Q Ray, when did you have the idea for Atlantis High?

RT Well, the concept has been evolving over a period of years actually. I think that so much television is karate chop, almost instant satisfaction programming at the moment and I wanted to create a quality "spoof" series that reflected all genres of film and television. From "Naked Gun" to "Austin Powers", "Happy Days" to the typical soap operas of today.

Q Why is the series called "Atlantis High"?

RT Primarily because of the zany, wacky type of programme this is and because the series is set around a high school. The school itself is built on top of the original lost city of Atlantis and that is part of the reason why everything there is so very strange.

Q Can you sum up in a short paragraph what Atlantis High is about?

RT The series is about television. The influence that TV has had on generations of impressionable young minds. I have very fond memories of film and television in the 50s and 60s, where everything was innocent, where the characters were so romantic. Cary Grant is one of my favourite actors. He always played these romantic characters but had a real vulnerability about him and I wanted that reflected in the characters on Atlantis High.

I also love the "Happy Days" series and the fact that the Fonz was a rebel but was also somewhat naïve. Again, "Austin Powers" has this amazing, egotistical personality but is actually a real innocent.

There are certain over the top thematics and cliffhangers which run through soap operas and Atlantis High has all this and much more. Instead of an end of series cliffhanger, every scene in Atlantis High has a cliffhanger!

So, in short, the series brings together all of these different genres and creates something that I believe is very funny and certainly very unique, all set around a small town and high school.

Q Where is Atlantis High? Where is Sunset Cove?

RT I think we always knew in the back of our minds that Sunset Cove had to be based on a typical Californian town, surrounded by stunning beaches where the beautiful people hang out and where everyone knows each other. This idyllic place that most teenagers dream of growing up in.