Moondial (TV serial)

Moondial is a BBC children's television serial that originally aired in six parts in 1988, with a repeat broadcast in 1990. The script was adapted by Helen Cresswell from her own 1987 novel. The plot centres on a girl named Minty, played by Siri Neal, who is staying with her aunt for the summer holidays. While exploring the grounds of a nearby mansion, she discovers a moondial that allows her to travel through time. She meets two children from different eras: Tom (Tony Sands), who lives in the Victorian period, and Sarah (Helena Avellano), who appears to belong to a century before that. Minty must rescue them from their unhappy circumstances. Meanwhile, her mother Kate is in a coma after a car accident, and the story implies that Kate’s recovery is linked to Minty’s success in saving Tom and Sarah.

The series is remembered fondly by fans of 1980s BBC children’s drama, noted for its extensive location filming at Belton House in Lincolnshire and its dreamlike, fantastical visuals. It was produced by Paul Stone and directed by Colin Cant. The cast also includes Valerie Lush as Aunt Mary, Arthur Hewlett as the mysterious Mr. World, and Jacqueline Pearce in two roles: the cruel Miss Vole, who seems to have lived in the 18th century, and the modern-day ghost hunter Miss Raven.

A video release in 1990 was followed by a shortened “movie edit” in 1995. A DVD version of that edit came out in 2000 but has long been out of print. The full episodic version was released by Reader’s Digest in 2009, and later reissued on DVD by Second Sight in May 2015.