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| Kay Harker, played by Devin Stanfield |
One of my favourite children's TV serials was first broadcast in November 1984 in 6 weekly parts. If you haven't read the book or seen the DVD, well, do both. It is completely enchanting and timeless.
The story centres about a boy called Kay, and a box that comes into his possession from a Punch & Judy man called Cole Hawlings. Cole gives the box to Kay for safekeeping, as there is a criminal gang after it headed by a nasty character called Abner Brown, who has a few magical powers up his sleeve. Why do they want the box? Possession of it could reveal the secret of immortality. Also there is a button on the box; turn it one way and it will send you fast, turn it the other way to go small. Kay and his cousins have many adventures with the box, the actors in this series are great and it is really Christmassy, the theme tune contains a few bars of Noel. It might seem a bit old fashioned now, but I love the way it used animation and live acting together. In Christmas 1984 I got the book by John Masefield and I still read the same copy around this time of year.
In 1984 it had a plug on Blue Peter, thanks to Youtube for this clip
There is even a fan's blog here which has tons of stuff about the Box of Delights, have a look here: http://theboxofdelight.blogspot.com/
