Leonardo is a British children's television series broadcast on CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

. The show is an adventure programme featuring a teenage Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

 and his friends. The series is set in 15th-century Florence. There has only been one series made by the BBC and it currently stands at 13 episodes; the four main characters are in every episode.

Cast

• Jonathan Bailey
  Jonathan Bailey (actor)
  Jonathan Bailey is an English Actor. He was born on 25 April 1988, in Aylesbury Vale, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. He is not to be confused with another English actor named Jonathon Bailey born in 1940s who played young Prince Arthur in the 1950s TV series Adventures of Robin Hood...
  
   as Leonardo Da Vinci
  Leonardo da Vinci
  Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
  
  : Leonardo (A.K.A Leo) is an artist at Verrocchio
  Andrea del Verrocchio
  Andrea del Verrocchio , born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italian sculptor, goldsmith and painter who worked at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in the early renaissance. Few paintings are attributed to him with certainty, but a number of important painters were...
  
  's workshop and an enthusiastic inventor.
• Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Tomaso/Lisa Gherardini
  Lisa del Giocondo
  Lisa del Giocondo , also known as Lisa Gherardini, Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini and Mona Lisa, was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany in Italy...
  
  : Tomaso is female despite her typically male name. Her real name is in fact Lisa. She changed her name to Tomaso, her father's name, and disguised herself as a boy in order to become an artist. Due to the laws of the 15th century, she was not given the opportunity as she was female. Like Leonardo she is an apprentice at Verrochio's workshop. In the episode "Anything Is Possible" she is dragged into the catacombs by a secret society called the Luminary. She was given a fake letter of recommendation from Rome and told to steal Leonardo's notebook. She does this but when the man who kidnapped her come to pick up the notebook she passed it to Leo and he rides away on his velocerotor (later named bicycle). The man caught up with Leo and took the notebook.
• Akemnji Ndifornyen as Machiavelli: Machiavelli (A.K.A Mac) is number one man when it come to fraud or theft and has a network of urchin spies and cut-purses throughout the city. Leo sometimes has to get him out of trouble (like in episode 3).
• Colin Ryan as Lorenzo de' Medici
  Lorenzo de' Medici
  Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...
  
  : A wealthy boy, part of Florence's prestigious Medici family, he is largely bored by his life of luxury and enjoys sneaking away to join his friends. He is anxious to please his father who he greatly admires.
• Alistair McGowan
  Alistair McGowan
  Alistair McGowan is a British impressionist, stand-up comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for The Big Impression , which was, for four years, one of BBC1's top-rating comedy programmes - winning numerous awards, including a BAFTA in 2003...
  
   as Piero de' Medici
  Piero di Cosimo de' Medici
  Piero di Cosimo de' Medici , , was the de facto ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance. He was the father of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano de' Medici-Biography:Piero was born in Florence, the son of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and Contessina de' Bardi...
  
  : An ambitious man and cousin to the Duke of Florence
  Duke of Florence
  Il Duca di Firenze, rendered in English as The Duke of Florence, was a title created in 1532 by Pope Clement VII. There were effectively only two dukes, Alessandro de' Medici and Cosimo de' Medici, the second duke being elevated to The Grand Duke of Tuscany, causing the Florentine title...
  
  , Piero keeps a close eye on all happenings in Florence, especially those that concern Lorenzo and his friends. He heads the mysterious secret society, the Luminari.
• James Cunningham as Meastro Verrocchio
  Andrea del Verrocchio
  Andrea del Verrocchio , born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italian sculptor, goldsmith and painter who worked at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in the early renaissance. Few paintings are attributed to him with certainty, but a number of important painters were...
  
  
• Thembalethu Ntuli as Cosimo: A servant at Verrochio's workshop.

Production

Leonardo began as a novel outline by Tom Mason and Dan Danko portraying Leonardo Da Vinci as a "teenage Renaissance Batman". Although never actually used in a book, Mason and Danko were able to interest the BBC in their unpublished story idea. It was optioned by the BBC in late 2009 and the pre-production was completed by summer 2010. Leonardo was shot on location in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

throughout the second half of 2010.

Series 1

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