Series 4: 2008
| # | Original Title (top) US Title (bottom) |
UK airdate | US airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | "To Have and to Have Not" | 13 April 2009 (2009-04-13) | 6 June 2008 |
| Zaphod, the oldest and most experienced of Whiskers group, has been fitted with a radio collar. During the winter, most of Maybelline's Aztecs left and returned to the Whiskers and the burrowless group sleeps in a bolt hole. Rocket Dog is finding management of the 33 strong Whiskers difficult during the winter as food is in short supply. During their daily foraging trip, Mitch spots a roving male circling the Whiskers. Rocket Dog shows interest in the male as she needs a mate, but Zaphod quickly chases him off, with help from six other Whiskers males. During the chase, however, Zaphod and the others end up far from the rest of the family in unknown territory. The Aztecs are able to safely leave the bolt hole later in the day, and begin searching for a permanent burrow site. The Whiskers head back to their burrow and run into the roving male that Zaphod has chased off earlier, now accompanied by the remaining Commandoes group. Nikita, the dominant female of the Commandoes, leads her group in an attack against the Whiskers. With the loss of seven males, Rocket Dog chooses to flee instead of fight, and the Commandoes drive them completely out of their territory. As the now twenty-five member Whiskers group is forced to sleep in a bolt hole, the Aztecs successfully commandeer a new burrow from a yellow mongoose. | |||
| 4.2 | "All Manor of Love" | 14 April 2009 (2009-04-14) | 13 June 2008 |
| The seven member Aztecs settle into their new burrow. Wilson, from the Commandos, visits the Aztec burrow and mates with Maybelline. He begins scent marking the territory and other Aztec members to signify he is now the group's dominate male. Zaphod and his group of roving males arrive at the Aztec burrow as well. Zaphod and his group join the Aztecs without any struggle, but it is a futile take over as Maybelline is another of Zaphod's daughters. Zaphod's arrival sends Wilson running, leaving Maybelline without a partner again. Wilson makes his way to the Whiskers group, where he meets with and mates with Sophie, a subordinate female. Zaphod settles with the Aztecs, but the other males who came with him leave, recognizing that they cannot mate with their sisters. Wilson returns to the Whiskers with Sophie, and is quickly chased off by the Whiskers males. Rocket Dog attacks Sophie for mating with a rover. | |||
| 4.3 | "Rising Star" | 15 April 2009 (2009-04-15) | 20 June 2008 |
| The Whiskers enter the Commandoes territory, but are again badly beaten by their rivals and forced to retreat. Seacrest, one of the Whiskers males, gets separated during the retreat and becomes a rover. He manages to make his way back to the Commandoes burrow and mates with Nikita. Seacrest sleeps above ground near the Commandoes burrow and mates with her again in the morning before Nikita viciously runs him off. Some roving males approach the Whiskers burrow, but the Whiskers males quickly chase them off. | |||
| 4.4 | "The Family Way" | 16 April 2009 (2009-04-16) | 27 June 2008 |
| The Whiskers are relaxed and playing together, after weeks of strained relationships, as Rocket Dog shows signs of being pregnant. Rover Seacrest joins with the Aztecs, who move to a new burrow as their old one became infested with fleas. While out foraging for caterpillars, Sophie takes a bad fall from a tree and injuries her paw. Led by Rocket Dog, the other Whiskers leave her behind to continue foraging. A roving male comes near the group, and the pregnant Rocket Dog quickly asserts herself as dominant female, scent marking all the females. Sophie is able to walk off her injury and rejoin the family. After submitting to Rocket Dog and being allowed to stay, Sophie meets up with the roving male. The watching Whiskers attacks, chasing off the male. Rocket Dog, joined by Hawkeye, viciously attack Sophie and evict her from the group. The Whiskers, still in search of a home, find the Aztec burrow. The outnumbered Aztecs quickly flee, leaving the Whiskers to claim the newly renovated burrow as their new home. | |||
| 4.5 | "The Mark of Zorro" | 17 April 2009 (2009-04-17) | 4 July 2008 |
| Exiled Sophie struggles to find food and is plagued with ticks. Axel, her adopted brother, finds her, grooming her and keeping her company until nightfall. Zorro and the other four roving Whiskers males approach the foraging Commandoes but are kept at bay. In the morning, Zorro and his group come at the Commandoes from all sides. The youngest of the rovers, Duke, finds Nikita's sister Rosie and mates with her. After an eagle owl causes both groups to flee to the Commandoes burrow in a panic, Zorro and his brothers take over the group. Zorro and the other rovers scent mark Nikita, with Nikita submitting to their actions, something the announcer notes is an event never seen before in the manor. Zorro is now the dominant male of the Commandoes group, infusing the group with new blood. | |||
| 4.6 | "Great Expectations" | 18 April 2009 (2009-04-18) | 11 July 2008 |
