Kaitangata Twitch - DVD Series Report

Based on a book by Margaret Mahy

The story is about an island, Kaitangata, and a mystery that surrounds it. 12 year old Meredith (Mere) lives in a small town across from Kaitangata Island. She starts having dreams at night. Her father, Carey, and older sister, Kate, who are greenies, are fighting against a developer, who was her mother’s former teenage boyfriend, from building a resort and ruining the area they live in.

The island starts to twitch, that is have earthquakes, and Mere starts having visions of Shelley, a tragic ghost who mysteriously vanished on the island 50 years ago on her 13^th birthday. She also keeps seeing the Cannibal Chief who died on the island and is the one responsible for all the twitches. It turns out the Cannibal Chief is upset because of the development going on.

An old Maori man, Lee Kaa, after a very angry start with her, ends up teaching Mere, who he can see the island is calling to, to be the new island "keeper" and how to soothe the island to stop another disappearance from happening again.

There is a lot of other stuff going in Mere’s family too. Her mum and dad start having marital problems, because the developer,Sebastian,is trying to win the mother back. Her little brother, Rufus, ends up running away because of all the drama going on in his home. I thought Kate, went a bit over the top when she did some bad stuff to stop the developers but she was still all right. Her boyfriend was nice because he was helping her but wouldn’t do any of the illegal stuff.

I loved it because I like a good mystery and it was a big mystery. I kept wanting to see the next episode. My favourite character would have to be Shelly. I thought it was a pity because it did not sow much of her in the show. If someone wanted my advice, for if they should watch the series or not, I would definitely say watch it! It is a great series! It is a mystery, an adventure, it is strange and it is weird.

By Samara, 9 1/2

 

There is a fair bit of Maori legend and fable in this and parts can be a little scary, so whilst I thought it was brilliant (I enjoyed it as much as the kids) I would be wary with very young children who might get a little frightened by the spirits and the angry island. Some of the symbolism might be a little lost on them too. Great for discussions afterwards about how we need to look and understand what the land wants rather than over develop it. 

The Mama