The Feathered Serpent is a British children's serialThe Age, 13 July 1978, Green Guide, p 22 costume dramaThe Times. 16 November 1979. p 23. television series made for ITV by Thames Television, set in pre-Columbian Mexico and starring Patrick Troughton as the scheming High Priest Nasca. It is an adventure storyThe Times. 23 November 1979. p 23. about good and evil. Two series were first broadcast in 1976 and 1978.
Plot The series is set in 750 AD.25 years on ITV. ITV Books and Michael Joseph. 1980. p 226. The story primarily takes place in an unnamed city, which is inhabited by an unnamed people.Jeremy Biltz, "Feathered Serpent: The Complete Series", DVD Talk, 10 May 2011. The inhabitants of the city are Aztec-like,Michael Bartlett. "Feathered Serpent, The (1976-78)". BFI Screenonline. and the viewer assumes that they are in fact Aztecs.
The inhabitants of the city formerly worshipped the god Quala, who is a feathered serpent. At the start of the series, the religion of Quala, which did not involve human sacrifice, has been replaced by that of the god Teshcata,The Feathered Serpent. [Television programme]. passim. who is a smoking mirror,Back cover of 2-Disc Region 2 Complete Series DVD, published by Network Distributing in 2009. which does involve human sacrifice. Kukulkan is attempting to form an alliance with the Toltecs (who worship Quala and not Teshcata), through a dynastic marriage between Chimalma and Heumac, the object of which is to convert Kukulkan's people from the religion of Teshcata to that of Quala. Nasca opposes the proposed alliance, marriage and change of the national religion. There follows a struggle between the proponents of the two religions. This struggle results in the abolition of the religion of Teshcata; the defeat of Nasca, who is walled up in his own secret passages inside the walls of the palace; the restoration of religion of Quala; the marriage of Chimalma and Heumac, and their coronation with the two crowns of Chichen Itza.
Episodes Series 1 Episode 1. First broadcast 21 June 1976."The Feathered Serpent". TVTimes. 21 June 1976."Starting Today". The New Straits Times. 16 April 1987. p 10. Episode 2. First broadcast 28 June 1976."4:50 The Feathered Serpent" in 28 June 1976. TVTimes. Anglia 26 June to 2 July. p 36.TVTimes. 7 November 1977. p 53. Episode 3. First broadcast 5 July 1976. Chadac murders Kukulkan.Synopsis. Screenonline. Episode 4. First broadcast 12 July 1976.The Financial Times, 12 July 1976, p 2 Episode 5. First broadcast 19 July 1976.The Financial Times, 19 July 1976, p 2 Mahoutec and his Jaguar Knights attack the Toltec army. Episode 6. First broadcast 26 July 1976. Heumac kills Chadac and appears to kill Nasca."RTM1", The Straits Times, 21 May 1987, p 28TVTimes. 5 December 1977. p 51.
Series 2 Episode 1. First broadcast 3 April 1978."The Feathered Serpent". TVTimes. 3 April 1978. p 51.RTM1". The New Straits Times. 4 June 1987. p 10."The Feathered Serpent". Look-in: Junior TVTimes. No 14: week ending 1 April 1978. p 26."Returns Today: The Feathered Serpent". TVTimes. 3 August 1979. p 63. Episode 2. First broadcast 10 April 1978.The Times. 10 April 1978. p 27. Heumac and Tozo enter the stone cage beneath the Pyramid of the Sun. Episode 3. First broadcast 17 April 1978."The Feathered Serpent". TVTimes. 17 April 1978. p 49. Episode 4. First broadcast 24 April 1978.The Times. 24 April 1978. p 27. Episode 5. First broadcast 1 May 1978. Episode 6. First broadcast 8 May 1978."The Feathered Serpent". TVTimes. 8 May 1978. p 49.
Cast and characters Nasca: Patrick Troughton. Nasca is the High Priest of the religion of the god Teshcata. He is evil.Tise Vahimagi (compiler). "The Feathered Serpent". British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford University Press. 1994. p 229. Chimalma: Diane Keen. Chimalma is the daughter of Kukulkan, and becomes Empress after his death. The character is named after the Aztec goddess Chimalma. Heumac: Brian Deacon. Heumac is Prince of the Toltecs of Tula.Gregson, The Feathered Serpent. Kukulkan: Tony Steedman. Kukulkan is the Emperor. He is good.Alan Fielding (compiler). The Glasgow Herald. 21 June 1976. p 22 The character is named after the Maya feathered serpent god Kukulkan. Tozo: Richard Willis. Tozo is messenger of Heumac. Mahoutec: Robert Gary. Mahoutec is commander, captain or general of the Jaguar Knights. Chadac: George Lane Cooper. Chadac is the servant of Nasca. Maxtla: Alfred Hoffman. Maxtla is the court architect. Otolmi: George Cormack. Otolmi is the priest of Quala. Xipec: Granville Saxton. Xipec is Governor of the Gold Region. Keelag: Sheila Burrell. Keelag is a witch. Mataque: Robert Russell
Crew Written by John Kane Designed by Patrick Downing (Series 1) and Jan Chaney (Series 2) Music composed by David Fanshawe Produced by Vic Hughes
Production The Feathered Serpent is related to Doctor Who serials including The Aztecs and Planet of the Spiders. The storyline of The Feathered Serpent has similarities to the storyline of The Aztecs. Troughton appeared as both Nasca and Doctor Who. Kane and Cormack were involved in both The Feathered Serpent and Planet of the Spiders. Randall appeared in both The Aztecs and Planet of the Spiders.Tat Wood. About Time: The Unauthorized Guide To Doctor Who. 2nd Edition. Mad Norwegian Press. 2009. vol 3 (1970 to 1974). p 483.
