I can still feel every memory of this show. Sitting cuddled up on the couch next to my mum , dark early evening in winter, freezing cold living room waiting on the coal fire to ramp up and heat us. I'd go back to those days in a heart beat
I've been watching this with my son every year just before Christmas since he was 6. So it's part of Christmas for us. Last year we watched it with his daughter, now old enough to enjoy it. It's hard to believe it'll be 40 years old next year. Long may it continue to delight both young and old. For those who're reading this may I wish you a Merry Christmas, and to quote Tiny Tim - "God bless us, Everyone."
This is the best music and intro for a children's tv show ever. Very dark undertones to the music that gives me goosebumps. I too had a brilliant Christmas that year and this series was the icing on the cake. Makes you miss your childhood and makes you realise time is precious.
I've just had my annual viewing of the dvd and felt very proud of the BBC and everyone involved in the production. It's truly magical and will never be equalled. Sadly the end of an era but somewhere, sometime the Wolves are always Running!
What beautiful opening music, and what a brilliant series. The BBC did some fantastic children's fantasy during the 80's and 90's, they should go back to making those and not be afraid to make them quite dark and scary! Kids are tougher than we give them credit for!
A truly magical series! I first watched it when I was 13 years old. The Box of Delights is always a great start to Christmas. Its true they don't make stuff like this anymore!
Is it something to do with the harp, which is the solo instrument at the beginning? I am an amateur string player in an orchestra, so know a bit about music!
Lee Ludlow art I am equally very passionate about my early 80s childhood. At 42 years old- I am finishing up early at work ( the 14th of Dec) for xmas. During that time, the kid in me will Be watching DVDs of Tom Baker Dr Who, Boy From Space and of course Box Of Delights 🙂
I'm 20 so this was first shown 6 years before I was born...my Mum videoed it off the TV with the idea that when she had kids we would watch it together. 26 years on my brother, my parents and I have watched it every single Christmas...love it so much!!!
I love this and watch it each year in the run-up to Christmas. The opening music and credits are just the right combintation of slightly creepy and Christmassy. About time the BBC reshowed it!!
I remember all the fuss about this series when it came out (I was 8 or 9 years old when this series originally aired in the U.K. in the Winter of 1984). The special effects were superb, but it was a very dark story, full of mystery, confusion and esoteric concepts that frightened or puzzled young children at the time. I don't think it's a series that has lost any of it's grandeur and it still holds up as a first class BBC production of the highest quality (The BBC would later go on to have similar success with "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe"). The theme tune and it's opening sequence was spellbinding and hinted that it was going to be a special programme you were going to see. In the times of only four TV channels and few people having recordable video players, the series was an "event" - everyone talked about it at School the next day.
We recently spent Christmas in a seaside town, in a cold flat and I decided to revisit my childhood online and I watched this whole series through. Talk about a trip down memory lane! I was transfixed by both the story and the music when it was broadcast on 'steam' radio in the 50's........I loved this music then as a child and love it now. If you manage to create such lovely music only once in your life then you have never wasted your time on earth.
I was so young when I first saw this and the opening credits transfixed me. It's like this series got to my soul somehow . I can't explain it but I find it resonates
OH WOW!!! Brings it all back! Why on earth has this not been repeated on the BBC in 30 years???!!! I remember it being fantastic - that opening still sends shivers up my spine. Thanks for posting! :)
To be honest. With the quality of drama in whatever passes for Children's BBC, nowadays, I highly doubt a lot of kids in this bland and dumbed down modern age, would appreciate this classic children's drama series.
Oh this was pure quality! The people in charge at the BBC back then were giants compared to the ones running it now. What excellent, atmospheric programmes they used to put out. Its only when you look back at programmes such as this, The Children of Green Knowe and all the other dramas and comedies that we used to take for granted that you realise what a falling-off there has been.
I loved this show. Watched it with my nine year old (daughter, not Malt) and still loved every minute. The introduction to the last episode on BBC from Christmas Eve 1984 is on UA-cam somewhere and I remember watching the advertised film that night as well! (One of our Dinosaurs is Missing)
Should be shown every Christmas bar none. Intelligent, spooky, brilliantly crafted and has a decent message to it that isn't quite as bludgeoning as CS Lewis...
