Leonardo is a British action-adventure television series which aired on CBBC for two series from 11 April 2011 to 6 December 2012. Set in 15th-century Florence, the show follows the adventures of a teenage Leonardo da Vinci played by Jonathan Bailey.
The story follows teenage Leonardo da Vinci played by Jonathan Bailey and his friends which includes the wealthy son of a powerful aristocrat Lorenzo De Medici (Colin Ryan), a girl disguising herself as a boy so she can become an artist Lisa Gherardini (Flora Spencer-Longhurst), and cunning manipulator Machiavelli (Akemnji Ndifornyen).
Inspired by the inventive genius of the real life Leonardo, the series re-imagines da Vinci as a teenage action hero, who finds himself drawn into the dangerous schemes of the Luminari - a sinister secret society who plot to take over Florence. They have stolen Leonardo's notebook and want to use Leonardo's design to create deadly weapons to kill the Duke and allow their leader Piero de'Medici to take over Florence.
Leonardo and his friends work together to recover Leonardo's notebook which has been stolen from the dangerous Luminari - a secret society who lurk in the catacombs of Florence. With Leonardo's intelligence and penchant for brilliant inventions, Lorenzo's wealth and status, Lisa's street smarts and Mac's cunning and network of spies and child pickpockets, it's up to the gang to stop Piero and save Florence. Only, the friends don't know the head of the secret society they are trying to thwart is Lorenzo's father. And when Lorenzo discovers the truth about his father what side will he choose?
After siding with his father and trying to take down the Duke during the series one finale, Lorenzo has lost his friends. Leonardo, Lisa and Mac refuse to forgive his betrayal and Lorenzo refuses to apologise. But when Leonardo and Lisa's mentor and surrogate father-figure Verrocchio is framed for murder Lorenzo tries everything in his power to help, pleading with his father Piero (now played by James Clyde) and even arranging an escape attempt. They manage to free Verrocchio but Lorenzo is forced into an arranged marriage and then kidnapped and it's up to his friends to save him. The friends are convinced Piero is the one behind Verrocchio's framing and Lorenzo's kidnapping but when the Duke is murdered by a Milanese assassin the friends have no choice but to team up with Piero to help protect Florence and avenge the Duke's death. Only, Lorenzo discovers it wasn't Milan who killed the Duke it was his own father. Once again he is faced with an impossible choice, his friends or his father? Whatever he decides he has to decide quick as Piero with the help of Leonardo has created deadly weapons like armoured tanks to wage war against Milan.
Leonardo began as a novel outline by Tom Mason and Dan Danko portraying Leonardo da Vinci as a "teenage Renaissance Batman". Although never actually used in a book, Mason and Danko were able to interest the BBC in their unpublished story idea. It was optioned by the BBC in late 2009 and the pre-production was completed by summer 2010. The first series of Leonardo was shot on location in South Africa throughout the second half of 2010.
A second series premiered on the CBBC on 20 September 2012, starting with episodes one and two being shown back to back as an hour-long instalments called Illusion. The second series was completed on location in Cape Town. For series 2, actor James Clyde replaced Alistair McGowan in the role of Piero de' Medici. Roxane Hayward, Bart Fouche, Katie McGlynn and Pam St. Clement guest-starred in the second series.
In 2012 an online game based on the second series was released. Entitled Leonardo, the game allows players to defeat the villain Il Drago who has stolen Leonardo's inventions. The game was nominated for a 2013 KidScreen Award for Best Companion Website.
In 2012, Leonardo won three KidScreen Awards for Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series, Best Music, and Best Design. It was also nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for Best Television Soundtrack, the Best Youth Program Award at the Banff World Media Festival, and the Award for Youth Fiction at the Rose d'Or. It was also nominated for a children's television award at the Prix Jeunesse International Festival in Munich.