The Owl Service (TV series)
A landmark children's drama filmed on location in Wales.
The fantasy novel by Alan Garner was adapted into an eight-episode television series, also titled The Owl Service. Granada Television produced it in 1969, and it aired that winter. This production was notably daring for its time: it was Granada’s first fully scripted colour programme, and almost all filming took place on location, a rarity when most TV drama was shot in a studio. Director and producer Peter Plummer, along with Garner (who wrote the seven scripts later expanded to eight), used jump cuts to disorient viewers and imply two time periods were overlapping.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Fantasy, Legend
- Writer
- Alan Garner
- Director
- Peter Plummer
- Starring
- Gillian Hills
- Michael Holden
- Francis Wallis
- Edwin Richfield
- Dorothy Edwards
- Raymond Llewellyn
- Theme music
- Opening: Pierre Arvay (played by Lily Laskine); Closing: Trad (played by Jean Bell)
- Opening theme
- "The Fountain of Merlin"
- End theme
- "Tôn Alarch"
- Country
- United Kingdom
Facts from the source article.
Production
The production aimed to film at the novel's actual locations, but Bryn Hall was not available, so Poulton Hall near Liverpool stood in for both its interior and exterior scenes. The rest of the location work was done around Dinas Mawddwy in Merionethshire, Wales. Although the book's valley and village are based on Llanymawddwy near Bryn Hall, the larger Dinas Mawddwy was chosen because its facilities allowed filming without closing roads. Location shooting ran from 11 April to 20 June. Alan Garner noted that the schedule fell behind due to problems with some of the young lead actors. With just two days left in Wales, the Granada crew took over and finished on time by cutting certain scenes, such as a taxi arriving to take Nancy out of the valley, and altering others, like having the children chop down a telephone pole instead of it falling during a storm. A few studio scenes were completed by 3 July 1969. Trailers were also shot, using footage that did not appear in the final series. The Stone of Gronw was carved by local mason Edward Rowlands based on designer Peter Caldwell's instructions: an upright slab or slate piece, roughly five feet above ground and two feet below, with a four-inch rough hole a foot from the top and an etched circular pattern two feet from the top, meant to look like a weathered ancient monument. After filming, the stone was left by the River Dovey below Bryn Hall, but Rowlands added his name to avoid confusion with a real relic. The opening theme was "The Fountain of Merlin," a library piece by Pierre Arvay performed by Lily Laskine. The closing music was the traditional folk tune "Tôn Alarch" played on harp by Jean Bell, with incidental music drawn from stock sources. The title sequence showed a hand shadow of an owl in flight, valley photographs, a flickering candle, and sound effects.
Cast
Michael Holden portrayed Gwyn, Francis Wallis took on Roger, and Gillian Hills played Alison. While the novel set these characters at fifteen, the television adaptation never specifies their ages, though they are generally understood to be around seventeen. Hills and Wallis were both in their early twenties during filming, while Holden was nineteen. The adult roles of Clive, Nancy, and Huw went to Edwin Richfield, Dorothy Edwards, and Raymond Llewellyn, all well-known character actors. Margaret, a character who appears frequently but is never seen, was not cast. The writer, Alan Garner, appeared as a villager, and the producer, Christopher Plummer, was visible only in a photograph as the deceased Bertram. Several cast members later spoke about the serial’s lasting impact. Holden remarked that it felt as though “we were personally living the whole thing,” and Hills described the experience as “all so real, it was frightening.” In 2008, Llewellyn admitted that the role of Huw has haunted him ever since.
Broadcast and reception
Before the first episode aired, a test screening led Granada to worry that viewers might struggle to follow the plot, so each episode was given a recap segment at the start to catch everyone up. When it originally aired, a technicians' strike forced the series to be shown in black and white. Critics at the time generally praised the production, though some worried it was too intense for children. The Observer called it "far more than an ordinary children's story," noting "the adult passions working themselves out in the three adolescents." In 1970, ITV put the series forward for the Prix Jeunesse, a top award for children's programming, but it didn't win. Plummer later said the jury in Munich found it "deeply disturbing" and questioned whether it was wrong to offer such material to young people. This made the series tough to sell abroad. However, in the 1980s, several countries like Spain and Ireland did buy it and aired it for the first time, though with some edits. Those cuts included removing Gwyn's line "Dirty-minded bitch" and Alison's scream in the final episode, but the most controversial scene—a struggle between Gwyn and Alison in episode three that looks like a simulated rape—was left untouched. Years later, reviewer Kim Newman remarked that it's "unthinkable" that something so "complex, ambiguous, difficult and strange" could air in a prime-time children's slot on British TV today, let alone on ITV1. He compared the series to the work of experimental directors like Alain Resnais and Chris Marker, calling it a "classic." Today, many regard The Owl Service as a landmark in children's drama, praised for its daring and its lasting impact.
More in British Children's Fantasy Television Series
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced