In Your Dreams - Series 1 (ATOM Study Guide)

Welcome to our world for the next four months! The question is, can we survive it?

This greeting arrives at the end of episode one of this 26-episode series, setting us up for the forthcoming adventures of non-identical twins Samantha and Ben Hazelton (Tessa de Josselin and David Delmenico), who have been dispatched to Germany to live with some very distant relatives they've only vaguely heard about. This, their parents assure them, will provide them with 'education in a broader sense'. Uprooted from their conventional life in suburban Australia and heading off on a four-month stay with the von Hasenburg family in Germany, the twins find upon arrival that the von Hasenburgs are not your everyday Germans; they are descendants of a long line of aristocrats who own and inhabit a massive castle. Alas, time has not been kind to the von Hasenburgs and over the years the family fortune has dwindled to almost nothing. Now Sam and Ben must help them save the castle and turn their fortunes around before bankruptcy descends and centuries of von Hasenburg entitlement comes to an end. Schemes and plans to attract tourism – often a saviour to old European buildings – come and go, some disastrous, some successful. Through the internet marvel of Skype, we will be seesawing back and forth from Australia to Germany as Sam and Ben keep up with best friends Lucy and Jack, work on musical numbers together and solve all kinds of problems. And through the days, weeks and months of their residence in this beautiful old castle, and through their excursions to the local town, we will be introduced to a great deal of fun, excitement, music, friendship and culture clash; the differences between the 'German' and 'Aussie' ways of doing things are often an uncomfortable fit, but we can be assured that a great many life lessons are learned and that good intentions will win out in the end.

Curriculum Relevance

In Your Dreams Series 1 is a text suitable for Years 7–9 and is relevant to the subject areas of Languages (German) and English.