Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone

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The Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera in conjunction with Sleepy Kids PLC. It was known as Potsworth & Co. in the UK (which is reflected in the theme song's lyrics in the UK broadcast).

Contents

[edit] Premise

The series revolves around Potsworth the basset hound and four young children, Carter, Keiko, Rosie, and Nick. When they go to sleep at night they turn up in the Dream Zone where, as the Midnight Patrol, they are appointed by the Grand Dozer to protect it from nightmares and other threats and are given their missions by the Snooze Patrol. Their main enemy is the Nightmare Prince.

Whilst they are in the Dream Zone, the five have special powers. Keiko has a flying skateboard; Carter can draw anything and then have it come to life; Nick is able to fly (in addition his stuffed toy Murphy comes to life); whilst his cynical sister Rosie tags along. Potsworth himself acquires the power of speech which enables him to complain about the way he is treated in the real world, and make wry comments about the kids and their own attitudes and relationships.

Premiering on The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera in 1990, Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone lasted only 13 episodes.

A comic strip based on the show featured in the Dandy.

[edit] Midnight Patrol member profiles

The 5 Midnight Patrol members are the main stars of the show. Each one has his/her individual abilities.

  • Potsworth (Age 10, 60 in human years): the sarcastic dog who usually has a stern voice when he enters the Dream Zone.
  • Nick (Age 6): the little boy who is a flying superhero when he's in the Dream Zone (thus, he is also known as "Super Nick"). He is assisted by his stuffed toy dinosaur Murphy.
  • Rosie (Age 8): Nick's big sister. An annoying brat who gives the group a very hard time (in ways similar to Lucy van Pelt), though she still helps out in dangerous situations. She calls Nick by his full name Nicholas whenever she yells at him, which is quite often.
  • Keiko (Age 9): an Asian-American girl who rides a flying skateboard. She is energetic, very optimistic and likes to be seen as the leader of the group.
  • Carter (Age 10): an African-American who is an expert artist. In the Dream Zone his magic paintbrush can bring many things to life. He is Potsworth's owner.

[edit] Other Dream Zone Characters

The Dream Zone has a number of inhabitants, the principals of which include:

  • The Grand Dozer: King of the Dream Zone, he spends his time half-asleep on top of a pile of mattresses. He has to stay this way because if he were to be fully awake the Dream Zone will come to an end. He gives advice but in the form of riddles which can be a bit of a frustration.
  • The Chief: a large but friendly woman who heads the local police and assigns the Midnight Patrol with their missions.
  • Sebastian: the Grand Dozer's head butler, always anxious that his King is sleeping.
  • The Nightmare Prince: the villain of the piece, the Prince is always coming up with ways of disrupting the Grand Dozer's sleep or other nasty schemes in order to allow nightmares to take over from dreams. He is the Midnight Patrol's main enemy, though he is such a bungling idiot that his plans can fail due to his own incompetence. (Like many villains from American productions he speaks with a noticeably English accent ! (though, on the plus side, Potsworth has a similar accent).)
  • The Nightmare Prince's Mother: this unseen character is always phoning up to tell her son to get on with destroying happy dreams, and reproving him when things go wrong. The fact that the Prince has a large-sized telephone (as opposed to a mobile) literally up his sleeve means that she calls him almost all the time. (Her constant yapping through the phone is reminiscent of the General from Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.)
  • The Greystone Giant: lives in a cave filled with various objects which he supplies for people's dreams. Because there are so many dreamers he is always at work and never stops grumbling about it, though deep down he loves his job.

[edit] Episode guide

  • Night of the BedBugs:
  • The Dozer Walks Among Us:
  • King Potsworth: Potsworth tries on a crown which makes him king of a kingdom where people respect him. When he goes to a kingdom with dogs, he must confront a giant cat.
  • The Nightmirror: The Nightmare Prince plans to use the Nightmirror to make evil twins of the Midnight Patrol to wreak havoc in the Dream Zone.
  • When Bubba Rules: The Nightmare Prince, after many defeats is replaced by a monstrous Count Bubba Bonebreaker and the Midnight Patrol wants to have the Nightmare Prince back.
  • Nick's Superswitch: Super Nick switches abilities with the powers of Wonder Kid after he has read many of his Wonder Kid comic books.
  • Dozer Quest:
  • Rosie's Extra Sweet Day: After Rosie's conversation with a talking tree, she gets turned into the nicest girl in the Dream Zone.
  • I Was a Teenage Babysitter: Rosie must take care of the Greystone Giant's little son, Rocky, and Rosie experiences a lot of problems trying to take care of Rocky.
  • The Wishing Whale: The Midnight Patrol (minus Keiko) have their favorite wishes come true with the Wishing Whale, but soon their wishes get out of hand.
  • Santa-Napped: The Nightmare Prince captures Santa Claus, and the Midnight Patrol must rescue him to save Christmas.
  • Save the Cave: The Greystone Giant is too far behind in his dream supplies, so the Midnight Patrol must help him keep up with the dream orders.
  • Rosie's Fuss Attack:

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Additional voices

[edit] External links