Latest News

Events Diary
Why not meet Friends and Heroes at one of this year's events in the UK or USA?  Click here for details!

9 May 2008 - Friends and Heroes Series 2 Ships
We are delighted to announce that DVD9 of Friends and Heroes was released today containing Episode 16: The Ram and Episode 17: Rescue Strangers. This DVD has the themes “Grace and Humility” and tells the Bible stories of: Elijah, Ahab, Naboth and the vineyard; Paul and the Shipwreck; Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14) and David and King Saul. Click here for ordering details.  As usual new School Lesson Plans and Sunday School Lessons have also been created and are available from our web sites.

17 March 2008 - Friends and Heroes Series 2 Ships
The first DVD in Friends and Heroes Series 2 - containing episodes 14 and 15 shipped today.  Click here for full details.  Lesson Plans and Sunday School Lessons have also been loaded onto our web sites to support this exciting new release.

8 March 2008 - Friends and Heroes in Many Languages
Friends and Heroes has commissioned the professional dubbing and sub-titling of our exciting TV programmes into a number of major world languages - currently including Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Hindi/Urdu, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian and Spanish (South American).  View our  "Introducing Friends and Heroes Clip" in some of these languages.  Broadcasters or DVD distributors may request Friends and Heroes Series 1 in any of these languages (plus English and Manx) for delivery / broadcast from June 2008.  Series 2 should be available approximately January 2009, and Series 3 by September 2009.

31 January 2008 - Friends and Heroes "Sunday School" Lessons
Friends and Heroes has released a series of Sunday School Lessons  - with one lesson provided for each Bible story in Friends and Heroes.  The 26 lessons for the 13 episodes in Series 1 are ready now.  They are completely FREE to Friends and Heroes Presenters.  For more information click here.

6 December 2007 - Friends and Heroes in Manx
Friends and Heroes is to be dubbed into the historic Manx Language, in co-operation with the Manx Heritage Foundation and the Bunscoill.

Manx (Gaelg) is one of the ancient Gaelic family of languages, and although not many can claim Manx as a first-language, there has been renewed interest in Manx - and in the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin), the opportunity to learn and be taught in this fascinating tongue. 

Adrian Cain, Manx Language Development Officer said "Yindyssagh erskyn towse" (it's fantastic above all measure).

The award-winning Friends and Heroes TV series will provide a modern, lively platform for the the Manx language in schools and educational institutions -and in homes throughout the world, when it is launched on DVD, hopefully late in 2008 - but click here to watch a short test-piece of the Daniel in the Lion's Den story in Manx, right now.

30 November 2007 - Friends and Heroes wins Gold Award
Friends and Heroes won the Gold Award in the Youth & Children's Programme category at the annual Christian Broadcasting Council 2007 ceremony in High Ongar, Essex.


Executive producers David & Alison Dorricott and Marketing Director Dave Carlos attended the awards ceremony to collect the prestigious award - which the judges commended as  'Engaging and high quality story-telling for children'.

24 November 2007 - Northern Ireland Event
David & Alison Dorricott took part in the Spring Harvest Holidays Open Day and Exhibition at the Island Civic Centre, Lisburn near Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday 24th November.  There were lots of opportunity to see Friends & Heroes episodes, talk about the Series and the forthcoming new production - and for the kids lots of games and activities.  Three pieces of Genuine Production Artwork from Friends and Heroes Series 1, each individually signed by one of the production team were offered as prizes and won by visitors from the surrounding area.

17 October 2007 - DVD7 Released
The release of DVD 7  completed the release of all Episodes in Friends and Heroes Series 1 - as broadcast on CBBC and BBC2 in the UNited Kingdom  This DVD contains Friends and Heroes Episode 12 "No Way Out", and Episode 13 "No Turning Back".   A new "sing-along" version of the Friends and Heroes Music video, and more exciting "Macky's Quizzes" are amongst the extras on DVD7

17 September 2007 - DVD6 Released
DVD 6  has now been released  for  customers in the UK and Ireland.  This DVD contains Friends and Heroes Episode 10 "Horseplay", and Episode 11 "Doing Our Part".   Macky's Quizzes continue to test what you remember about each episode!

