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The Dreamstone

The Dreamstone is a British animated television series that aired from 1990 to 1995, with four series and 52 episodes. The series' original concept and artwork was created by Michael Jupp, and it was written by Sue Radley and Martin Gates and produced by Martin Gates Productions (MGP) for a wholly owned subsidiary of Central, a part of Independent Television, and FilmFair. Distribution rights for the Martin Gates catalogue, including The Dreamstone, are currently owned by Monster Entertainment.

The Dreamstone is set in the dream worlds of the Land of Dreams and the Land of Nightmares and follows the struggle between good, personified by The Dream Maker, and evil, personified by Zordrak, Lord of Nightmares.

The Land of Dreams is populated by the humanoid Noops, whose lifestyle is similar to humans, and the Wuts, defenders of the realm who fly around on leaves and use staffs to communicate with each other and ward off Zordrak's forces.

The Land of Nightmares is populated mainly by Urpneys, lizard-like humanoids who live in Viltheed, a mountainous wasteland that Zordrak inhabits. Although all Urpneys in Viltheed are male, female Urpneys do exist, as Urpgor has an aunt and a niece.

The show was notable for its musical score, which was unique among cartoons in that it was performed by a full-size professional orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The score, by Mike Batt, was heavily characterised by the use of leitmotifs and thematic variations, particularly in the two main songs used in the series, "Better Than a Dream", which characterised the Noops and the Wuts, and "War Song of the Urpneys", which characterised the Urpneys.

Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Bruno, and Billy Connolly provided lead vocals on the "War Song of the Urpneys" single and album track, although the version heard in the series was mainly sung by composer Mike Batt. Other artists who sang for soundtrack included Bonnie Tyler, who recorded a duet with Mike entitled "Into the Sunset", which was intended to be used as the show's official love song, but went unused. Joe Brown and Gary Glitter performed "The Vile Brothers Mountain Band", which was used in the episode "Albert is Fishnapped".

The TV version of "Better Than a Dream" contained different lyrics than the version included on the soundtrack. The TV version reflected Rufus's personality, with the lyrics "I always dream myself to somewhere else each night" and "I know I dream much more than other people do". The soundtrack version instead has the lyrics "I used to dream myself to someone else each night" and "until I chanced upon this road that led to you", among other changed lyrics. Mike Batt re-recorded the chorus, which was used in the ending credits from the latter half of Series 1 until series 4, in which it was shortened. In 2012, Katie Melua released a version of "Better Than a Dream".

The soundtrack was re-released as part of the Mike Batt Music Cube release in December 2009 by Dramatico Records. However, instead of the TV soundtrack, the CD featured five newly recorded orchestral overtures, as well as "Better Than a Dream", "The War Song of the Urpneys", "Into the Sunset", and a shorter version of "The Dreamdance", which omits the vocal clips from the show. "The Vile Brothers Mountain Band" was omitted from the soundtrack due to the controversy surrounding Gary Glitter.

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