[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leonardo_uk-show_6107.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:The main characters: Mac, Lisa, Leo, and Lorenzo.]]

''Leonardo'' is a Creator/{{CBBC}} series about a teenage Creator/LeonardoDaVinci (played by Creator/JonathanBailey).

It's set in 1467 UsefulNotes/{{Florence}}, where young Leo is an apprentice artist, and spends his spare time designing fantastic machines and hanging out with LovableRogue [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Niccolo "Mac" Machiavelli]] (Akemnji Ndifornyen) and LonelyRichKid Lorenzo de' Medici (Colin Ryan). In the first episode they meet Tomaso (Flora Spencer-Longhurst), who also wants to be an artist.

However, a sinister society has discovered Leo's mechanical designs. This group tricks Tom into stealing Leo's notebooks, wanting to create war machines that will let them overthrow the Duke of Florence. Leo and his friends (including Tom, who turns out to be a girl called Lisa) have to stop them, unaware that they're led by Lorenzo's father.

A second season began in September 2012, in which Piero's schemes see Florence approach war with Milan.
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!!'''This show contains examples of:'''
* AlliterativeTitle: The episode, "The Betrothal Ball".
* AllPartOfTheShow: In "Diabolical Acts" [[spoiler:Nazario tries this when Leo announces he's a thief on stage]].
* AmbiguouslyGay: Nazario, the strolling player in "Diabolical Acts", is very flamboyant, [[{{Luvvies}} calls Leo "Sweetie"]], and is very enthusiatic about how good Leo would look in a dress. However, a lot of that seems put on because [[AlwaysCamp that's how an actor's supposed to behave]].
* AnachronismStew. Mostly Leo's ahead-of-their-time inventions, but also moments like Lorenzo wishing the strolling players in "Diabolical Acts" would put on a {{Pantomime}}, which just about works if you assume he means ''CommediaDellArte'' until he says "At a panto we can shout 'He's behind you!' and 'Oh no, it isn't!'", putting it firmly in the 19th century British tradition.
* ArrangedMarriage: Lisa is escaping one. In "Something Wicked", moneylender Lucio Zengari is marrying a woman in exchange for not sending her father to debtor's prison. And in "The Betrothal Ball", as the title suggests, Lorenzo's engagement to the daughter of the Duke of Pisa is announced, much to his horror.
* AttractiveBentGender: In "It Must Be Love", Leo falls for Lorenzo's manipulative cousin Valentina. Valentina, while flirting with Leo out of habit, falls in love with "Tom", in part because [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou her usual seduction techniques don't work]].
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: It's a RunningGag that Leo's fascination with everything means that he hardly ever finishes a painting.
* BatmanGambit: Piero seems fond of these. The final two episodes of the first season both have Leonardo believing Piero plans to kill the Duke, only to learn his ''real'' plan is more convoluted, and Leo's own actions have played into it. In the opening two-parter of the second season, he does the same with Lorenzo.
* BeneathNotice: In "Dogs of War", Tom discovers none of the apprentices are allowed in the workshop where the superweapon is being built. [[spoiler:Lisa, however, can easily get in by carrying a mop and bucket]].
* BerserkButton: Don't tell Leo [[spoiler: you've sold ''Art/TheMonaLisa'' when he thinks it's not finished]].
* TheBeard: In "Lost and Found", Lisa tries to convince her mother she's married to Mac.
* BigBad: Piero de' Medici.
* BigEater: Angelina, who goes to an expensive restaurant with Mac and basically orders the entire menu. This is at least partly to wind up Mac, who she knows has been paid to take her off Lorenzo's hands, and who will be cleaned out by the bill, but she does eat it all.
* BlackVikings
* BrickJoke: Halfway through "Hitched", the gang blag their way into a convent by pretending to be ratcatchers, and saying the nuns have to stay in the belltower until they're finished. In the final scene (which must be at least a day later) Leo asks Mac what the nuns said when he told them they could come down, and Mac replies "The nuns? Oh no..."
* ChaseScene: "Wing and a Prayer" has Mac on the run from a nobleman he sold a fake gold chain to. Instead of a FruitCart or SheetOfGlass, they get blocked by Leo and Lisa carrying Leo's glider wings.