23 August 2007 - Friends and Heroes at Nexus 2007

Friends and Heroes is on stand RO-76 at the Nexus 2007 exhibition at the SECC in Glasgow 23 - 25 August.  Do call in to say hello to Dave Carlos, Marketing Director and David Dorricott, Executive Producer if you are in the Glasgow area..

23 August 2007 - New UK Broadcast on BBC2
Friends and Heroes is delighted to announce that Series 1 will be broadcast during Autumn 2007 on BBC2, one of the BBC's two principal terrestrial channels - click here for full details and a broadcast schedule.

17 August 2007 - UK DVD6 Released
Our fifth UK - DVD 5 - has now been released  for  customers in the UK and Ireland.  This DVD contains Friends and Heroes Episode 8 "The One that Got Away", and Episode 9 "Doing Our Part".   For those who want to know a little more about "Macky", there's a special Macky Confidential interview amongst the DVD extras!

26 July 2007 - Friends of Chernobyl's Children

The Friends and Heroes management team  in Ramsey, Isle of Man was thrilled to welcome a group 15 children from the Chernobyl area in Belarus who were visiting the Isle of Man as guests of the local "Friends of Chernobyl's Children" charity.  The youngsters enjoyed learning about animation - and watching "Long Journey" - whilst one budding artist from the group even drew a picture of Macky for us!

9 July 2007 - UK DVD4 Released
DVD 4 has now been released in the UK by Friends and Heroes Productions Ltd for  customers in the UK and Ireland.  This DVD contains Friends and Heroes Episode 6 "Sweet Freedom", and Episode 7 "Lost in Alexandria". 

July 2007 - ICRS Convention, Atlanta, Georgia
The Friends and Heroes Team, including Executive Producers Alison & David Dorricott, and marketing director, Dave Carlos, attended the major ICRS Convention which took place in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on the 9th to 11th July.

 

Thanks to Becky Brandvik of Tyndale House Publishers, visitors were able to join Macky, Portia and other Friends and Heroes characters for a photo-opportunity (thanks to green screen technology)- and take home a picture!

11 June 2007 - UK DVD3 Released
Friends and Heroes Productions Ltd are now shipping the third DVD to customers in the UK and Ireland.  DVD3 contains Friends and Heroes Episode 4 "False Heroes", and Episode 5 "True Heroes" - plus lots of exciting extras, including Macky's Quizzes on the two epsiodes. 

3 May 2007 - UK DVD2 Released
The second DVD designed for customers in the UK and Ireland, was released on 4th May.  DVD2 contains the whole of Friends and Heroes Episode 3 "Leviathan", and lots of exciting extras.  Sub-titles have now been extended to include Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese and Punjabi as well as English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

27 April 2007 - DVDs go straight to the Top Ten!
Friends and Heroes DVDs released recently in the USA climbed to number 7 and 8 at the end of March after just two weeks of release - and they have now reached number 1 & 2 on the weekly charts. 

Long Journey, Episode 1 of the animated action adventure series Friends and Heroes, was No 1 in last week’s ECPA retail sales chart, closely followed by Episode 2, A Friend in High Places, which reached No 2!  Sales of the series to date already top 30,000 DVDs in the USA alone.

Release of DVDs has also started in the UK.

20 March 2007 - Music CD now released!
 A music CD Single (with an extra bonus track!) is now available at the online store,  It contains "Looking for a Hero", "Samson and Delilah" and "Jesus and the Fishermen"

10 March 2007 - New Kids Website goes Live!
With fascinating info, activities, puzzles and video clips at www.friendsandheroes.tv

10 March 2007 - DVD Club Opens for membership
The best way to guarantee first receipt of every DVD - and save money too http://ukstore.friendsandheroes.com/acatalog/Friends_and_Heroes_DVD_Club.html

10 March 2007 - DVDs, Music and Public Display Licences Now on Sale
The Friends and Heroes online store is waiting to serve you http://ukstore.friendsandheroes.com

9 March 2007 - Teachers' Materials Available!
UK Lesson plans with pupil worksheets for Friends and Heroes Episodes 1 - 7 are now available at http://uk.friendsandheroes.com/lessons/index.htm

16 February 2007 - Series Two & Series Three
Whilst still preparing for the launch of Friends and Heroes in the UK, the Friends and Heroes production team are now preparing to start work on the next 26 episodes - Series Two and Series Three.