| Rocket Dog's litter is due in a few days, and Mitch has stepped into the role of dominant male of the Whiskers, though he can not be a mate to his sister. At the Commandoes, Nikita is also pregnant and ten females in her group face potential eviction, particularly her sister Rosie. The Whiskers see a strange meerkat and chase it off, resulting in their finding a new burrow. In the morning, Nikita evicts Rosie with aid from her daughter Serena, followed by one of Nikita's other daughters. The other females make submissive gestures, but Nikita eventually evicts eight of the ten females in her group, reducing the Commandoes group count from twenty to only twelve, and leaving the group with few babysitters for her coming litter. Rocket Dog gives birth to two pups. | |||
| 4.7 | "The Bodyguard" | 19 April 2009 (2009-04-19) | 18 July 2008 |
| The Whiskers go foraging, leaving one-year old Axel and Sophie, who has been allowed to rejoin the Whiskers, as babysitters. As the day wears on, Axel struggles to stay awake, eventually falling asleep on the job. When he wakes up, he leaves the burrow to go eat, not realizing that Wilson is approaching the burrow. Wilson enters the burrow in search of Sophie, who was inside with the pups. She follows him outside to do some mutual grooming, leaving the pups alone and unprotected. Axel returns and runs Wilson off, despite Wilson being twice his size. They return to the burrow entrance, and are later joined by the pups on their first excursion outside. Wilson returns, with another adult male. Axel goes after the second male, while Wilson rejoins Sophie. The Whiskers return home and the two Commandoes rovers flee. Mitch goes after Wilson to teach him a lesson. Axel finds a puff adder in a side entrance to the baby sitting burrow. They attempt to chase it off, but it sends the snake further into the burrow as it has no other way out. Sophie is able to lead one of the pups safely out another entrance. When the other pup does not emerge, Rocket Dog runs into the burrow, followed by Sophie. They find him and he is safely brought out of the burrow. Limping from his battle with Mitch, Wilson once again approaches the burrow and Sophie follows again. | |||
| 4.8 | "Divided We Fall" | 20 April 2009 (2009-04-20) | 25 July 2008 |
| Rocket Dogs two pups, Nugget and Beaker, are the largest sized pups on record to be born in the manor. The twenty-strong Whiskers go out to forage while Sophie and Simon babysit. The two babysitters eventually lead the pups away from the burrow for their first foraging trip. While out foraging, the Whiskers find an old burrow that was once occupied by the Aztecs, sending the Whiskers into a fury of scent marking and on a search for the trespassing group. When they find them, they give chase, inadvertently sending the Aztecs straight for the pups and the babysitters. Sophie, Simon, and the pups are sleeping where they foraged, unaware that the Whiskers had sent the Aztecs their way. Sophie awakens at the sound of an approaching storm and the Aztec's calls. She and Simon lead the pups to a bolt hole, with the Aztecs giving chase. Back at the burrow, the Whiskers discover the pups are missing, but a thunderstorm temporarily keeps them from going back out to search for them. As Sophie fights to keep the Aztecs from entering the bolt hole, Simon confronts a deadly snake sleeping in the back of the hole. In the morning, it's revealed that the rain forced the Aztecs to flee, allowing Sophie and the pups to flee and return to the Whiskers, while Simon was killed by the snake. | |||
| 4.9 | "To The Manor Born" | 21 April 2009 (2009-04-21) | 1 August 2008 |
| At the Aztecs burrow, Maybelline and her three sisters are all pregnant. The Lazuli group returns and chases the Aztecs from their new burrows, leaving the Aztecs without a home again, and Maybelline no place to give birth. Eventually, Maybelline leads her Aztecs back to their burrow where they successfully fight off the Lazuli to reclaim their home. At the Commandoes, Nikita has given birth. Zorro struggles to keep his place as dominant male due to challenges from his brothers. Three weeks later, Maybelline has given birth, and evicted two of her pregnant sisters. The third was allowed to remain, having lost her pups after being injured in the battle with the Lazuli. Nikita is pregnant again by an unknown male, as Zorro has not mated with her recently. | |||
| 4.10 | "The Birds" | 22 April 2009 (2009-04-22) | 15 August 2008 |
| The Whiskers initiate a burrow move after their burrow becomes infested with parasites. Rocket Dog is pregnant again, as are all of her subordinate females. Rocket Dog evicts four of them, including Sophie. At the Commandoes burrow, Nikita's pups are eating solid food, but must deal with Zorro's refusal to share and Nikita's stealing any food they do find. Zorro's brother Miles gives too much attention to Nikita, and after scent marking Nikita again, he traps Miles in a bolt hole and attacks him. When the dust settles, the wounded Miles has been evicted, which the announcer notes is the first male eviction in the history of the manor. Acknowledging Zorro's leadership, the researchers fit him with a radio collar. The Whiskers, meanwhile, settle in a new burrow. | |||
| 4.11 | "The Rovers Return" | 23 April 2009 (2009-04-23) | 22 August 2008 |