I've watched this every year at christmas since I can remember, its a family tradition. I'm 23 and still love it to pieces, it's splendiferous! The music especially has a place in my heart forever. Thanks to the BBC for putting it to DVD, my VHS copy was getting a bit worn!
An utterly fantastic series. It really does stand the test of time. The storyline is so good, that the special effects being dates doesn't matter. In fact, I much prefer these to CGI. Brings me back to my primary school days, when times were simpler. I remember being totally entranced by it when it first came out. It continues to mesmerise me to this day. I got it on VHS in the '90s, and have had it on DVD for a while. I have both the abridged and the fully-fledged books, as well as its predecessor The Midnight Folk. A pity that was never on TV.
I first watched this miniseries in the early 90s. My mother rented it from Blockbuster. I loved but then I lost it for years. It was only a few years back when I was able to buy a DVD version. Great fantasy Christmas adventure story. From the nation that brought us Narnia, Middle Earth, and Harry Potter.
Was shown this by my mum as a kid, who'd seen it while expecting me! In my thirties now and the whole family watch it every Christmas. It's true - they don't make kids TV like this any more. Very of its time, in a good way.
This really was a brilliant series. Fantastic childrens TV and brilliantly written and directed. It conjures memories of awe and wonder for me, it made my wife 30 scared!
brings back so many wonderful childhood memories,everything seemed to be so much more imaginative back then something that childrens tv lacks so much of today.
One of the best opening credits to a childrens drama ever. BOD was groundbreaking in many ways including the use of animation, and was cleverly shot to make for some 'sinister' scenes. watch this on the week running up to christmas, in front of a roaring fire, roasting marshmallows and drinking huge mugs of tea, and wallow in the nostalgia.......top stuff.
The theme is adapted from Victor Hely-Hutchinson's " Carol Symphony" . Legend has it that he used to take his bicycle onto a ledge at Alexander Palace and cycle along it. What actually finished him off was pneumonia, not daredevil stunts. I remember, very much, enjoying Patrick Troughton in this series and especially of Cole Hawlings riding off, on a donkey, into a picture of a snowy mountain pass on a living room wall. Poetry and magic.
I did actually know about the musical background to the theme, being an amateur string player in an orchestra and possess perfect pitch. The key is D major, solo instrument is the harp. Hely-Hutchinson's premature demise was due to pneumonia, which I had read about on Wikipedia. However, his daredevil stunts were unknown to me!
This absolutely terrified me and a whole generation of kids my age. Looking back on it now, I still feel the same. The sound design within the episodes is chilling, the use of crappy 80’s video effects, glowing eyes and doll faces to the sound of ghostly synths and creepy harp arrangements is the stuff of nightmares. Can’t believe they made this for children.
Loved this when it was on in the 80s. wish I could have it on DVD with Tom's Midnight Garden and the Moondial. Classic children's TV which you don't get anymore.
I couldn't have said it any better Paul....close your eyes, listen and let it take you back to 1984.....Amazing Christmas that year and this just reminds me of the things I loved way back then.
Still sends a shiver down my spine listening to that. Or maybe I just need to turn up the heating. And could you imagine today that the first thing featured on a Children's TV programme would be a picture of a snarling wolf?
This brings back such happy memories. I watched this in 1984 when I was still in junior school and always thought the titles to be wonderfully bewitching. Great series!
I have it on 2 sets of VC (1 2 parts & 1 1 part) and DVD (6Eps). Though I would still would like to see it on BBC. The audio Kay Harker of a more recent version has been on R4X a few times
What a show,and 2nd dr patrick troughton as well,theme tune was mesmerizing to a 5 year old kid living threw the troubles in Ni this was what made xmas amazing in 1984 if my memory servers me right?
Such a creepy christmas theme tune. The visuals help to make it quite nightmarish. No wonder it's so vividly remembered! The music is from Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony. It's on the Naxos label, and you can get it easily on iTunes or on Spotify. The tune's unique sinister effect comes from the inspired blending together of the beautiful Coventry Carol (heard quietly behind the harp at the begining) and the delightful The First Noel. The Coventry Carol is reprised in a much more ove
Loved it, one of the few pieces of drama that haunted me as a kid and still had a sense of wonder about it when I watched it recently. Not unlike Moondial in effect. Well Done Renne Rye
Fantastic! The best thing the BBC has ever made, helped by having a large budget for the time - around £1 million, a top director Rennie Rye and a perfect cast. It's even better once you've drunk several vodkas and got into the Christmas spirit! The wolves are running.
