The Box of Delights (TV series)
A schoolboy protects a magical box from an evil magician.
The Box of Delights is a BBC Television adaptation of John Masefield's 1935 children's fantasy novel, broadcast on BBC1 between 21 November and 24 December 1984. The series stars Devin Stanfield, Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens, and was adapted by Alan Seymour, directed by Renny Rye and produced by Paul Stone. It is notable for its innovative mixture of live action and animation, extensive use of the Quantel Paintbox and chroma key effects, and for being the most expensive children's series the BBC had made to that date, costing £1 million.
Quick Facts
- Starring
- Devin Stanfield
- Patrick Troughton
- Robert Stephens
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Episodes
- 6
- Director
- Renny Rye
- Producer
- Paul Stone
- Screenplay
- Alan Seymour
- Based on
- The Box of Delights, John Masefield
- Runtime
- 30 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Box of Delights - Opening Titles | |
| 2 | The Time That Likings are Made | |
| 3 | A Warning of Wolves | |
| 4 | A Tosser to my Kick | |
| 5 | The White Rider | |
| 6 | Phoenix in the Fire | |
| 7 | Out of the Cold | |
| 8 | A Mountain in Switzerland | |
| 9 | Last Minute Christmas Shopping | |
| 10 | King Arthur’s Camp | |
| 11 | King Arthur’s Camp (reprise) | |
| 12 | King Arthur’s Camp (continued) | |
| 13 | The Box of Delights | |
| 14 | Towards Dawn | |
| 15 | Scrobblers | |
| 16 | Snowman | |
| 17 | Herne the Hunter | |
| 18 | Go Small | |
| 19 | Go Swift | |
| 20 | That Boy | |
| 21 | In Darkest Cellars Underneath | |
| 22 | Lighting the Tree | |
| 23 | Kitchen Fugue / Here Comes the Posset | |
| 24 | Sweet Dreams | |
| 25 | On the Flood | |
| 26 | Over the Weir | |
| 27 | Return to Seekings | |
| 28 | Maria Scrobbled | |
| 29 | Kay and Peter Fly to the Chester Hills | |
| 30 | Peter Scrobbled | |
| 31 | A Dream | |
| 32 | Kay Returns to Chesters | |
| 33 | The Spider in the Web | |
| 34 | Our Final Plans | |
| 35 | The Key to All the Trouble | |
| 36 | The Boy with No Shadow | |
| 37 | Waterfall Boy | |
| 38 | Under my Hand | |
| 39 | Leave Us Not Little | |
| 40 | Slave of the Night | |
| 41 | Is it Near? | |
| 42 | Know Your Fate | |
| 43 | Nor Yet Dark | |
| 44 | The End of Abner Brown | |
| 45 | To Tatchester | |
| 46 | Christmas Eve | |
| 47 | Home for the Holidays | |
| 48 | The Box of Delights - Closing Titles | |
| 49 | Christmas Day In The Morning (Richard Harvey) | |
| 50 | Carol Symphony: Andante quasi lento e cantabile (Victor Hely-Hutchinson; performed by Pro Arte Orchestra) |
Track listing from the source article.
Plot
Kay Harker, a schoolboy returning from boarding school for Christmas 1934, becomes entangled in a struggle over a magical box. He meets the box's current owner, an old Punch and Judy man named Cole Hawlings, at the railway station. Cole confides that he is being pursued by the magician Abner Brown and his gang, which includes Kay's former governess. The box grants its owner the ability to shrink, shapeshift, fly, travel to the past, and experience magical wonders. Cole, revealed to be the medieval philosopher Ramon Llull, entrusts the box to Kay. Kay then has adventures across time while protecting the box from Abner Brown. His travels bring him into contact with figures from English folklore, history and pagan mythology, including Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, Father Christmas, unicorns, Roman soldiers and medieval monks. The series originally aired in six half-hour episodes in November and December 1984. It was later repeated on BBC1 in December 1986 as three 50-minute episodes.
Production
John Masefield, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 to 1967, also wrote children's books. The Box of Delights, published in 1935, was the sequel to his 1927 book The Midnight Folk. The novel had been adapted for BBC radio several times, including a six-part adaptation produced three times for Children's Hour in 1943, 1948 and 1955, and a radio adaptation for Saturday Night Theatre in 1966, remade in 1977. Producer Paul Stone had long wanted to create what he called 'the ultimate in children's drama' after discovering the novel in the 1970s. It took him ten years to secure the rights and get the production approved, partly because a Hollywood feature film was also planned. Stone considered the delay a blessing, as the story required animation techniques that television could not have realised a few years earlier. Director Renny Rye, from the BBC Children's and Education department, was chosen by Edward Barnes to direct the project. With many effects shots and extensive location filming, the production became the BBC's most expensive children's drama, costing over £1 million.
Soundtrack
The show's theme music, heard at both the start and end of each episode, is an orchestral version of "The First Nowell." This piece comes from the third movement of Victor Hely-Hutchinson's 1927 Carol Symphony. That same movement had already been used for a 1940s radio adaptation on Children's Hour, and it has since become strongly linked to the story. Hely-Hutchinson worked with the BBC for many years, serving as its director of music from 1944 until his death in 1947. The version used in this 1984 series was taken from a 1966 EMI recording, performed by the Pro Arte Orchestra under Barry Rose. Roger Limb of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop created the incidental music, blending orchestral sounds with synthesizers. BBC Records released a single featuring the title music extract, and a full soundtrack album came out in December 2018 on Silva Screen Records.
Reception
The BBC adaptation won three BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society award. It received five BAFTA nominations, including Best Children's Programme, and took home prizes in that category as well as for VTR Editor and Video Lighting. The Royal Television Society recognised Robin Lobb and the BBC Special Effects team for Technique. Its strong performance on PBS in the US prompted the BBC to commission more fantasy series, most notably The Chronicles of Narnia. In 2015, Radio Times observed that the show left a lasting mark on its original viewers, blending a picture-perfect snowy Edwardian setting with genuinely unsettling moments. Author Piers Torday described it as his first "appointment to view" television, praising the effects and performances. Simon Brew, writing for Den of Geek in 2011, noted that while some elements feel dated, the festive mood and story ensure its enduring charm.
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