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Weekdays at 7.15am on TV2

Enjoyed the show? Get the DVD here

About the show:

Staines Down Drains is a New Zealand co-produced animated comedy adventure series about the Staines children Stanley and Mary-Jane - and their adventures in an underground drain world they discover by going through a plughole portal in a sink in their basement.

Stanley Staines, a resourceful but cautious 11-year-old who is almost obsessive about cleanliness; Mary-Jane Staines, his outgoing and impetuous nine-year-old sister; and their distracted but loving mother, Betty; move into a new house in Lupin Lane.

On their first night in the house, strange gurgling noises in the basement sink cause the siblings to investigate. Leaning over the sink, they are suddenly sucked down through the plughole into the drains!

There they discover an amazing underground world of mutated drain creatures, including Vegety Bill, Blobbert, and Herk. The Staines kids also discover that they have shrunk, and the only way to return to their normal size is to go back up through the plughole portal. In trying to find the right drain in the maze of Drainland, they have to avoid slimy, malevolent creatures called Gobblers and defeat an army of giant, walking biscuits!

The overall theme of Staines Down Drains is 'balance'. When the series begins, life is out of balance for all the main characters. The Staines kids are in a state of upheaval with their move to a new house, a new school and a new town in which they have to make new friends. Meanwhile in Drainland, balance is represented by the Cleansing Sea, which is thrown out of balance by the constant threats of the most unbalanced character of them all - Dr Drain. Over 26 episodes, this struggle for balance is fought by the Staines, so, like a set of scales, life above ground and below ground will reach equilibrium.

Will they find their way home? Watch and see as this animation, brought to viewers by Flux Animation's Brent Chambers and Hothouse Production's Jim Moira, guarantees to entertain every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3.35pm on TV2 - starting on Wednesday, March 7.

 

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