* ClockPunk
* TheConvenientStoreNextDoor: Justified in "Diabilical Acts", [[spoiler: where Nazario has built the stage next to the bank specifically so he can tunnel underneath it]].
* CoolBike: Leo invents the bicycle in the first episode "Anything is Possible". In "It Must Be Love", he adds a gunpowder engine: the Boom Bike.
* TheConspiracy: The Luminari, or [[TheIlluminati Il Illuminatum]].
* TheDandy: Lorenzo.
** In "Angels and Cherubs", Michelangelo dresses in purple silk and is healded by the BGM playing Adam Ant's "Stand and Deliver".
* DancePartyEnding: The final episode of Season Two ends ([[VillainExitStageLeft more or less]]) with a huge street party being held to celebrate that Leo saved Florence.
-->'''Verrocchio''': I'm never going to hear the end of this...
* DarkHorseVictory: The painting contest in "Angels and Cherubs" presented as all about Leo and Michelangelo. The winner is [[spoiler: "Tomaso"]].
* DeathEqualsRedemption: At the end of "The Fugitive" [[spoiler: Placidi, battered to death by a mob and abandoned by Piero, decides to tell Leo everything before he dies]]. As it turns out in "Dogs of War" [[spoiler: he's OnlyMostlyDead, and manages to explain it all to Lorenzo as well. And by the end he's made a full recovery.]]
* DefrostingIceQueen: In "Stupid Cupid", Angelina, who's spent the previous seven episodes alternating between demure and bitchy, suddenly turns out to be a RebelliousPrincess in conversation with Mac. However, after "The Tortoise And The Hare", she realises [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids being rebellious isn't going to do her any good]], and freezes over again, before finally defrosting in "Hitched" [[spoiler: but not enough to run off with Mac]].
-->'''Angelina''': Get me out of this wedding! Get me out of this ''[[BigScrewedUpFamily family]]''!
* DitzyGenius: Leo sometimes comes across as this.
* TheDon: Mazzola in "Cat and Mouse".
* TheDragon: Caporaso was Piero's trusted bodyguard and enforcer in season one. In season two he's replaced by Placidi, head of security at the palace, and occasionally Lorenzo's babysitter.
* DressesTheSame: In "The Betrothal Ball", Lisa is wearing the same dress to the masked ball as Angelica.
-->'''Lisa''': Great minds, eh?\\
'''Angelica''': ''(icy stare)''\\
'''Lisa''': ...We're wearing the same dress?\\
'''Angelica''': Yours is a copy. And a cheap one at that.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: In "The Dogs of War" [[spoiler: Leo gets Piero to admit to everything, unaware that Duke Rocco is hiding in the tank]].
* DuelToTheDeath: In "By The Sword", Tom is outraged by a professional fencer's arrogance, and challenges him to a duel. She's taken a bit aback when he suddenly says that "to make it interesting", they'll use real swords, not practice ones.
* EatsBabies: One of the lies being spread about the Milanese in the run-up to the war.
* TheFagin: Mac is the "good" version, and not much older than the kids who work for him.
* FollowInMyFootsteps: Lorenzo finds banking incredibly boring. On the one occasion he feigns interest in the FamilyBusiness, Piero says "Now you sound like a Medici!"
* ForScience: Leo creates for the sake of creating, and is enthusiastic about everything. When Piero makes his pitch for Leo to join him it's not WeCanRuleTogether, it's "Wouldn't you like to see your inventions in action?"
** In "Dogs of War", when [[spoiler: Leo's superweapon fails to wipe out Leo and Mac, Leo stares at it and says "It didn't work!" An incredulous Mac asks "Are you ''disappointed''?]]
* {{Frameup}}: The opening episode of Season 2, "Framed" has Piero [[spoiler: frame Verocchio for murder to get revenge on Leo]].
* FriendToAllLivingThings: As in real history, Leo is a vegetarian, and buys caged birds to release them into the wild.
* FriendsAllAlong: Mac and Carlo Cazali in "The Lightning Box".
* GilliganCut:
** Leo needs a bird of prey to study. Lorenzo casually mentions that his dad has just got a falcon.
-->'''Lorenzo''': The most expensive bird in all of Florence, cost a fortune ... (notices Leo's CheshireCatGrin) Oh, no! Absolutely no way. I know what you're thinking and no way! He'd skin me alive! He'd feed me to the fishes! There's absolutely no way I'm doing it.
