Box of Delights - John Masefield

[burlingtonbertram]

Yes - it's great to see an old thread revived when someone has got something meaty to add to the discussion!

I've just read "Puck of Pook's Hill" by Rudyard Kipling (1906) and for anyone who likes Masefield/Cooper/Sutcliff it is a bit of a must.

Puck of Pook's Hill is a book I've been meaning to seek out for years. I believe it influenced E. Nesbit and C. S. Lewis as well.

Yes, that wouldn't surprise me at all although it hadn't occurred to me.

Has anyone read "Windsor Castle" by William Harrison Ainsworth (1842)? I have swerved it so far because I have had his "Old St Pauls" and "Rookwood" and aren't really a fan. He is a little too fanciful without being particularly interesting. I understand that he has Herne the Hunter as a character in the novel 'Windsor Castle". Does it have any resemblance to the portrayals of Herne in Box of D. or The Dark is Rising?

I love the 80's BBC production of BOD. I got a copy on DVD a couple of years back and it is essential Christmas viewing. As others have said, the special effects are rather dated but the big set-pieces (the train journey, the party at the episcopal palace, the toy-boat trip, Abner Brown's study, the flooded cellars and the Cathedral midnight mass are all charming and/or wonderfully done). Sir Robert Stephens as the villainous, fake Clergyman Abner Brown is a tour-de-force in pantomime wickedness.

[burlingtonbertram]

A couple of weeks back I bought a copy of "The Midnight Folk" by Masefield. It is the book prior to The Box Of Delights. What a disappointment; just a string of fairytale nonsense with no sort of internal reality to it at all.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I too only discovered The Midnight Folk as an adult and I found it so lacklustre and aimless that I didn't even get to the end of the book. It had none of the depth and poetry of The Box of Delights.

By the way, I said earlier in this thread that The Box of Delights was bewitching but somewhat confusing. Well, a few months ago I watched the 1984 TV serial again and didn't find it at all confusing. It's possible that I'd missed an episode when I viewed it before, but we've now got it on DVD. An excellent production, truly magical - though I have to mentally dismiss the final minute or two!

[walter raleigh]

I love both the book and the 1980's TV series of 'Box Of Delights'. Magical, timeless reading (and viewing!), perfect for this time of year. The BBC are showing a number of old Sci-Fi and Fantasy classics in conjunction with the BFI's 'Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder' season (The 1981 version of John Wyndham's 'Day Of The Triffids' is running at the moment). It would be nice if they repeated "Box Of Delights' too.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I bought the DVD of the 1981 serial of The Day of the Triffids a few years ago and was pleased to find it just as tense and gripping as I remembered from childhood.

[John Pickup]

The Day Of The Triffids is one of my favourite books and I also bought the 1981 dvd set some time ago. I've been watching it again on BBC4 on Sunday evenings. It's probably the only adaptation that is true to the book.

[burlingtonbertram]

I've seen Box of Delights on DVD three times this year already; must be due another outing. The whole series seems to be on You Tube albeit in bite sized chunks of ten minutes apiece.

Day of the Triffids on BBC4 has been excellent; nearly as good as the original version of Survivors. I remember watching Triffids when it first came out (I must have been about 11) and it was terrifying. TV in the 70's and early 80's really did dystopian drama well (remember Noah's Castle, Quatermass "Ringstone Round", Tripods too?)

[Anita Bensoussane]

I remember Noah's Castle and The Tripods but not Survivors or Quatermass. I also remember The Changes (which I now have on DVD - it's excellent), Sky and Children of the Stones.

[John Pickup]

Yes, Survivors was another great series. There was a similar series on TV about two years ago but I prefer the earlier version.

[Billy Farmer]

The Box of Delights, is definitely one of my all time favourite children's Drama serials (definitely in my top five), The Box of Delights, had a great cast - Devin Stanfield (Kay Harker), Patrick Troughton (Cole Hawlings), Robert Stephens (Abner Brown), Patricia Quinn (Sylvia Daisy Pouncer) and Inspector (James Grout), Devin Stanfield, was excellent in the role of Kay Harker, a shame he didn't pursue an acting career, I really liked the locations, in The Box of Delights, and the special effects (of which there were many), I have also enjoyed listening to the Radio version of The Box of Delights, which featured Donald Sinden, in the role of Abner Brown.

Here is the link to a very interesting site - https://theboxofdelightsarchives.wordpr ... locations/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; where you can see many of the locations, which featured in The Box of Delights.

The character of Herne the Hunter, who appeared in The Box of Delights, has also appeared in many other Books and TV series - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herne_the_Hunter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks very much for the locations link, Billy. It's fascinating to see where various scenes were filmed.

[Rob Houghton]

80's really did dystopian drama well (remember Noah's Castle, Quatermass "Ringstone Round", Tripods too?)

I remember Quatermass - with John Mills - the last one made, I think - which is maybe the one you are referring to. I have it on DVD because as a child it left a lasting impression on me. I could only remember one scene from it - probably I never actually watched it, as I was too young at the time...but I recalled a scene at Stonehenge with a little girl who I thought as a child had been transported from the past. This scene stayed in my mind for years, until finally I bought the DVD in about 2006. I think 'Ringstone Round' comes from that series.

[Domino]

You're right, Rob. 'Quatermass' was a four part serial, rather than a series, and 'Ringstone Round' was the title of the first episode. I'm old enough to have watched the first three serials on BBC: 'The Quatermass Experiment', 'Quatermass II' and 'Quatermass and the Pit'. They were all produced by Rudoph Cartier, an Austrian who worked for the BBC, and were ground-breaking. I have the DVD of those, but sadly only the first two episodes of the first serial are still in existence.
The ITV serial was generally regarded as a bit disappointing, but it was still watchable. It would also seem to be a little bit similar in pkaces to 'Logan's Run', espacially with regard to 'Carousel'.

Dave

[Rob Houghton]

About the same time that I bought Quatermass with John Mills, I also bought a DVD of Children of the Stones. In my mind, I'd mixed them up slightly, and thought 'Ringstone Round' was from Children of the Stones. I know I only watched a few minutes of Quatermass (I was aged 8 and probably was usually in bed by the time it was on!) but I did watch Children of the Stones...which is odd, because when it came out I was only 6...so I presume they repeated it when I was a little older.

[Daisy]

When it was first shown it would have been in the children's slot on TV - between 5 and 6 pm, so not too late for you to see it Rob. I remember watching it with my children.