Forgotten Television: Roar 1997

In 5^th century Ireland, Conor (Heath Ledger) is trying to navigate the world he lives in.  He is the son of the Chieftain of his tribe but in love with, Claire (Keri Russell) the daughter of King Derek who is helping the Romans in their conquest of Ireland. On the night of his brother’s wedding, Connor is out with Claire, when her father attacks his village killing everyone but Fergus (John Saint Ryan) who had fallen into a cellar and passed out drunk.  In the aftermath, Claire and Conor decide to leave Ireland, but before they are able, her father catches them and accidentally kills Claire. King Derek is not the real threat, but the duo that is pulling his strings is Queen Diana (Lisa Zane), the emissary from Rome and her companion, Gaius Cassius Longinus (Sebastian Roche), a 400-year-old Centurian Soldier who was cursed by god when he jabbed his spear into the body of Christ during the crucifixion and is now cursed with immortality. The couple seeks the spear of destiny, the only thing that can release Gaius from his doomed life. With Conor’s entire family, village and love having been ripped from him, he decides to band his people together and fight for the land, hearing the “Roar”, voice of the land, its people and of all living things.

Roar was produced and created by Shaun Cassidy and Ron Koslow, two people who have done some of the most unique and powerful television shows, American Gothic and Beauty and the Beast, to name just a couple. In the United States, the show aired on July 14, 1997, and ran for only 8 of its completed 13 episodes on the Fox network. The show was created in hopes of recreating the success of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. The show’s premise combined ancient Christian, Celtic and Druid mythologies.  The show featured a couple of Hollywood’s most promising up and coming stars Keri Russell who would go on to star in her own series, Felicity and most recently in the 2023 movie Cocaine Bear. Also, the main protagonist was being played by future Academy Award winner Heath Ledger who unfortunately passed away in 2008 receiving his Oscar posthumously. Before Roar, he had been acting in television series in his home country of Australia for many years, but Roar was his first American television show, he would go on to star in several popular movies and become a household name.

I remember when this show came out, but I could not remember why I didn’t watch it.  It looked exactly like my type of show, ancient Celtic culture, mystical elements and sword fighting are many of my favorite things.  Then I realized that it was up against another favorite show of mine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I realized that is why.  After watching the pilot in preparation for this article, I now regret not having DVR’d it during its initial run (was that even a thing in 1997?).  The storyline is fun and exciting and the setting with all its mystical elements was intriguing and interesting. The actors were all well cast and performed their parts well. The music in the pilot by Jon Ehrlich was phenomenal and was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for its composition. The only negative thing I can say was that the fight choreography didn’t have the same flare that more modern shows do now, it didn’t have the speed and elegance that audiences have become accustomed to.  This is a very, very small negative.

I am a huge fan of many of Shaun Cassidy’s shows and I think the man is well ahead of his time on many of his creations.  They are fun, interesting, and most notably unique.  He brings us fresh new ideas that don’t fall into cookie cutter television and have likeable but not perfect characters that often battle the good and bad within themselves.  It is a shame that more people don’t have the imagination to delve into the worlds he creates and experience his wonderful storytelling.