-->''GilliganCut to Lorenzo creeping into his father's study in the middle of the night.''
** At the end of "Cat and Mouse", Lorenzo suddenly realises his parents are due home, and Mac says there's no way he's helping to tidy the palace. Cut to...
** And again in "Hitched" when Mac says "No way. Never. Not in a million years" to dressing as a nun.
* GoThroughMe: Tomas, Mac and Lorenzo all stand in front of Leo when [[spoiler: Rocco has him declared a traitor and wants him shot]].
* GratuitousItalian: Only names and few phrases are in Italian
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse:
** In "The Mask of Death" [[spoiler: Leonardo tells the Medici family doctor that he suspects the Duke was poisoned, hoping for a post mortem. The doctor replies "And you've told no-one else of this? Good, keep it that way." And then, of course, we cut to him telling Piero "He'll find out I gave you the poison! We'll all be exposed!" Unfortunately for Dr Pentageli, Piero decides ''he's'' more disposable than Leo is.]]
** In "The Dogs of War" [[spoiler: Leo deliberately invokes this as part of BluffingTheMurderer]].
* HardWorkMontage: Veruccio and Leonardo painting [[spoiler: a fake cell wall with bent window bars]] in "Perspective".
* HeManWomanHater: Lorenzo is a bit like this, constantly having to amend his comments about girls not to include Lisa. In one episode he claims that making up excuses to avoid going on dates is his ''hobby''.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: All the main characters.
* HistoricalInJoke: In "Something Wicked", Leo's BatmanGambit involves pretending that he creates copies of stolen paintings and sells them to people who think they're getting the original -- exactly what happened when the Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Piero de' Medici. Who pretty much ''did'' rule Florence in 1467.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Alberto, who's been inciting hatred against the Milanese in "The Fugitive", gets attacked by his own mob when Mac puts up some posters claiming he's a double agent.
* HonorBeforeReason: Much to Piero's horror [[spoiler: Rocco]] believes war with Milan is inevitable, but wants to lead the charge personally, armed with a sword. When Piero tries to explain that this will result in him, and most of the Florentine army, being killed, he replies it would be a glorious death.
* HowWeGotHere: "The Dogs of War" begins with [[spoiler: Rocco having Piero arrested for treason]]. Then the action rewinds to the end of the previous episode. They do the rewind thing again halfway through to explain how [[spoiler: Lorenzo knows his father's a villain]]. And ''again'' near the end to explain what Tom's been up to.
* HypocriticalHumour: In "Enter the Robot", a man comes running down the street screaming. Mac comments "Probably seen a three-legged dog. You know what these peasants are like; still living in the [[DarkAgeEurope DarkAges]]." When Mac actualy sees the mechanical man the peasant was running from, his reaction is "Run! Run! It's a demon!"
* IAmOneOfThoseToo: When Lisa poses as a Neopolitan princess in "Hitched", she has a nasty moment when Signora de'Medici asks about her close friends in Naples. She gets out of it by saying she has no interest in mere countesses.
* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: Piero says this when he employs Lucio Zengari to buy weapons:
-->'''Lucio''':What do you want 'em for?
-->'''Piero''': I could tell you, but then I really would have to kill you.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: In a frenetic swordfight in "The Dogs of War", Mac is armed with ... a pewter tankard. And doesn't do badly with it.
* IronicEchoCut: In "Dragon Hunt"
-->'''Leo''': I have a friend. He knows I went off with Salvatori. He'll come. He will find us.
-->''cut to'':
-->'''Mac''': We're never gonna find him. I give up, it's hopeless. Wherever Leo's got to, he's on his own.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Leo's inventions.
** The Duke of Florence thinks Leo's painting of Lisa is "almost perfect, but there's [[MonaLisaSmile something not right about the mouth]]".
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: In "Dogs of War", Piero [[spoiler: aims the superweapon's cannon at Leo, Mac and Rocco, presses the trigger, and nothing happens. At which point Tom casually wanders up carrying the flint (the Renaissance equivalent of removing the firing pin).]]
* JerkJock: Michelangelo, with painting instead of sports. Represents the [[OpposingSportsTeam Opposing Art School]] in "Angels and Cherubs".