Completely agree with that. I remember when this was first on tv. Really magical. I saw this again on DVD recently. If you watch the first episode there is a scene where two of the bad men we meet on the train are walking up a hill. The camera then cuts away and when it cuts back moments later in the place of two men are two wolves. No clever 'morphing' or fancy special effects. Just the use of the imagination, something that children are being robbed of now.
This music is magical but haunting. The old magic. In (the then present 1930's) surrounded by Cathedrals, Bishops and the Centuries of establishment there clings a glimpse of the past. Still so powerful yet only a handful know of it's existence. The music almost laments the past and the tragedy of what must have happened. The "old order" if you like. The book makes constant references to the Pagans, King Arthur, the Romans, Hun the Hunter, wolves (which haven't been seen on these islands for centuries. All surround the "Christian" festival of Christmas. It's almost like Mansfield is trying to tell us something?
Remember watching this towards the end of '84 when I had was in the lower 6th, and recall it being incredibly hyped by the BBC at every opportunity, something of a rarity at the time - but unfortunately not the case today with tripe such as "strictly", etc!
This was awesome. And I truly feel privileged to have seen and remembered children's tv when it was bloody good to watch. When I look at the crap my wee girl and my nephews watch these days I feel sorry for them. Today's stuff is utter junk
I remember this was one of those quality kids dramas that the beeb used to put on every year in the run up to Christmas. Used to love these programmes and every week it was on it was one week closer to Crimbo.
Sheer brilliance from 1984,a fabulous fantasy,only 10 years old when this was on,and it's been great reading other people's comments who I appreciated it,too.
no theme tune has ever made me feel as nostalgic as I do now! I'm 18 and my dad used to play me this video every christmas when i was a kid. absolutely love it, despite the effects and the questionable acting!
Loved this series as a kid. I remember it being on at Christmas time in 1984. It ran all the way up to Christmas Eve that year and so made it even more magical. Bought the book too the year after this was released as wanted to revisit this classic tale by John Masefield. Now with both video and dvd release years after everyone can enjoy this master piece. Cole Hawlins (the Punch & Judy man) was my favourite character. Loved it when he rode on a horse into a picture.
The Magic that ALL children need to be exposed to... They just don't make magical things like this anymore, that's why it's even more precious. Those who watched this when it first came out on the BBC would have to wait for the next episode.... and that, to me, was even more pleasurable... It allows the imagination to run wild and wonder what is coming next!
I bought the two books for my kids, they sat on the shelf and now my son is 14, he is finally reading the Midnight Folk, and when he finishes I guess he'll read The Box of Delights.
I was 10 when this was first shown and loved it then. Haven't seen it since but we've just got it on DVD and are going to watch it over Christmas. Hopefully it'll be as good as I remember.
Time to get this one out for watch again, reminds me of better days. When kids TV was actually worth watching and didnt treat it's audience like they are dumb as dog shit. Remember The Phoenix and the Carpet? Classic.
I can still feel every memory of this show.
Sitting cuddled up on the couch next to my mum , dark early evening in winter, freezing cold living room waiting on the coal fire to ramp up and heat us.
I'd go back to those days in a heart beat
So would I
@@buffaloalbertz1690 We used to have a coal fire, too. Mum used to use a sheet of newspaper to 'draw' it!
@@lindapirie7021 Me too! Let's go!
@@jamesthecat 😊👌
Every year I watch this, an episode a night leading up to Christmas Eve. Brilliant stuff. Still as good as it was in 1984 when I was 7...
I thought I was the only one who did this!!!! Lol
I was 6 and remember it well.
Ha brilliant
Snap, wish it was 1984 again
Me too.
I've been watching this with my son every year just before Christmas since he was 6.
So it's part of Christmas for us.
Last year we watched it with his daughter, now old enough to enjoy it.
It's hard to believe it'll be 40 years old next year.
Long may it continue to delight both young and old.
For those who're reading this may I wish you a Merry Christmas, and to quote Tiny Tim -
"God bless us, Everyone."
