H2O: Just Add Water, also known as H2O, is an Australian dramatic fantasy television programme for children and teenagers created by Jonathan M. Shiff. It first screened on Australia's Network Ten and runs in syndication on channels in over 120 countries and has a worldwide audience of more than 250 million.[1][2] It was filmed on location at Sea World and other locations on the Gold Coast. The show's premise revolves around three teenage girls facing everyday teen problems with an added twist: they're mermaids with powers over water. The theme song "No Ordinary Girl" is performed by Ellie Henderson in series one, byKate Alexa in series two and by Indiana Evans in series three.
Only two series with a total of 52 episodes were originally planned, but due to popular demand, a third and final series was filmed. Series one premiered in July 2006, followed by series two in September 2007. Series three first aired in the United Kingdom in October 2009, with the Australian premiere occurring in May 2010.
Only two series with a total of 52 episodes were originally planned, but due to popular demand, a third and final series was filmed. Series one premiered in July 2006, followed by series two in September 2007. Series three first aired in the United Kingdom in October 2009, with the Australian premiere occurring in May 2010.
Rikki Chadwick, Emma Gilbert, and Cleo Sertori are three sixteen-year-old Australian girls who find themselves stranded on the mysterious Mako Island. They eventually find themselves in a pool under a dormant volcano just as a full moon passes overhead, bathing the pool in light. The girls are rescued and brought back to shore where they return to their normal lives, but soon discover their lives have become anything but normal. The girls find out that seconds after contact with water, they transform intomermaids. After further experimentation, the girls also discover they have supernatural powers over water. The trio enlist the help of Cleo's friend Lewis McCartney to help them keep their secret.
Everyday situations, such as bathing and rain, become tricky as the girls struggle to cope with their newfound abilities, which have many advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else, including their families. They soon adapt to their new abilities and lifestyles.
Series two introduces Charlotte Watsford, a rival to Cleo after taking Lewis as her boyfriend. She gains mermaid powers and becomes the main antagonist of series two. She has all three of the mermaids' powers. In the end, Charlotte loses both her powers and Lewis.
Series three sees the departure of Emma, who has left to travel the world with her parents, and the arrival of Bella Hartley, who has been a mermaid since the age of nine. Rikki and Cleo become friends with Bella, but are soon beset by a mysterious tentacle of water with a connection to Mako Island. A new boy, Will Benjamin, also arrives and become friends with the trio when he discovers that they are mermaids. The girls learn that Earth is in the path of a comet that could destroy the planet. Using their powers, they manage to stop the comet from colliding with Earth.
Everyday situations, such as bathing and rain, become tricky as the girls struggle to cope with their newfound abilities, which have many advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else, including their families. They soon adapt to their new abilities and lifestyles.
Series two introduces Charlotte Watsford, a rival to Cleo after taking Lewis as her boyfriend. She gains mermaid powers and becomes the main antagonist of series two. She has all three of the mermaids' powers. In the end, Charlotte loses both her powers and Lewis.
Series three sees the departure of Emma, who has left to travel the world with her parents, and the arrival of Bella Hartley, who has been a mermaid since the age of nine. Rikki and Cleo become friends with Bella, but are soon beset by a mysterious tentacle of water with a connection to Mako Island. A new boy, Will Benjamin, also arrives and become friends with the trio when he discovers that they are mermaids. The girls learn that Earth is in the path of a comet that could destroy the planet. Using their powers, they manage to stop the comet from colliding with Earth.
- Cariba Heine as Rikki Chadwick, the new girl in town at the start of the show, who tends to be aloof and rebellious. Her power is the ability to control heat in water, ranging from warming to boiling, which eventually grows to allow control over fire and lightning. Heine appears in all series of the show.
- Claire Holt as Emma Gilbert (series 1–2), who has a confident and responsible, if somewhat controlling, personality. She has the ability to freeze water, and later develops the ability to control clouds, ice and snow. Holt appears in series one and two, but left the show at the end of series two to film Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, with the character's departure explained as travelling the world with her family.
- Phoebe Tonkin as Cleo Sertori, who at first is shy and a little awkward and does not like water, but eventually becomes outgoing and personable. She is able to control and mould the form of water, as well as increase or decrease the amount of water present. She is later able to control the wind. Tonkin appears in all series of the show.
- Indiana Evans as Isabella "Bella" Hartley (series 3), the new girl in series three. She is a singer and performs at Rikki's cafe. Bella became a mermaid in the sea caves of Ireland when she was nine, and has the power to change water into gelatine and a crystalline substance. During the series, she and Will develop feelings for each other, and eventually become a couple.
- Angus McLaren as Lewis McCartney, Cleo's childhood friend and later boyfriend who is academically gifted and thinks of himself as a scientist. He helps the girls keep their secret and works to understand how and why the girls transformed into mermaids. After appearing in both series one and two, McLaren left the show during the third series to begin filming Packed to the Rafters,[3] but guest starred in the final episode of the show.
- Luke Mitchell as Will Benjamin (series 3), a skilled swimmer and free-diver who is introduced in series three. While exploring Mako Island, he finds the moon pool and is attacked by the water, causing him to search for the cause of the strange event. He is Bella's love interest, and becomes closer to the girls once he discovers they are mermaids.
There are three different types of mermaid tails used on the show: custom-fitted tails that the girls swim in, a "floppy tail" used for stationary shots, and a "hard tail" for stunts. The custom costumes took six months to build, with the tails and tops made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. The finished product weighs between 12 and 15 kilograms (26 and 33 lb). Inside the tail are leg straps where the girls are strapped up and then zipped up. Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water. Attempts were made to minimise the on-screen visibility of the zips on the tails, such as adding extra scales and crafting a ridge of material around the length of the zip. The tail fin itself was designed with a foot pedal to assist the actresses with swimming. This, along with the fin, adds some 60 centimetres (2 ft) to the length of the costume.