Shoebox Zoo is an urban fantasy TV series made in a collaboration between BBC Scotland and various Canadian television companies. It is mostly live-action, but with CGI used for the animal figurines. The show centers on the story of a young girl named Marnie McBride, who is given a shoebox containing four toy animals by a mysterious old man at a junk shop, as a gift for her 11th birthday. These magical toys have the power to come alive on Marnie’s command, and they’re on a quest to find an ancient book that once belonged to a great and powerful wizard.

A sensitive young man who relishes time in nature is at odds with the rough urban culture in which he lives.

This 8-part drama brings high romance, low treachery and magical adventure via a host of legendary characters: wise old Merlin, brave Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, ruler of all Britain and master of the Knights of the Round Table, the beguiling Queen Guinevere and her nemesis Morgan la Fay. Dark Ages wizard Merlin (Robert Eddison), weary of the barbarism around him, creates a new order of enlightenment and justice with a youthful Arthur (Andrew Burt) at its head. Merlin gifts Arthur with the magic legendary sword Excalibur to help him defeat the nobles who oppose his rule. But Arthur must also beware his half-sister Morgan (Maureen O'Brien), a sorceress who has sworn to kill him to avenge her father's death. As Morgan intensifies her plans to get revenge, she uses magic to draw Lancelot (David Robb) and Guinevere (Felicity Dean) into a passionate affair. But it is the still more traitorous Mordred (Steve Hodson) who will fatally halt Arthur's rule.