From the days when TV wasnt dumbed down - patrick troughton was superb in this show! even in my late 30`s this tune still gives me the "willies"
The best Christmas show i ever watched as a kid. When i hear the opening theme i travel to my childhood years.
Me too.
And me.....loved it. Im 48 now and still think of this when I hear The First Nowell carol :)
I well remember this when I was fourteen, so early adolescence!
This is the best music and intro for a children's tv show ever. Very dark undertones to the music that gives me goosebumps. I too had a brilliant Christmas that year and this series was the icing on the cake. Makes you miss your childhood and makes you realise time is precious.
It’s no Chocky
I've just had my annual viewing of the dvd and felt very proud of the BBC and everyone involved in the production. It's truly magical and will never be equalled. Sadly the end of an era but somewhere, sometime the Wolves are always Running!
What beautiful opening music, and what a brilliant series. The BBC did some fantastic children's fantasy during the 80's and 90's, they should go back to making those and not be afraid to make them quite dark and scary! Kids are tougher than we give them credit for!
After 40 years I still remember this theme tune. It used to give me chills every week. A familiar, comforting carol - but made so spooky.
Probably the best children's series ever known. Magic.
That would be "The Tripods" 😎
A truly magical series! I first watched it when I was 13 years old. The Box of Delights is always a great start to Christmas. Its true they don't make stuff like this anymore!
Nick, I must be a year older than you as I was 14 when the Box of Delights came out. Good quality Yuletide fare that is now sadly lacking!
Wow! That creepy intro is exactly as I remember it, note-for-note, after more than 20 years
I never thought that song would be creepy.I've always thought it heartwarming.
Is it something to do with the harp, which is the solo instrument at the beginning? I am an amateur string player in an orchestra, so know a bit about music!
Loved this, used to look forward to it, reminds me of christmastime in the 80s. Kids tv is so crap nowadays.
STAMPED - AUTHENTICATED COMMENT BY THIS CARD CARRYING MEMBER OF THE ''THE OLD-FOGEY-MOANING-ABOUT-HOW-BETTER-THINGS-WERE-IN-THEIR-DAY" BRIGADE
+Troll Face
Stamped tested : Name a children's program today that is as good as this. Otherwise stamped as failed.
RebeccaDaphne72 couldn’t agree more;I have the DVD and I religiously watch it every Christmas
Troll Face what a prick you are.
Lee Ludlow art
I am equally very passionate about my early 80s childhood. At 42 years old- I am finishing up early at work ( the 14th of Dec) for xmas. During that time, the kid in me will
Be watching DVDs of Tom Baker Dr Who, Boy From Space and of course Box Of Delights 🙂
I'm 20 so this was first shown 6 years before I was born...my Mum videoed it off the TV with the idea that when she had kids we would watch it together. 26 years on my brother, my parents and I have watched it every single Christmas...love it so much!!!
I love this and watch it each year in the run-up to Christmas. The opening music and credits are just the right combintation of slightly creepy and Christmassy.
About time the BBC reshowed it!!
A remaster would be good.
I remember all the fuss about this series when it came out (I was 8 or 9 years old when this series originally aired in the U.K. in the Winter of 1984). The special effects were superb, but it was a very dark story, full of mystery, confusion and esoteric concepts that frightened or puzzled young children at the time. I don't think it's a series that has lost any of it's grandeur and it still holds up as a first class BBC production of the highest quality (The BBC would later go on to have similar success with "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe").
The theme tune and it's opening sequence was spellbinding and hinted that it was going to be a special programme you were going to see.
In the times of only four TV channels and few people having recordable video players, the series was an "event" - everyone talked about it at School the next day.
Leo-Neferuaten Boyle it hasn’t I watch it every Christmas
We recently spent Christmas in a seaside town, in a cold flat and I decided to revisit my childhood online and I watched this whole series through.
Talk about a trip down memory lane! I was transfixed by both the story and the music when it was broadcast on 'steam' radio in the 50's........I loved this music then as a child and love it now. If you manage to create such lovely music only once in your life then you have never wasted your time on earth.
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I was so young when I first saw this and the opening credits transfixed me. It's like this series got to my soul somehow . I can't explain it but I find it resonates
OH WOW!!! Brings it all back! Why on earth has this not been repeated on the BBC in 30 years???!!! I remember it being fantastic - that opening still sends shivers up my spine. Thanks for posting! :)
They haven't repeated this in how long? Oh, that's just crazy. Such fond memories of this masterpiece. That opening still makes me shiver.
