Packed full of mystery, adventure and comedy, the series follows the adventures of the young Leonardo da Vinci and his friends in 15th century Florence.
Characters
Leonardo da Vinci : Leonardo is an artist at Verrocchio's workshop. He loves painting, inventing, and creating new things that no one else ever dreamed could work.
Tomaso/Lisa Gherardini : "Tom" is a girl who lives disguised as a male apprentice. She changed her name to Tomaso and ran away to join Verrocchio's workshop in Florence, in defiance of the 15th century laws that banned women from becoming artists. In the episode "Anything Is Possible" she is dragged into the catacombs by a secret society called the Luminari, who order her to steal Leonardo's notebook. In setting out to steal his notebook, Tom sets a chain of mysterious events in motion and finds herself living and working beside the gifted Leonardo himself. She is the subject of the Mona Lisa and earlier versions.
Niccolò Machiavelli : Niccolò is the number one man when it come to fraud or theft and has a network of urchin spies and cut-purses throughout the city. He likes money-making schemes, chariot-racing and mingling with the rich and famous. Leo sometimes has to get him out of trouble.
Lorenzo de' Medici : 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 whom he greatly admires.
Piero de' Medici /James Clyde ): An ambitious man and cousin to the Duke of Florence, Piero keeps a close eye on all happenings in Florence, especially those that concern his son Lorenzo and his friends. He heads the mysterious secret society, the Luminari.
Maestro Verrocchio : Leo and Tom's maestro, Verrocchio is very strict and becomes impatient if his apprentices waste time. Leonardo is very loyal to his Maestro.
Cosimo : A servant at Verrocchio's workshop.
Teresa de' Medici : Lorenzo's doting mother.
Placidi - Head of Security at the Medici Palace and Piero's right hand man in Series 2.
Angelica Visconti - The rich and beautiful daughter of the wealthy Visconti family and Lorenzo's fiance in Series 2.
Rocco de' Medici - The hot-headed long-lost son of the Duke of Florence in Series 2.
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 Although never actually used in a book, Mason and Danko were able to interest the BBC in their unpublished story idea.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. The first series of Leonardo was shot on location in South Africa throughout the second half of 2010. A second series was completed on location in Cape Town and was aired in 2012. Roxane Hayward, Bart Fouche, Katie McGlynn and Pam St. Clement guest starred in the second series.
Historical accuracy
A Friday Download promotion for Leonardo suggested that the series is factual, but the series is misleading in certain respects. For example, in series 1, episode 5 the eponymous hero falls in love with a girl called Valentina. Art historians, including Lord Clark, have argued that Leonardo da Vinci was homosexual, and had no romantic interest in women. Another problem is that the action is said to take place in Florence in 1467. However, in episode 8 Leonardo is shown in competition with Michelangelo, who was not even born until 1475. In an interview with C21 Media, co-director Melanie Stokes said that "we play fast and loose with history and it's not the job of a drama to give facts... but to inspire imagination." Episode 8 accurately references Da Vinci's vegetarianism and love of nature. The portrayal of Piero de' Medici as scheming to overthrow the Duke of Florence is misleading; in 1467, Medici was the de facto ruler of Florence, and the city state would only acquire a Duke in 1532, when the title was given to Piero's descendant Alessandro de' Medici. The character of Niccolò Machiavelli is portrayed by Akemnji Ndifornyen, a black actor, whereas the real Niccolò Machiavelli was white. Furthermore, there appears to be no discernible age difference between his character and that of da Vinci, who was in reality 17 years his senior. The characters all speak modern English, occasionally exclaiming "bella!" or "magnifico!" to remind the audience that they are supposed to be Italians. Contemporary pop songs are used for the music soundtrack. Leonardo is frequently shown inventing things that are ahead of their time, most notably a wooden bicycle, which first appears in "Anything is Possible" and is later given a gunpowder engine. The season one finale involves an indestructible suit of mechanical armour, and the season two ended with a "superweapon" - a mobile armoured tank with a cannon mounted in a rotating turret, an exaggeration of Leonardo da Vinci's fighting vehicle. Leonardo's costume is also rather anachronistic, with his sneakers and chinos being more reminiscent of modern-day clothing rather than that of 15th century Florence.
In 2012 an online game based on the second series was released. Entitled Leonardo, the game allows players to defeat the villain Il Drago who has stolen Leonardo's inventions. The game was nominated for a 2013 KidScreen Award for Best Companion Website.
