I agree it would seem unlikely that the series was filmed over a length of time that would allow summer and winter to be filmed! But its so well done that it really is quite genuine looking!
I didn't notice where it was filmed either!! I meant to look and I didn't remember!
Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.
- Rob Houghton
- Posts: 16029
- Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
- Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
- Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
- Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham
Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
Society Member
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
Society Member
- Anita Bensoussane
- Forum Administrator
- Posts: 26890
- Joined: 30 Jan 2005, 23:25
- Favourite book/series: Adventure series, Six Cousins books, Six Bad Boys
- Favourite character: Jack Trent, Fatty and Elizabeth Allen
- Location: UK
Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.
I've finished watching the serial and I agree with all that you say, Courtenay. An extremely satisfying adaptation which captures the wonder and poignancy of the original story. The ending hits exactly the right note - beautiful!Courtenay wrote:It's a beautifully done series [the 1989 adaptation], very faithful to the book.
...I love the theme music for this TV version too, I should add — the wistful, mysterious horn call at the beginning and end, with a charming "country garden" kind of theme (mainly clarinet and flute with harp, if I'm hearing it correctly) in between. I've always felt it fits the story perfectly.
...The boy who plays Tom is a bit annoyingly whiney in some scenes, but you do at least get the impression he's genuinely struggling to comprehend how and why the garden appears every night and how Time itself works, and he's upset that his aunt and uncle are completely baffled by all his strange questions and speculations! (I didn't guess, when I first read the book, what the twist at the end would be, so it was very satisfying to find out — and I love the way the final scene is done in the TV version! )
The snow isn't real but looks pretty convincing on the whole, though a little frothy in some places. The DVD has a "Special Feature" consisting of an interview with the director, Christine Secombe, and she mentions that "video effects" were used for the snow.Rob Houghton wrote:It was also really well filmed - with the garden being seen in spring, summer and winter, and all looked very realistic. Was the snow real snow? It certainly looked real.
Christine Secombe doesn't say much about the locations except that the gardens and the exterior of the house were filmed in East Anglia - and Ely Cathedral was used too, of course. Scenes showing the interior of the house were filmed in the studio.Courtenay wrote:Does it say in the credits where it was filmed, by the way? I've watched it many times, but for some reason I've never picked that up! I'd love to know if it's a real garden somewhere that might be open to the public.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
Society Member
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
Society Member
- jrw
- Posts: 206
- Joined: 24 May 2021, 01:44
- Favourite book/series: Wishing Chair, Faraway Tree
- Favourite character: Loony, Miranda
- Location: England
Re: Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden, etc.
'Tom's Midnight Garden' is amongst my all time favourites, although I've enjoyed all the Philippa Pearce novels that I've read.
'A Dog So Small' is another PP book I would recommend and it features very brief appearances from some of the characters in 'Minnow On The Say'.
'A Dog So Small' is another PP book I would recommend and it features very brief appearances from some of the characters in 'Minnow On The Say'.
"No one is allowed to live here unless they first lose their tempers and then get permission from me to take a house" - Head Man of The Land of Tempers (The Magic Faraway Tree)