To be honest. With the quality of drama in whatever passes for Children's BBC, nowadays, I highly doubt a lot of kids in this bland and dumbed down modern age, would appreciate this classic children's drama series.
This series was the perfect countdown to Christmas in 1984
Oh this was pure quality! The people in charge at the BBC back then were giants compared to the ones running it now. What excellent, atmospheric programmes they used to put out. Its only when you look back at programmes such as this, The Children of Green Knowe and all the other dramas and comedies that we used to take for granted that you realise what a falling-off there has been.
I loved this show. Watched it with my nine year old (daughter, not Malt) and still loved every minute. The introduction to the last episode on BBC from Christmas Eve 1984 is on UA-cam somewhere and I remember watching the advertised film that night as well! (One of our Dinosaurs is Missing)
Should be shown every Christmas bar none. Intelligent, spooky, brilliantly crafted and has a decent message to it that isn't quite as bludgeoning as CS Lewis...
I've watched this every year at christmas since I can remember, its a family tradition. I'm 23 and still love it to pieces, it's splendiferous! The music especially has a place in my heart forever. Thanks to the BBC for putting it to DVD, my VHS copy was getting a bit worn!
bet those 14 years have gone quick?
Like you wouldn’t believe!😂 Still watching it every year
I'm 21 now and my family still watches it every Christmas
I have watched this at Christmas evry single year of my life...... yet I still want to watch it more
Reminds me so much of Christmas 1984. Happy memories.
Hooray the 30th anniversary of the best kids Xmas programme of all time.
An utterly fantastic series. It really does stand the test of time. The storyline is so good, that the special effects being dates doesn't matter. In fact, I much prefer these to CGI.
Brings me back to my primary school days, when times were simpler. I remember being totally entranced by it when it first came out.
It continues to mesmerise me to this day. I got it on VHS in the '90s, and have had it on DVD for a while.
I have both the abridged and the fully-fledged books, as well as its predecessor The Midnight Folk. A pity that was never on TV.
i was 11 when this came out in 1984 and as a child loved it and now as an adult i watch it every christmas.
I first watched this miniseries in the early 90s. My mother rented it from Blockbuster. I loved but then I lost it for years. It was only a few years back when I was able to buy a DVD version. Great fantasy Christmas adventure story. From the nation that brought us Narnia, Middle Earth, and Harry Potter.
When Christmases where great. This brings back lots of happy memories,
Loved this it reminds me of Xmas and I used to watch it after school in the 80s
Was shown this by my mum as a kid, who'd seen it while expecting me! In my thirties now and the whole family watch it every Christmas. It's true - they don't make kids TV like this any more. Very of its time, in a good way.
I love how the music starts off sounding really creepy but then resolves itself into 'The First Nowell'. Cool!
i watched the series in 84, whilst still at uni, got the vhs box set,, then last txmas got dvd box set. yes i`m still a child at heart...
This really was a brilliant series. Fantastic childrens TV and brilliantly written and directed. It conjures memories of awe and wonder for me, it made my wife 30 scared!
brings back so many wonderful childhood memories,everything seemed to be so much more imaginative back then something that childrens tv lacks so much of today.
man i remember watching this back in the 80's at christmas. loved the program,but have never seen it repeated since.
Same here, never seen it since. There's a few cheap DVD copies though flying about on Ebay.
Ratty scared me as a kid, I loved this series.
the green peter pan saying "im free" is what i see at the end of my bed at night
@@ejohnston2543 Are you sure that you haven't mixed Peter Pan with Mr Humphries of Are You Being Served? It was the latter's famous catchphrase!
Wow there has been nothing like this since it was first screened over 30 years ago!
One of the best opening credits to a childrens drama ever. BOD was groundbreaking in many ways including the use of animation, and was cleverly shot to make for some 'sinister' scenes. watch this on the week running up to christmas, in front of a roaring fire, roasting marshmallows and drinking huge mugs of tea, and wallow in the nostalgia.......top stuff.
what a haunting opening xx its just shiver down your spine and the the christmas theme, excellent
Best Christmas TV theme ever and definitely in the running for creepiest intro.