Series Two takes place in Jerusalem, where Macky, Portia, Tiberius and Tobias - and not forgetting Pontius - arrive after their adventure in Alexandria.  In Series Three, the action moves on to the capital of the Empire - Rome.

These two Series will again have full Dolby 5.1 surround sound, and the decision has been taken to produce them in HD video - which is quickly becoming a new world standard for quality television materials.

15 January 2007 - BBC Broadcast
Friends and Heroes are delighted to announce our agreement with the BBC for the broadcast of Friends and Heroes in the British Isles.  The BBC's first plan (subject to change) is to broadcast Friends and Heroes on the CBBC channel on weekdays between 12th and 23rd March 2007:

  • Episodes 1 and 2 : Monday 12th March @ 12.00
  • Episode 3 : Tuesday 13th March @ 12.30
  • Episode 4 and 5: Wednesday 14th March @ 12.00
  • Episode 6 : Thursday 15th March @ 12.30
  • Episode 7 : Friday 16th March @ 12.30
  • Episode 8 : Monday 19th March @ 12.30
  • Episode 9 : Tuesday 20th March @ 12.30
  • Episode 10 and 11 : Wednesday 21st March @ 12.00
  • Episode 12 : Thursday 22nd March @ 12.30
  • Episodes 13 : Friday 23rd March @ 12.30

(all times subject to change)

January 2007 - World Broadcast Premier
TBN hosted the world premier broadcast of Friends and Heroes Episode 1 "Long Journey" on 6th January 2007 on the TBN and "Smile of a Child" networks, with more broadcasts following - more information www.tbn.org

December 2006 - Friends and Heroes welcomes Dave Carlos
Dave Carlos has been appointed as Friends and Heroes Marketing Director, with effect from 1 January 2007.

Dave who began his career teaching in primary school, before moving into technology journalism, has spent the past 13 years in a senior role at Care for the Family (www.careforthefamily.org.uk).

30 November 2006 - Friends and Heroes in North America
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Tyndale House Publishing (www.tyndale.com) to provide Friends and Heroes products and broadcast in North America (USA and Canada).  Tyndale will be working with broadcast partner, TBN (www.tbn.org), to broadcast Friends and Heroes Series One on the TBN cable and satellite networks.

Contact
Becky Brandvik
Senior Director, Media Products
Tel: +1 800 323-9400
Email: beckybrandvik@tyndale.com

01 October 2006 - International TV Distributor Appointed
We are pleased to announce the appointment of The Fremantle Corporation as international distribution agents for Friends and Heroes to the TV Broadcast industry.

The Fremantle Corporation was founded in 1952, by the late Mr. Paul Talbot, an innovative New York based media pioneer. Mr. Talbot was a leader in the export and formatting of television shows and built the company on the principles of honesty and respect. His traditions and values are shared by the company’s new owner, Toronto based Kaleidoscope Entertainment. The Fremantle Corporation joins Morningstar Entertainment, Venture Licensing and KEI Productions, as an integral part of the Kaleidoscope group of companies. The head office of The Fremantle Corporation is conveniently located in Toronto.

Website: www.fremantlecorp.com

Contacts
Diane Tripp
Managing Director of International Sales & Acquisitions
Tel: +1 212-840-6269,
Email: diane@fremantlecorp.com

Blanca Oca Pertierra
Vice President of International Sales & Operations
Tel +1 646-750-3774
Email: blanca@fremantlecorp.com


01 October 2006 - Friends and Heroes Online Store - Open for Business!
The new Friends and Heroes Online Store is now open for business, featuring exclusive products based on the this exciting and innovative TV Animation Series.

In good time for Christmas 2006, our first available product features the nativity scene from Friends and Heroes Episode 5 produced as a high-quality Christmas Card.  The cards are available in packs of 10 or 100, complete with envelopes - or as a digital download fdile, complete with a license to print as many cards as you wish for personal use.

A pre-broadcast premiere DVD will be added to the shop shortly, including an introduction to Friends and Heroes by Stephen Gaukroger - a Music Video of the Title Track "Looking for a Hero" sung by Lauren Waterworth, and a complete copy of Friends and Heroes Episode 7.