-->'''Michelangelo''': Have you heard the rumours? They're saying ''you're'' going to win. Everyone loves an underdog story. I find underdog stories incredibly tedious, so I've decided ''I'm'' going to win.
* LoveTriangle: Mac loves Lisa, who loves Leo, who is ObliviousToLove. As of "Stupid Cupid", [[spoiler:Mac and Angelina have feelings for each other. Which would be fine because Lorenzo doesn't even like her much, except for the political ramifications.]]
* MasqueradeBall: Season 2, episode 2 is "The Betrothal Ball".
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: "Time Waits" involved an incredibly accurate (but backwards) pocket watch that both Leo and Piero believe allows TimeTravel. A scene near the end suggests they may be right.
* MeaningfulName: Lorenzo's cousin Valentina de' Medici is, fittingly for her name, TheVamp. She says boys are "all gullible fools."
* MistakenIdentity: In "The Betrothal Ball", Lisa and Angelina are wearing identical dresses and masks. Lorenzo has insisted he and Leo wear matching outfits, and at one point they swap masks. Every possible point of confusion is covered, first PlayedForLaughs (as Mac agonises to "Lorenzo" about how Lisa loves Leo, and Leo asks "Lisa" about it) and then PlayedForDrama (when [[spoiler: Lisa gets kidnapped instead of Angelica]].)
* NotSoDifferentRemark: In "Dogs of War":
-->'''Piero''': You and I, Leonardo, we're thinkers. Men of the future.\\
'''Leo''': I am ''nothing'' like you!\\
'''Piero''': ''(looking towards Leo's superweapon)'' Aren't you?
* NotSoFastBucko: The EngineeredPublicConfession in "Dogs of War" takes place five minutes in, and the scene from the beginning of [[spoiler: Piero being arrested]] is a couple of minutes later. Obviously, it can't be that simple...
* OneWordTitle: ProtagonistTitle, first name, of Leonardo de Vinci.
* ParentalAbandonment: Mac never talks about his parents. Leo's dad is still in Vinci, and is supposed to visit in one episode [[DaddyDidntShow but doesn't]].
** Leo's dad appears in the opening two parter of season 2, and turns out to be an AmoralAttorney. He cares for Leo, but doesn't understand him, and won't believe Piero is evil. Also, he's getting married, and never actually told his fiance he has a son.
* PetTheDog: Several episodes show that however ruthless Piero may be in his desire to rule Florence, he does genuinely care about his son.
* ProchronicProduct: The teenaged Leonardo da Vinci's inventions include a robot and a bicycle. In season 1 the bicycle looks like a vaguely plausible clockpunk construction, but in season 2 it's a simply a mountain bike. He also adds an engine. His superweapon in Season 2 is basically a tank, even more so than his RealLife invention that was basically a tank. The episode "Time Waits" features an accurate pocket watch of the sort invented in the 18th century, although it's possible its owner is a time traveller.
* ProtagonistTitle, first name, of Leonardo de Vinci.
* RaceLift: Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli, a white European, portrayed by a black actor.
* RecursiveCrossDressing: When "Tomaso" considers auditioning for the play in "Diabolical Acts", Leo says not to try for a girl's part because "you can't be a girl playing a boy playing a girl, it's too confusing". In the end, she does, when they ''both'' take offence at Nazario's claim that Leo would make a better girl.
* RevealingInjury: In "The Lighning Box", Lorenzo tells Leo that someone tries to steal the titular "lightning box", but his father's guards put an arrow in the man's leg. Cut to Mac's old friend Carlo bandaging his leg.
* RightBehindMe: Lorenzo on Valentina:
-->'''Lorenzo''': All pretty and charming and tinkly laughter, but really she's spiteful and nasty and ... and she's behind me, isn't she?
* RightfulKingReturns: At the end of "Stupid Cupid" [[spoiler: the Duke's son Rocco returns from five years at sea ... right in the middle of Piero's AwesomeMomentOfCrowning]].
* RunawayBride: The Princess of Naples in "Hitched". Unsurprising, since she doesn't exist.
* SadisticChoice: Piero gives Leo one in "The Dogs of War":
-->'''Piero''': Interesting Moral Dilemma, isn't it? Let your friend die and you could stop me. Save thousands of lives. Obviously, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany it's the right thing to do]], but I don't think you've got the stomach for it.
