Has anyone seen the BBC production of 'The Box of Delights'

[Starbuck]

Based on the novel by 'John Masefield?' Who also wrote the prequel 'The Midnight Folk' both starred 'Kay Harker' and 'Abner Brown'. This is the production that the production team behind the BBC 'Chronicles of Narnia' films worked on and it is brilliant! Brilliant acting and a spell binding story very similar to 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' television film so if you like the BBC films this is well worth checking out.

It's also worth noting that this series also stars the second 'Doctor Who' the late 'Patrick Troughton' as the mysterious Punch and Judy man 'Cole Hawlings'.

 

[rosymole]

I remember it! I think it scared me tho. I've just a had a loko at teh BBc site,a nd the 'scary wolves' are very familiar! First shown Christmas 1984..maybe I don't remember it...I was only 3!

 

[Starbuck]

Does anyone remember the BBC production of the 'The Box of Delights?'

I've got the DVD myself, got to get the BBC 'Chronicles of Narnia' DVD's and the Wolf masks were really cool and very itimidating . It would have been awesome if the actor who portrayed 'Fenris Ulf' aka 'Maugrim' wore that.

I mean if you watch the film, it's got a load of stuff you would find in the later BBC productions of the 'Chronicles of Narnia'. Talking, ice skating mice (The mouse that lives under Kay's floorboards) even Pirate Rats! And plain old rat with his nephew Alf, unusually human sized and another very important and related element magic! From the 'Box' itself and the characters, Cole Hawlings, Herne the Hunter, the old woman, Arnold of Todi and the crime boss Abner Brown.

If you watch it it almost feels as if it's a prequel to the 'Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' production that was made in 1988. As the 'Box of Delights' is set in 1934 six years before the start of World War 2 so it is set roughly six years before 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' and it feels like an unofficial part of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' if you only compare the BBC productions.

 

[Starbuck]

Here are some more images that might bring back a few more memories:-

 

[Starbuck]

And some more:-

 

[rosymole]

Excellent stuff..do you remember 5 CHildren and It? It's not as old as Box of delights..but still another classic!

 

[Starbuck]

Excellent stuff..do you remember 5 CHildren and It? It's not as old as Box of delights..but still another classic!

I tried to watch 'IT' but it didn't really interest me. Because to me it didn't have that same feeling of extreme escapism, sense of danger and energy that the television productions of 'The Box of Delights' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia' had. Plus the production seemed a bit meager compared to the older two.