| Rover Wilson attempts to return to his family, the Commandoes, but Zorro will not allow him to. Instead, Wilson joins with Phillipe, a fellow rover. At the Whiskers burrow, evicted pregnant sister Sophie continues to linger near her family. Wilson and Phillipe arrive and attempt to take over of the group, but quickly backed off when confronted by the Mitch and the other males. Sophie and Wilson mate again, while Phillipe provides a distraction by leaving. They spent the afternoon together at a bolt near the Whiskers group. As night falls, Sophie attempts to sneak back into the burrow as she has done each night before, but Wiley Kat chases her off and she must spend the night alone again. In the morning, Rocket Dog evicts Wiley Kat, whose pups are now due. Wiley Kat joins her sister Sophie for companionship. That night, she gives birth but the pups are all stillborn. Wilson and Phillipe find the Aztecs, where Zaphod not only acts as dominant male, helping the group retain its small territory, but also acts as babysitter. Realizing Zaphod is aging, Wilson and Phillipe make a move on the group, but Wilson lets Phillipe distract him while he attempts to woe Maybelline. However, she has no interest in mating or taking on a dominant male. So the duo return again to the Whiskers, where Wilson and Sophie again reunite. Together with Phillipe and Wiley Kat, they have the tenuous foundation for a new group. | |||
| 4.12 | "Home Alone" | 24 April 2009 (2009-04-24) | 22 August 2008 |
| With only nine members, mostly youngsters, the Whiskers are at their weakest in the group's history. Rocket Dog has only allowed Rita, an adolescent female too young to survive on her own, to stay. Rocket Dog gives birth to four pups, then driven by hunger goes to forage along with the other Whiskers. Babysitter Rita follows her instincts and kills the pups. She later gives birth to a single pup, Juno, which is largely ignored by the Whiskers and Rita. After a week together, Sophie and Wiley Kat have been abandoned by Wilson and the Phillipe and return to the Whiskers burrow. Three weeks later, Juno is old enough to explore outside the burrow under the watchful eye of babysitter Sophie. She and her sister have been allowed to remain in the group. Sophie also gave birth to three pups of her own, now a week old. A large number of vultures gathering near the burrow, the Whiskers must change burrows. Their normal three week move was delayed by the new births. When the vultures are drawn off to other prey, the group springs into action. With the adults carrying Sophie's pups, they leave the burrow, accidentally leaving the confused Juno behind. Rita hears his distress calls and returns for him, saving him from a circling hawk. The Whiskers find a new burrow and settle in. | |||
| 4.13 | "The Darkest Day" | 25 April 2009 (2009-04-25) | 22 August 2008 |
| The night after the burrow move, a puff adder enters the Whisker's burrow. In the morning, the Whiskers panic as they quickly evacuate the burrow, bringing Sophie's young pups above ground. Rocket Dog went head-to-head with the snake to protect the pups, leaving her with a nasty bite to the head. Her head swollen, she would remain still to give herself the best chance for survival, but with the pups in danger above ground, she summons the strength to initiate a burrow move. Sophie helps her get the group under control and the pups moved, with Axel coming to her final pup's rescue when the other adults are too confused to do anything. As they move, Mitch spots another group in the distance, and they quickly take to the grass to find a bolt hole for temporary refuge. At the Commandoes, Zorro is nowhere to be seen, Miles tries to rejoin the group. Baker, Mile's littermate, is keeping watch, and the two begin posturing for power. Rocket Dog is unable to go further, so Sophie steps in to take over and leads the others, with her pups, for a new burrow. A short distance away, they run into a mole snake. Axel and the others surround and attack the snake to allow Sophie to get the pups safely past. Mitch, Juno, and two other Whisker adults remain behind to watch over the ailing Rocket Dog. Zorro's collar is found up a tree, all that remains of Flower's son who became leader of the Commandoes; it is thought that a bird of prey caught him. At his former group, Miles and Baker continue to brawl, pulling in the other males. Nikita also joins in, attacking Baker. Sophie finds a new burrow for the Whiskers group, showing the potential to be a new leader for the group. Rocket Dog slowly recovers from the snake bite and staggers to her feet. Slowly she and the others make their way to the new burrow. At the Commandoes, Baker has gotten out of Miles death grip and Nikita has pulled back out of the fight. Three days later, Rocket Dog has recovered from her snake bite, and Sophie's pups are old enough to come out of the burrow to explore. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Meerkat Manor Episodes, Episode List
Famous quotes containing the word series:
“Rosalynn said, “Jimmy, if we could only get Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat up here on this mountain for a few days, I believe they might consider how they could prevent another war between their countries.” That gave me the idea, and a few weeks later, I invited both men to join me for a series of private talks. In September 1978, they both came to Camp David.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)