* ScienceHero: Leo.
* ShoutOut: Obviously, the episode where the Luminari realise they can't read Leo's notebooks ''has'' to be called "[[Literature/TheDaVinciCode Da Vinci's Code]]".
* ASimplePlan: Leo's plan to get Lorenzo out of his wedding. It starts simple enough: make Piero believe there's a better match to be had, and by the time he finds out otherwise the wedding will already be cancelled. Too bad it never occurred to him Lorenzo's mother might want to ''meet'' the potential bride...
* StreetSmart: Mac and Lisa. Lampshaded in "Dragon Hunt":
-->'''Mac''': You see, there are street smarts...
-->'''Lisa''': ...which we've got...
-->'''Mac''': ...and then there are Leo smarts...
-->'''Lisa''': [[BookDumb ...which we haven't got at all.]]
* StealthHiBye: Scarpa, the assassin in "The Mask of Death", is fond of these.
* StepfordSmiler: Lorenzo's mother. Probably a Type B, but we haven't seen the mask crack sufficiently to be sure.
* SternTeacher: Verrocchio, Leo's master. (The way the apprentice system works, he's closer to a teacher than a BenevolentBoss, but has elements of both.) He's shown to genuinely care about his apprentices, but he'd appreciate it if they didn't spend their time building ridiculous devices when they're supposed to be learning to paint.
* SweetPollyOliver: "Tom" is actually Lisa. As in "Mona..."
* TankGoodness: Leo's superweapon: a heavily-armored, man-powered cart with a turret-mounted cannon.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Piero has a clockpunk security system involving numbered levers ... and has it programmed with his birthday. And then changes it to ''Lorenzo's'' birthday. Amusingly, such devices are apparently common enough that Mac says "It's almost always that."
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Lisa/Tom (appropriately enough) and Angelina are becoming this, most obviously in "By The Sword".
-->'''Lisa''': Didn't it make you angry? Being told girls shouldn't fence!\\
'''Angelina''': Well, they shouldn't really, should they? All that violence and aggression. It's not in our nature, is it?\\
'''Lisa''': Might not be in yours...
* TranslationConvention: Everyone speaks English, with occasional breaks into GratuitousItalian, such as ''mi scusi'' and ''magnifico''. In "The Fugitive", the Milanese accent is apparently OopNorth.
* TreasureMap: In "Dragon Hunt", complete with cryptic clues and having to track down different bits of the map.
* TheVamp: Lorenzo's cousin Valentina de' Medici, who says boys are "all gullible fools".
* VerbedTitle: Some episodes:
** ''Hitched''
** ''Framed''
* WelcomeBackTraitor: In the final episode of the first season [[spoiler: Lorenzo discovers his father's plans, but is convinced they're [[WellIntentionedExtremist for the good of the city]]. He therefore turns agains Leo and his friends]]. In Season 2 [[spoiler: after spending the opening two-parter alternately moping about and fantasising about killing his friends, he learns they were right, but also believes his father has reformed. He therefore wants everything to go back to how it was, which happens in the third episode]].
* WhamEpisode: At the end of "Dragon Hunt" [[spoiler: Piero finally kills the Duke]].
* WideEyedIdealist: Leo can be this, especially in comparison with the StreetSmart Mac.
* TheWisePrince: The Duke of Florence. His cousin Piero de' Medici would disagree.
-->'''Piero''': He's taken to walking through the streets, ''listening'' to his citizens and any old riff-raff! Imbecile! If that isn't asking to be assassinated, I don't know what is!
* XanatosGambit: While Piero is the master of the BatmanGambit, "Dogs of War" reveals that even if that goes wrong, he's still got a plan.
-->'''Piero''': Maybe we're not so alike after all. You make plans. I make plans ''within'' plans.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Happens to [[spoiler: Professor Pico]] in "Da Vinci's Code", and to [[spoiler: Dr Pentageli and Scarpa]] in "The Mask of Death". [[spoiler:Scarpa]]'s last words are to ask [[TheDragon his killer]] how long it'll be before Piero decides ''he's'' outlived his usefulness too. [[spoiler:Five episodes, as it turns out.]]
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Leo at the end of "Fireball", when he tries to convince the Duke that Piero plans to assassinate him. And again in "Perspective" when he tries to tell his father.
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