Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by floragord »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I'm glad you're enjoying Tom's Midnight Garden, Floragord. I'd heard that a real-life location had inspired the house in the book but I'd never looked into it. I've just Googled Kings Mill House and it's great to see it. What a beautiful building and grounds, though it looks extremely modern on the inside:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 09194.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hugely enjoying it, Anita!, your earlier comments on the book were a great recommendation! I find it most beautifully written and with a touch of nostalgia that adds to the charm, reading slowly to make it last! So many lovely old houses have been "converted" to conference centres and hotels, or into flats and had their extensive gardens built over its nice to see a complete original even with modernised interior decor!
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

How fascinating - thanks for sharing, Anita! I agree, the modern interiors don't exactly fit one's visions of the story (although they are nice in their own way) - and the swimming pool would have been a bit out of place even in Tom's day, let alone Hatty's - but a few of the garden photos do look just like you could find the two children exploring there.

As an added little surprise for me personally - Great Shelford is the village after which my old high school in Melbourne, Shelford Anglican Girls' School, was named! :D (I've no idea what the connection was; we were just told it was named after a village in Cambridgeshire, which didn't mean much to me back then.)
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

Just thought I'd revive this thread, as I've picked up my copy of Tom's Midnight Garden at my parents' home and am re-reading it. I have a 1978 paperback with all the original illustrations by Susan Einzig, which add nicely to the story. (I also always have something of the 1989 TV version in my mind's eye, as it follows the book closely and is very well done. Not sure if I can squeeze in a re-watch of it (on taped-off-the-telly VHS) before I have to leave tomorrow, though!)

It's quite some years since I last read this book, and even in just the first few chapters, I can't help noticing how beautifully written it is. Philippa Pearce is another author who can evoke a wealth of images and feelings in relatively few words. I'm also noticing some of the little hints along the way of things that will only later become clear to Tom and to the first-time reader! :wink:

I've just been revelling in this wonderful description of Tom's thoughts on discovering the garden (believing at first that his aunt and uncle have untruthfully kept him from knowing about it):
He would run full tilt over the grass, leaping the flower-beds; he would peer through the glittering panes of the greenhouse - perhaps open the door and go in; he would visit each alcove and archway clipped in the yew-trees; he would climb the trees and make his way from one to another through thickly interlacing branches. When they came calling him, he would hide, silent and safe as a bird, among this richness of leaf and bough and tree-trunk.
I can picture it more vividly than ever now that I've lived in England and seen gardens like this for real! :D

PS. Turned out I couldn't watch the video... our video player (admittedly 27 years old) has recently given up the ghost. :roll: And as discussed earlier in the thread, this particular version is notoriously hard to find - and extremely expensive - on DVD.
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by walter raleigh »

Surprisingly it's not on youtube either. They only seem to have the 1974 version and the 1999 one.
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

I know - it's as if the 1989 series never existed, and yet it's the one that most reviewers and fans seem to agree was easily the best TV/film version! :? Well, I shall just continue to keep an eye out for it and hope I one day find an affordable copy, or that it eventually does get re-released.
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Fiona1986 »

There are places that will turn a video into a dvd for you. They're not supposed to do anything under copyright but plenty of them do.
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by walter raleigh »

Would this be it Courtenay?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-Archives- ... 1e9890d398" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

Ooh yes, that's it. I looked for it on eBay the other day and couldn't find any copies. The same double DVD set is going for between 50 and 70 quid on Amazon!!

Thanks for that, Walter - I'm going to bid on this one and see how it goes.

Fiona, I know my parents know someone with the equipment to transfer videos to DVDs, as they've been having some of their favourites done since the old video player broke down. But if I can get the legitimately-made DVD at a good price, I'll go for that first. My own video of the series was taped off the TV and wasn't the world's best quality - I know we missed the opening titles and the first minute or so of the first episode.

I did find a couple of websites selling DVDs of this version for far less than on Amazon, but as they weren't the Readers Digest box set - the only official DVD release - I suspect they weren't obtained by legal means!!
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Fiona1986 »

Good luck! I loved the Demon Headmaster series when it was on.
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

Fiona1986 wrote:I loved the Demon Headmaster series when it was on.
Don't remember that one - maybe they didn't show it in Australia. It sounds pretty creepy!
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

Hmpf - I bid a maximum of £25.00 on the DVD set, and checked it only a few hours ago, at which time I was still the highest and there were apparently no other bids. Just came back after my work shift to find someone had pipped me for £26.00. They must have been secretly watching and waiting till the last minute. :evil: Oh well, I'll get it eventually somehow...
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

That's a shame, Courtenay. Hope you have better luck another time!
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by walter raleigh »

Bad luck Courtenay! You probably did the right thing though, by bidding your maximum and sticking to it. It's all too easy to get caught up in a bidding war and end up paying far more than you would like to. :oops:

Still, though £26.00! :shock:
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by Courtenay »

Well, at the time I last checked it, there had been no other bids higher than mine, and in fact the price still stood at £3.80, where it had been since I made my bid. (As you probably know, setting a maximum bid on eBay doesn't mean that you will pay that price, but that the site will automatically trump any lower bids than that on your behalf, up to the maximum you set.)

The last time I checked was only a few hours before the bidding was due to end, and that's still where it was. So I can only conclude that someone else was secretly keeping an eye on it and waiting till almost the last minute to bid as high as was needed to outdo mine. :roll: (I couldn't have watched it in the last few hours, as I was on shift at work.)

I agree, £25 or £26 would have been a lot for two DVDs, but not nearly as high as the same set is going for on Amazon - the cheapest I've seen is £49.99 used!! :shock: I'm baffled as to why this version of Tom's Midnight Garden has never been released on DVD other than that one time, when it's obviously well remembered and much loved by many. I haven't seen either of the other versions, but I've seen more than one review concluding they're not worth it compared to the 1989 series.

Here's a little site that some avid fan has dedicated to the 1989 version, retelling the story with screen shots from the series: http://www.thechestnut.com/midnight.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I just enjoyed downloading and listening to the theme tune, which has always been one of my favourites and frequently gets stuck in my head to this day (especially when exploring real gardens in England)! :D
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Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.

Post by pete9012S »

Yes,I agree. A lovely theme tune Courtenay.It reminded me of Delius meeting Mahler.A very pleasant,wistful and poignant piece.
They don't write them like that anymore..
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