Firenze Peruzzi made the costumes used in The Feathered Serpent. Martin Baugh designed the costumes, except the wedding gown. The wedding gown was a modified version of the winning entry submitted to a competition in Look-in, which was designed by Simon Theobald."The Feathered Serpent: Simon's Wedding Day". Look-in: Junior TVTimes. No 19: Week ending 6 May 1978. p 2."Getting knotted - Aztec style" in "Stewpot Calling". TVTimes. 1–7 April. 1978. p 89. McGown and Docherty described the wedding gown as "outrageous".McGowan and Docherty. "The Feathered Serpent". The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama: An Encyclopedia. BFI Publishing. British Film Institute. 2003. p 98.
The series was filmed in Studio 2 of Teddington Studios."Making Children's Programmes". Television and Radio 1977. Independent Broadcasting Authority. 7 July 1977.
The Feathered Serpent appeared on the front cover of TVTimes in June 1976."Diane Keen is a worshipper of the feathered serpent on Monday". TVTimes. Anglia. June 19–25. 1976.
The fictional god Quala is a substitute for the Aztec god Quetzacoatl.
Release Broadcast The Feathered Serpent was first broadcast on ITV (including STV and Ulster) on Mondays from 21 June to 26 July 1976 and from 3 April to 8 May 1978. The series was repeated on that channel in 1977 and 1979.See listings in TVTimes, The Times, The Financial Times and The Glasgow Herald It was also broadcast in Australia on ABV2 and ABN2 in 1978 and 1981,See listings in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald and by RTM1 in Malaysia and Singapore in 1987.See listings in The Straits Times and The New Straits Times
DVD A 2 Disc set of Region 2 DVDs containing both series of The Feathered Serpent was released in the UK by Network Distributing in February 2009. A 2 Disc set of Region 1 DVDs was released by Acorn Media in 2011. A 2 Disc set of Region 4 DVDs was released by Shock Entertainment in 2013.Trove catalogue 197058745 and 180279942
Reception In 1976, The Observer described the series as "spicy"."Feathered Serpent". The Observer. 20 June 1976. p 26. Michael Bartlett said the series is "satisfyingly complex". In 2011, Jeremy Biltz said the series is "a simple pleasure". In 2017, Jameson said the series is "hugely entertaining".Greg Jameson. "6. The Feathered Serpent" in "An original Doctor Who: celebrating Patrick Troughton 30 years on". Entertainment Focus. 5 March 2017.
In 1976, Phillips said the series went from richly dramatic to richly farcical.Elizabeth Phillips. "Last Nights View" in "Television/Radio". The Glasgow Herald. 22 June 1976. p 30.
Dunkley said he thought that the series was aimed at young schoolchildren, including six year olds.Chris Dunkley, "An ABC of Children's Programmes", The Financial Times, 26 April 1978, p 15 Sue Turner responded by saying that the series was not aimed at young schoolchildren, and was instead aimed at children aged ten and above.Sue Turner, Controller of Children's Programmes at Thames TV, "Letters to the Editor", The Financial Times, 3 May 1978, p 29
In 1978, the Australian censors prohibited some of the later episodes of the series from being broadcast in a 5:40pm time slot."Tonight's TV". The Age. 27 July 1978. p 2."Mummy, did the high priest have his evil way?". The Canberra Times. 27 July 1978. p 1. The final episode was broadcast in Australia in 1981.The Age. 25 June 1981. Green Guide. p 25.
Rosemary Long said that Diane Keen was "stunning" in this series.Evening Times. 31 October 1985. p 2.
Book A novelisation by Maureen Gregson was published by Corgi Carousel in 1977.Internet Archive
References McGowan and Docherty. The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama: An Encyclopedia. BFI Publishing. British Film Institute. 2003. pp 53, 121 & 275. Laurence Marcus. "The Feathered Serpent". Television Heaven. 11 December 2018. The Observer, 25 July 1976, p 13 Jeremy Potter. Independent Television in Britain. Macmillan. 1990. vol 4. p 264. The Feathered Serpent. BFI Film and TV Database. Tom Shields, "Television/Radio". The Glasgow Herald. 8 May 1978. p 16.
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