Creepiest has to be Children of the Stones
Right now I'm 12 but I grew up with all the old tv programs so I think I am quite lucky
The theme is adapted from Victor Hely-Hutchinson's " Carol Symphony" .
Legend has it that he used to take his bicycle onto a ledge at
Alexander Palace and cycle along it. What actually finished him off
was pneumonia, not daredevil stunts. I remember, very much,
enjoying Patrick Troughton in this series and especially of Cole
Hawlings riding off, on a donkey, into a picture of a snowy
mountain pass on a living room wall. Poetry and magic.
I did actually know about the musical background to the theme, being an amateur string player in an orchestra and possess perfect pitch. The key is D major, solo instrument is the harp. Hely-Hutchinson's premature demise was due to pneumonia, which I had read about on Wikipedia. However, his daredevil stunts were unknown to me!
Oh, this goes in the same bag as the adaptation of Children of the Green Knowe fro about the same time…classic stuff, thanks for the reminder.
Ah yes, that and Tom's midnight Garden. Magical times
This absolutely terrified me and a whole generation of kids my age. Looking back on it now, I still feel the same. The sound design within the episodes is chilling, the use of crappy 80’s video effects, glowing eyes and doll faces to the sound of ghostly synths and creepy harp arrangements is the stuff of nightmares. Can’t believe they made this for children.
Loved this when it was on in the 80s. wish I could have it on DVD with Tom's Midnight Garden and the Moondial. Classic children's TV which you don't get anymore.
Me and my dad and my sister watch every christmas, on the weeks leading to christmas eve
Got to agree. It's these type of Christmas dramas that made my Christmas. I now have it on DVD, and it's still good.
i'm 43 now but loved this as a kid who remembers children of the dog star, chocky series and the tripods
I couldn't have said it any better Paul....close your eyes, listen and let it take you back to 1984.....Amazing Christmas that year and this just reminds me of the things I loved way back then.
Still sends a shiver down my spine listening to that. Or maybe I just need to turn up the heating.
And could you imagine today that the first thing featured on a Children's TV programme would be a picture of a snarling wolf?
This brings back such happy memories. I watched this in 1984 when I was still in junior school and always thought the titles to be wonderfully bewitching. Great series!
The Box Of Delights should become a Major Motion Picture.
Oh the memories ☺ I have it on dvd and watch it every christmas
I have it on 2 sets of VC (1 2 parts & 1 1 part) and DVD (6Eps). Though I would still would like to see it on BBC. The audio Kay Harker of a more recent version has been on R4X a few times
Brilliant music, Brilliant story and of course the Brilliant Patrick Troughton! Got this on dvd box set and watch it every Christmas, pure magick!
And I melt a bit inside when "the first noel" creeps into the theme tune. I hope my daughter watches this with her kids one day
After seeing this as a child I cannot think of Christmas without it!
What a show,and 2nd dr patrick troughton as well,theme tune was mesmerizing to a 5 year old kid living threw the troubles in Ni this was what made xmas amazing in 1984 if my memory servers me right?
Such a creepy christmas theme tune. The visuals help to make it quite nightmarish. No wonder it's so vividly remembered!
The music is from Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony. It's on the Naxos label, and you can get it easily on iTunes or on Spotify.
The tune's unique sinister effect comes from the inspired blending together of the beautiful Coventry Carol (heard quietly behind the harp at the begining) and the delightful The First Noel. The Coventry Carol is reprised in a much more ove
Just heard this used on some BBC nature programme. Brings back old memories, and obviously very apt for Christmas.
Loved it, one of the few pieces of drama that haunted me as a kid and still had a sense of wonder about it when I watched it recently. Not unlike Moondial in effect. Well Done Renne Rye
Fantastic! The best thing the BBC has ever made, helped by having a large budget for the time - around £1 million, a top director Rennie Rye and a perfect cast. It's even better once you've drunk several vodkas and got into the Christmas spirit! The wolves are running.
Watch it every year and it is simply the best Christmas tv series ever
Pure TV magic, gives me goosbumps just to watch these titles. Some of the acting in it was superb, Abner Brown!
