The Last Dragon Chronicles--Season 1 Structure
When I was younger, I read a book series called The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris D'lacey. Recently, I started thinking about how it could be adapted into a movie or a TV Series. Now, I think that a TV series would probably be the best medium for an adaptation. It would give the series lots of exposure, and maybe even get more people interested in the books. With that out of the way, here's how I would do season 1.
Season 1 would be based on the first book, The Fire Within. Unlike the book, the viewers would be made aware that the clay dragons can come to life almost right off the bat, a la Once Upon a Time. I'm picturing a reveal at the end of the first episode, where Elizabeth or Lucy Pennykettle--or both--enter a room filled with clay dragons and talks to them, and they come forward and answer.
The first season would essentially have three interweaving stories contained in it, as well as one big overarching story about rescuing a squirrel. One plot would be about David Rain and his hosts, Liz and Lucy. Another plot would be about the Pennykettle dragons themselves, and how they try to help the squirrels in their own unique way. The third plot would not be introduced until about halfway through the season, and would be the story-within-a-story that David writes, called Snigger and the Nutbeast, which, like in the book, would have a connection to real events.
David's plot would, much like in The Fire Within, be about his journey to finding inspiration and believing in dragons, all while trying to help a bunch of squirrels. Of course, since the audience knows by the end of the first episode that the clay dragons come to life, the suspense will be in getting David to believe in it, as well as figuring out just how and why this happens. David, much like Emma Swan before him, initially is quite skeptical about dragons, but unlike Emma, he is at least willing to play along. Lucy would act as his Henry, constantly talking about dragons and trying to get him to believe in them. Liz, on the other hand, would initially treat David like any other person and try to discourage Lucy from giving away too much. She'd warm up over time, however, especially after David breaks his special dragon, Gadzooks.
The second plot that would happen throughout the narrative is that of the Pennykettle dragons. As mentioned earlier, this would mainly be about their own efforts to help the squirrels. It would be more comedic than David's plot, and there'd be quite a few mishaps and close calls. We may even see a few scenes that homage classic silent-movie comedy. In the end, however, the dragons would ultimately achieve their goal. Of course, we would have to make sure that this sort of plot doesn't get too grating on the viewers. I personally would like someone such as Howie Mandel to provide the voices for the Pennykettle dragons.
The third plot of the season, as previously mentioned, would not appear until about halfway through the season. It would be, essentially, the story-within-a-story that David ends up writing about the squirrels. This would not be irrelevant to the plot, however, as the passages would be connected to true events. Of course, David's special dragon, Gadzooks, would be a huge help in that regard. Personally, I would like this segment to be animated by someone such as Cartoon Saloon.
As mentioned earlier, there will be some changes between The Fire Within and this hypothetical first season. For example, the character of Sophie would be removed entirely. Instead, Zanna Martindale, who in the book series doesn't show up until the second one, Icefire, would take her place. In this one, she'd be more of an "eco-goth" and would have picked up Sophie's trait of caring for animals because of it. Also, the concept of dragontongue would come up in the first season, though it may not be called as such yet, because we would obviously need some way for the Pennykettles and the dragons to clearly communicate with one another.
So, I've just written a sort of structural outline for the first season of a hypothetical Last Dragon Chronicles series. I hope all you fans of the series enjoy it.
