Jay Jones, stayed on until the penultimate series. As of 2010, The Queen's Nose was no longer repeated on the CBBC Channel.
The Queen's Nose has also been broadcast in Germany, under the name Die Magische Münze (The Magic Coin).Die magische Münze / The Queen's Nose (TV-Serie) – wunschliste.de
Cast Harmony Parker – Victoria Shalet (series 1–4) Melody Parker – Heather-Jay Jones (series 1–6)List of cast Mr Arthur Parker – Stephen Moore (series 1–2, 4–5) Mrs Audrey Parker – Paula Wilcox (series 1–2, 4–5) Uncle Ginger – Donald Sumpter (series 1–3) Gregory – Callum Dixon (series 1–3, 6) Tom – Anthony Hamblin (series 1, 2) Granny – Liz Smith (series 2) Aunt Glenda – Nerys Hughes (series 3) Dino – Vicki Lee Taylor (series 3) Grobler – Ian Reddington (series 3) Himself – Gary Mabbutt (series 1) Himself – Tony Blackburn (series 2) Paul – Joe Cadden (series 2, 7) Sam – Ella Jones (series 4–6, 7) Sophie – Dominique Moore (series 4–6, 7) Mrs Dooley – Annette Badland (series 4, 5) Aaron – Darryl Hutton (series 4) Pansy – Grace Atherton (series 4–6) Emily – Montanna Thompson (series 4) Melody's Agent – Paul Danan (series 6) Jake – Jordan Metcalfe (series 7) Gemma – Lucinda Dryzek (series 7) Chief – David Sterne (series 7) Wesley – Joshua Garland (series 7) Duncan – Nicholas Gleaves (series 7) Nick – Brock Everitt-Elwick (series 7) Carla – Juliet Cowan (series 7) Ben – Pablo Duarte (series 6, 7) Mr Marsh – Bill Bingham (series 7) Darren – Andrew James Michel (series 7) Frank – Martin Jarvis (series 7) Frank Puppeteer – William Todd-Jones (series 7) Judge – Bob Goody (series 4–one episode)
Owners of The Queen's Nose Harmony Parker (series 1 to 3) Dino Parker (series 3 alongside Harmony) Sam (series 4 to 6) Jake (series 7)
Episodes
Series Episodes First air date Last air date 1 6 15 November 1995 20 December 1995 2 6 13 November 1996 18 December 1996 3 6 18 November 1998 23 December 1998 Specials 2 30 December 1999 28 August 2000 4 6 13 November 2000 18 December 2000 5 6 24 September 2001 29 October 2001 6 6 23 September 2002 30 October 2002 7 6 11 November 2003 16 December 2003
VHS Title Release date Country Distributor BBFCclassification The Queen's Nose: Episodes 1 & 2 15 September 1997United Kingdom Carlton U The Queen's Nose (Series 1) 11 November 2002 ITC U The Queen's Nose: Harmony's Return (Series 2) 11 November 2002 ITC U The Queen's Nose: Harmony's Holiday (Series 3) 11 November 2002 ITC PG
Radio dramatisation In 2011 The Queen's Nose was adapted for radio by Elizabeth Kuti and the hour-long drama was broadcast on Radio 4 Extra on Sunday 26 June 2011. The programme was produced by Heather Larmour.List of cast 2011
Radio dramatisation cast
Harmony Parker – Lauren Mote Uncle Ginger – Rupert Graves Mr Parker – Richard Lumsden Mrs Parker – Matilda Ziegler Melody Parker – Holly Bodimeade
Ratings (CBBC Channel) Week Viewers NotesMonday 13 May 200250,000 2nd most watched on CBBC that week.Tuesday 21 May 200250,000 3rd most watched on CBBC that week.Wednesday 5 June 200270,0002nd most watched on CBBC that week.Monday 3 June 200250,000 5th most watched on CBBC that week.Thursday 13 June 200220,000 8th most watched on CBBC that week.Monday 17 June 200230,000 10th most watched on CBBC that week.
References
External links
British Film Institute database entry