| Genre: | Children's Drama |
| Creator: | Dick King-Smith (original adaption) Steve Attridge (series 2–3) |
| Developer: | BBC Film and General Productions Ltd |
| Starring: | Victoria Shalet Paula Wilcox |
| Theme Music Composer: | Carl Davis |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 44 |
| List Episodes: | List of The Queen's Nose Episodes |
| Location: | London |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Network: | BBC One |
The Queen's Nose is a 1995 BBC children's television series. It was adapted by Steve Attridge from the novel The Queen's Nose written by Dick King-Smith. It ran for seven series.[1]
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.
See also: List of The Queen's Nose episodes.
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,[2] and the third series also by Steve Attridge winning the Indie Awards 1999 prize for Digital Cinematography.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5] 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).[6]
See also: List of The Queen's Nose 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 | ||
| Release name | Release date | Country | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes | REF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Queen's Nose | 15 September 1997 | United Kingdom | U | Carlton | PAL | English | None | Series 1, Episode 1 & 2 | [8] | |
| The Queen's Nose | 11 November 2002 | United Kingdom | U | ITC | PAL | English | None | Series 1 | [9] | |
| The Queen's Nose - Harmony's Return | 11 November 2002 | United Kingdom | U | ITC | PAL | English | None | Series 2 | [10] | |
| The Queen's Nose - Harmony's Holiday | 11 November 2002 | United Kingdom | PG | ITC | PAL | English | None | Series 3 | [11] |
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.[12] The programme was produced by Heather Larmour.[13]
| Week | Viewers[14] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 13 May 2002 | 50,000 | 2nd most watched on CBBC that week. | |
| Tuesday 21 May 2002 | 50,000 | 3rd most watched on CBBC that week. | |
| Wednesday 5 June 2002 | 70,000 | 2nd most watched on CBBC that week. | |
| Monday 3 June 2002 | 50,000 | 5th most watched on CBBC that week. | |
| Thursday 13 June 2002 | 20,000 | 8th most watched on CBBC that week. | |
| Monday 17 June 2002 | 30,000 | 10th most watched on CBBC that week. |