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The Island – A Best Selling Book becoming a TV series
The homonym TV series is based on the novel “The Island” (To Nisi in Greek) written by the British writer and journalist Victoria Hislop, whose patent love for the island of Crete and her engaging writing have captured approximately 850,000 readers just in the UK. The rights of the book were sold to more than 17 countries. The renowned script writer Mirella Papaoikonomou took over the difficult task to adapt the book for the TV, creating a new TV series, expected to be the most expensive production ever made in the history of the Greek TV programs. The ambitious project is estimated to cost 150,000 euros per episode, and will be completed by the second half of 2010, ready to launch in the 2010-2011 TV season. Some of the most known actors and actresses will participate in the TV series, enhancing the popular interest for the TV series; some of the names already known and confirmed are Stelios Mainas, Katerina Lechou, Aimilios Cheilakis and more. More than 150 actors and equal number of supporting actors will compound the cast. It is also estimated that the costumes used in the series will be approximately 2000. What is "The Island" about?The Island is a story about love and pain, separation and fear. It is a fictional story based on true events and conditions regarding the island of Spinalonga in Crete. The story of the book takes place on the island of Spinalonga, during its years as a leper colony. The story weaves true facts or events and fictional characters creating a gripping result, documenting the history of the island.  The main character is Alexis, a woman trying to find details about the life of her mother Sophia, which remains a secret. Her efforts to find out the truth lead her to Spinalonga and the opposite fishing village of Plaka, where she finds out that the life of her ancestors is indispensably connected with the leper colony. Her journey to Crete brings her to some old family friends who narrate the story of her family through three generations. The family story is backed by details about the relationship of two sisters, Maria and Anna who are though quite different, playing diverse roles in the tale and the book. Spinalonga and PlakaSpinalonga is a small dot on the map, located off the Northern Coast of the island of Crete. Spinalonga is very close to Elounda and boats take thousands of tourists to this island - fortress, which became a leper colony from 1903 to 1957. Plaka, the fishing village had nothing to do with the leper colony, but the facts prove that the two places were actually pretty much associated, relying heaving the one on the other.  Leprosy was a loathed disease, because according to the religion, it was a disease of the unclean and cursed people, thus, many lepers were sent to Spinalonga, living as exiled people under terrible conditions. Of course, during the 50s when Medicine discovered that leprosy is actually the result of bacteria, the disease became treatable and not so feared anymore. It was then that Spinalonga stopped being the “lepers’ island or prison”. The inhabitants of Plaka, during these 50 years of the colony, were earning their income from the leper colony, creating a rather unusual and fearsome bond with the lepers. The island of Spinalonga is deserted nowadays. There are no people and the silence echoes heavily all along the place, reminding even today the painful years and the uncanny conditions and atmosphere of their lives on the island. When visiting the island of Spinalonga the abandonment and desolation are evident, however, it feels as if the people who lived there have left something of their aura behind.
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"The Island", one of the best seller books in 2009 is about to become a TV series for Mega Channel. 