I came back to this I loved it as a child I still love it so calm and lovely I LOVE IT SO MUCH
Completely agree with that. I remember when this was first on tv. Really magical. I saw this again on DVD recently. If you watch the first episode there is a scene where two of the bad men we meet on the train are walking up a hill. The camera then cuts away and when it cuts back moments later in the place of two men are two wolves. No clever 'morphing' or fancy special effects. Just the use of the imagination, something that children are being robbed of now.
Anyone who grew up during the 80s will remember this.
I loved this as a child.
Fantastic series 👏
This music is magical but haunting. The old magic.
In (the then present 1930's) surrounded by Cathedrals, Bishops and the Centuries of establishment there clings a glimpse of the past. Still so powerful yet only a handful know of it's existence.
The music almost laments the past and the tragedy of what must have happened. The "old order" if you like.
The book makes constant references to the Pagans, King Arthur, the Romans, Hun the Hunter, wolves (which haven't been seen on these islands for centuries.
All surround the "Christian" festival of Christmas.
It's almost like Mansfield is trying to tell us something?
Like the way you put that spot on :)
Beautifully articulate! 🌸✨🌸
First heard it on Childrens Hour decades ago...no tv for ages but watch it on UA-cam each Xmas.
Happy Days, good memories, getting back from school in the winter and watching this only adding to getting more excited about Christmas.
Remember watching this towards the end of '84 when I had was in the lower 6th, and recall it being incredibly hyped by the BBC at every opportunity, something of a rarity at the time - but unfortunately not the case today with tripe such as "strictly", etc!
This was awesome. And I truly feel privileged to have seen and remembered children's tv when it was bloody good to watch. When I look at the crap my wee girl and my nephews watch these days I feel sorry for them. Today's stuff is utter junk
I remember this was one of those quality kids dramas that the beeb used to put on every year in the run up to Christmas. Used to love these programmes and every week it was on it was one week closer to Crimbo.
Sheer brilliance from 1984,a fabulous fantasy,only 10 years old when this was on,and it's been great reading other people's comments who I appreciated it,too.
no theme tune has ever made me feel as nostalgic as I do now! I'm 18 and my dad used to play me this video every christmas when i was a kid. absolutely love it, despite the effects and the questionable acting!
Loved this series as a kid. I remember it being on at Christmas time in 1984. It ran all the way up to Christmas Eve that year and so made it even more magical. Bought the book too the year after this was released as wanted to revisit this classic tale by John Masefield. Now with both video and dvd release years after everyone can enjoy this master piece. Cole Hawlins (the Punch & Judy man) was my favourite character. Loved it when he rode on a horse into a picture.
This reminds me so much of christmas growing up in the 80s... the music is really nostalgic and festive...
When will the BBC ever put this on tv?!
I used to love this show ah great days when tv was just entertaining ❤️
The Magic that ALL children need to be exposed to... They just don't make magical things like this anymore, that's why it's even more precious. Those who watched this when it first came out on the BBC would have to wait for the next episode.... and that, to me, was even more pleasurable... It allows the imagination to run wild and wonder what is coming next!
Bought it on DVD after remembering how good it was - thank you for posting it
this programme made christmas when i was much, much younger - really got me in the mood
I have this on dvd and watch it every christmas 😊
Very, VERY well put. Both visuals and music creeped me the hell out as a child!
Time to get the dvd out👍🏻 love this
I bought the two books for my kids, they sat on the shelf and now my son is 14, he is finally reading the Midnight Folk, and when he finishes I guess he'll read The Box of Delights.
I loved this as a Kid! This beats todays kids programs..
Great to hear the theme again.
This was awsome. My winter was great the year this was on. :-)
I was 10 when this was first shown and loved it then. Haven't seen it since but we've just got it on DVD and are going to watch it over Christmas. Hopefully it'll be as good as I remember.
So surprised this has never been remade or made into a film - mind you it still stands up today on the large part
Should be shown every year.
Time to get this one out for watch again, reminds me of better days. When kids TV was actually worth watching and didnt treat it's audience like they are dumb as dog shit. Remember The Phoenix and the Carpet? Classic.
For me, this music is Christmas. Still makes me feel like Christmas over 30 years since I first heard it.
This was a good series as well. Always remember this theme tune..
When Christmas felt like Christmas and that time year was mysterious and exciting.
I loved this program, so Christmnassy and snowy, thanks for posting it, I may try to find it for my son.
just got this on dvd and my daughter loves it