Heatherwood

The Heatherwood series is a series of children's books and television series. It was initially created by Ruth Tucker, originating from her Ouraine book and animated series, though later entries and the series' name were created by Hollis Davies. The series mostly centres around a trilogy of children's television series which all take place in the same continuity, with each focusing on a certain character and their unique experiences in their day-to-day lives.

Ouraine (1991-98)
Ruth Tucker wrote eight books between 1991 and 1994 centred around a seven year-old girl called Ouraine, which were written to encourage children to use their imagination to solve problems. In 1993, a television series based around the character was produced by Red Grape Studios, which ran for two series and twenty-seven episodes (each with two stories and a short segment each) from 1995 to 1998.

Olly (2002-03)
After Ouraine ended production, the show's writer Hollis Davies later worked on a series based around Olly, a character who appeared in one series two episode of the previous show. Compared to the extroverted and confident Ouraine, Olly is more shy and indecisive, with episodes normally being based around his experiences and how he interprets things differently to other children. Ouraine and her family appear in two episodes of Olly, and are either mentioned or referenced in several other episodes.

Melanie (2005-06)
The third television series of the trilogy, Melanie, also created by Davies, premiered in 2005. The show stars the titular character of Melanie who, in contrast to Ouraine and Olly, is more troublesome and finds fun in misbehaving but has a good heart deep down. It is also much more comical and mocking compared to the other two shows despite being aimed at a young audience, with Melanie often having to use wits to outplay her opponents, who are often even worse than she is. References to both Ouraine and Olly are made in some episodes, with both making appearances in an episode where it is revealed that Melanie's mother is a family friend to Ouraine and Olly's parents.

In addition to Olly, Tucker served as a writer for several episodes of Melanie.

Future
When interviewed in 2015 for the twentieth anniversary of Ouraine, both Tucker and Davies said they had no plans for a fourth television programme in the Heatherwood series, with Davies mentioning that the two were "happy with how things are". In 2019, however, Davies said he was "twiddling" with ideas for another series potentially set years after the events of Ouraine where the titular character has had children, though eventually ruled the idea out over fears that review sources would accuse him of "nostalgia pandering".

A documentary about the development and history of Ouraine premiered on Vision One on 19th June 2022. Davies said shortly afterwards that a reboot or revival of Ouraine would be "too risky".

Legacy
The Heatherwood series has gained a cult following amongst fans. As such it has received many fan fiction stories on the internet, especially on websites FanFiction and DeviantArt.