Road to Avonlea
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Road to Avonlea is a television series which was first broadcast in Canada and the United States between 1989 and 1996. It was a Canada-United States co-production (between Kevin Sullivan Entertainment and the Disney Channel), and was based loosely upon a series of books by Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, which Sullivan had previously adapted as Anne of Green Gables in 1985 and Anne of Avonlea in 1987.
Although Road to Avonlea was set on Prince Edward Island, the series was filmed principally in Uxbridge, Ontario, with interiors shot on sets in Toronto. The show was one of the most popular Canadian television programs and received numerous awards.
In the United States, its title was shortened to simply Avonlea, and a number of episodes were re-titled and re-ordered. When the series was released on DVD in the United States, the title changed from Road to Avonlea to Tales from Avonlea.
The series is set in the fictional small town of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, in the early 20th century (1903-1912). There, 11-year-old Montréal heiress Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley) is sent by her wealthy father to live with her two maiden aunts, Hetty and Olivia King, to be near her late mother's side of the family. The show's focus shifted over the years from Sara's interactions with her new-found relatives, to stories about the King family. Later seasons of the show focused more on residents of Avonlea who were connected to the King family, and Sarah Polley eventually left the show, although she returned for several guest appearances.
Characters
Major characters
- Hetty King (played by Jackie Burroughs) - Hetty is the staid, humorless, middle-aged schoolteacher of Avonlea. She resides at Rose Cottage with her sister, Olivia, and her niece, Sara. In the later seasons, Hetty stops teaching to write. While Sara is in Europe with her nanny, Hetty takes in Mrs. Lynde and twins, Davy and Dora.
- Sara Stanley (played by Sarah Polley) - Sara is an adventurous eleven year old girl used to fine living in Montreal who learns to adjust to the simpler life in Avonlea. When she arrives in Avonlea, she lives with her single aunts Hetty and Olivia at Rose Cottage. In the later seasons, Sara is travelling with her Nanny. (Seasons 1-5)
- Olivia King (played by Mag Ruffman) - Olivia is Sara's more affectionate, younger aunt. She later marries Jasper Dale and leaves Rose Cottage. Before her marriage Olivia works as a reported for the local paper. It is the through this job that Olivia becomes close to Japser Dale because he does the photography for her stories and continues to do so after their marriage. Jasper and Olivia have son named Montgomery and later adopt a baby girl from one of their employees at the cannery.
- Alec King (played by Cedric Smith) - Alec is Hetty and Olivia's brother and Sara's uncle. He is a farmer and lives with his family next door to Rose Cottage at King Farm.
- Janet King (played by Lally Cadeau) - Janet is Alec's loving but independent-minded wife.
- Felicity King (played by Gema Zamprogna) - Felicity is the thirteen year old daughter of Alec and Janet. She often insists on taking on adult responsibilities and feels superior to her siblings and her cousin Sara. She has three beaux during the course of the series. She eventually choses Gus Pike and marries him in the series finale. Over the course of the series, Felicity wants to be a wife, a doctor and then eventually runs the Avonlea Foundling Home.
- Felix King (played by Zachary Bennett) - Felix is the ten year old son of Alec and Janet. He is mischievous and often gets into trouble. Felix befriends Izzy (Isolde), the daughter of the new widowed school teacher Mr. Pettibone, who takes over after Hetty retires. In the later seasons, there is the beginning of a romance between Felix and Izzy.
- Cecily King (played by Harmony Cramp and later by Molly Atkinson) - Cecily is the quiet, youngest daughter of Alec and Janet. The actress switch occurs after Cecily becomes ill with Tuberculosis and goes to a sanitarium in the United States. She is more interested in the farm work than her brother, Felix, and Alec considers leaving the farm to her.
- Gus Pike (played by Michael Mahonen) - Gus is a young vagabond who grows to earn the respect of the townsfolk. (Seasons 2-5) Gus is also a sailor. He leaves Avonlea for a time to find his parent whom he presumed dead. After word of a hurricane, his is presumed dead, but is found by Felicity and Hetty along the eastern shore of the United States. When they find him he is blind and they bring him back to Canada for surgery to restore his sight. After the surgery, Gus marries Felicity.
- Jasper Dale (played by R.H. Thomson) - Jasper is a shy, stammering photographer and inventor who eventually marries Olivia. Japser and Olivia but the local cannery in the later seasons, which in the final season catches fire and burns down.
Minor characters
- Rachel Lynde (played by Patricia Hamilton) - Rachel is the local busybody and self-appointed moral guardian of Avonlea. Her character originally appeared in Anne of Green Gables
- Marilla Cuthbert (played by Colleen Dewhurst) - Marilla is Rachel's more tolerant best friend. She is also a character brought back from Anne of Green Gables. (Seasons 1-3: character passes away after the actual death of the actress in 1991)
- Muriel Stacey (played by Marilyn Lightstone) - Muriel is a schoolteacher and a rival of Hetty. The two women are true polar opposites.
External links
- [Museum of Broadcast Communications information on Road to Avonlea]
- [AvonleaGuide.com] - fansite
- [AvonleaTreasures] - fansite
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