Saskia (Hannah Greenwood) bullies geeky young Gerald Semple (Damian Neate) into helping her find Max Hammer (Cameron Nugent) on the internet. To enter the Webweave chat room she has to create an avatar. When she aggressively enters the chat room with a paper bag over her head and a nasty tongue, Max Hammer throws her out. Saskia is determined to track this guy down and destroy him but her sidekick Renee (Emily Wheaton) gives her some advice about how to lure boys. Summary by Annemaree O'Brien.

CURATOR'S NOTES

This clip shows the real Saskia – wisecracking, belligerent and not always right! The technique of having her interrupt the narrative to communicate directly with the audience works well, encouraging audience identification with her.

Ditzy Renee and nerdy Gerald Semple are two interesting sidekicks who help set up much of the fun. The scene with Saskia and Gerald in the computer room, with Renee asking all the right questions to let the audience know what is going on, reveals a lot about each of them. Renee is a more complex character than we first think, her demonstration of how to 'lure' boys shows she's in full control of her teenage life, unlike Saskia.

Noah and Saskia synopsis

Feisty Saskia (Hannah Greenwood) seeks revenge when a faceless geek somewhere in cyber world steals her music. This opening episode of a 13-part series shows the start of the online relationship between two teenagers – the uncool but quick-tongued Saskia in Melbourne, and the geeky Noah (Jack Blumenau) in London. It is Noah, transformed into his avatar 'Max Hammer' who has used Saskia's music in his comic strip, 'The Very Real and Excellent Adventures of Max Hammer'. After failing to get anywhere as herself in Max's (Cameron Nugent) chat room, Saskia creates Indy, a super cool, beautiful avatar, to lure Max into talking to her. She then discovers he is a funny, charming guy who thinks just like she does.

Noah and Saskia curator's notes

This first episode shows off the humour, complexity and cleverness of the series. The episodes alternate between the two main characters, and this episode is about Saskia. She is happy to take on the world and everyone in it and she frequently interrupts the narrative to communicate directly with the audience. This, along with Saskia's ability to 'see' what it's like inside other people's heads establishes an engaging and quirky tone for the series. Saskia is a complex character – on one hand, brash and aggressive but also self-deprecating, and shy. She is also starting to like boys, but doesn't really know how to attract them.

We also meet Noah (Jack Blumenau) and his family at the very end of the episode. This final scene raises many questions for the viewer. There are lots of compelling narrative hooks waiting to be unravelled, interesting and quirky characters, and an abundance of humour. The viewer is left wanting more.

Noah and Saskia premiered on the ABC at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 4 May 2004, starting with Tomorrow Never Knows. It screened weekly in this timeslot.

Notes by Annemaree O'Brien

CREDITS

Production company The Australian Children's Television Foundation Producer Patricia Edgar Director Pino Amenta Written by Chris Anastassiades Composer Chris Neal, Braedy Neal Acknowledgements Presented by the Australian Film Finance Corporation, in association with CBBC. Produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation