''The Box of Delights'' is a

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

adaptation of

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...

's 1935 children's fantasy novel '' The Box of Delights'' starring Devin Stanfield,

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

and

Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was an English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. Early life Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard ...

. It was broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

between 21 November and 24 December 1984. The series was adapted from Masefield's novel by Alan Seymour, directed by Renny Rye and produced by Paul Stone. The series is a fantasy adventure about a schoolboy who is entrusted with a magical box which allows him to time travel and shapeshift to protect the box from an evil magician. An innovative mixture of live action and animation, the production made extensive use of the

Quantel Paintbox The Quantel Paintbox was a dedicated computer graphics workstation for composition of broadcast television video and graphics. Produced by the British production equipment manufacturer Quantel (which, via a series of mergers, is now part of ...

and

chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...

effects. The series cost £1 million to make in 1984 (£ in ), the most expensive children's series the BBC had made to that date, but it was widely acclaimed and won a number of BAFTA and RTS awards, in particular for its special effects.

Plot

Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield) is returning from

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for Christmas 1934 when he finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box. The current owner of the box is an old

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Mr Punch and one other ...

man called Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton) whom Kay meets at the railway station. They develop an instant rapport, which leads Cole to confide that he is being chased by a magician called Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) and his gang, which includes Kay's former governess. The box allows the owner to shrink in size, to shapeshift, to fly, to travel to the past and to experience various magical wonders and creatures, and thus is sought for evil purposes by Abner. Cole (who turns out to be the medieval philosopher and alleged magician

Ramon Llull Ramon Llull (; ; – 1316), sometimes anglicized as ''Raymond Lully'', was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art ...

) entrusts the box to Kay. The schoolboy then goes on to have many adventures across time as he protects the box from Abner Brown. During his travels, Kay encounters many characters drawn from

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...

, history and pagan mythology including

Herne the Hunter In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. He is said to have antlers growing from his head, ride a horse, torment cattle, and rattle chains. The earliest ...

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

Roman soldiers This is a list of Roman army units and bureaucrats. *'' Accensus'' – Light infantry men in the armies of the early Roman Republic, made up of the poorest men of the army. *''Actuarius'' – A soldier charged with distributing pay and provisions ...

and medieval monks.

Episodes

The series was first shown in six half-hour episodes in November and December 1984.

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

released the serial on VHS in the 1980s and 1990s and on DVD in 2004. One of the special features the 2004 DVD included was an interview between Rye and Stanfield as part of the 20th anniversary; this was filmed at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

. The series was released on DVD and Blu ray on 25 November 2024. It contains the same special features as the 2004 DVD release and a new documentary: ''Time And Tide – Making The Box of Delights''. The series was broadcast on BBC Four in December 2024 as part of its 40th anniversary. A nine minute documentary, ''Renny Rye Remembers... The Box of Delights'' was broadcast on BBC Four on 7 December 2024. During December 1986 the series was repeated on BBC1 as three 50-minute episodes:

Cast

*Kay Harker: Devin Stanfield *Abner Brown:

*Cole Hawlings:

*Foxy Faced Charles: Geoffrey Larder *Chubby Joe: Jonathan Stephens *Sylvia Daisy Pouncer:

Patricia Quinn Patricia Quinn, Lady Stephens (born 28 May 1944) is a Northern Irish actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Magenta in the 1975 musical comedy horror film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show,'' and the original stage play from wh ...

*Inspector: James Grout *Bishop of Tatchester: John Horsley *Caroline Louisa: Carol Frazer *Jemima: Heidi Burton *Maria: Joanna Dukes *Susan: Flora Page *Peter: Crispin Mair *

: Glyn Baker *The Old Lady: Anne Dyson *Ellen: Helen Fraser *Chief Constable: Charles Pemberton *Rat: Bill Wallis *Pirate Rat:

Nick Berry Nicholas Berry (born 16 April 1963) is a retired English actor and pop singer. He is best known for his roles as Simon Wicks in ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 1990, and as Constable, PC Nick Rowan in ''Heartbeat (British TV series), Heartbeat'' f ...

*The Waterfall Boy: Jason Kemp *The Bronze Head: Nicholas Chagrin *Arnold of Todi:

Philip Locke Roy James "Philip" Locke (29 March 192819 April 2004) was an English actor who had roles in film and television. He is perhaps best known for his part in the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' as Largo's personal assistant and chief henchman, Var ...

*Greek Captain: Bruce White *Greek Soldier:

Julian Sands Julian Richard Morley Sands (4 January 1958 – ) was an English actor. He had his breakout role as George Emerson in '' A Room with a View'' (1985) and went on to appear in '' The Killing Fields'' (1984), '' Gothic'' (1986), '' Siesta'' (1987), ...

*Greek Soldier: Angus Kennedy *Mouse: Simon Barry

Production

Development

was the

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British poet laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation ...

between 1930 and his death in 1967, but alongside his poetry he also wrote books for children. ''The Box of Delights: or When the Wolves Were Running'', published in 1935, was the sequel to his 1927 book '' The Midnight Folk''. Masefield's novel had been adapted by the BBC for radio several times; a six-part adaptation, with a script by Robert Holland and John Keir Cross, was produced three times as part of its ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

'' with different casts in 1943, 1948 and 1955. A new radio adaptation by John Keir Cross had been produced for ''

Saturday Night Theatre __NOTOC__ ''Saturday Night Theatre'' was a long-running radio drama strand on the BBC Home Service and its successor, BBC Radio 4. Launched in April 1943 the strand showcased feature-length, middlebrow single plays on Saturday evenings for mor ...

'' in 1966, then remade with a new cast in 1977. Producer Paul Stone had a longstanding ambition to create "the ultimate in children's drama" after discovering Masefield's 1935 novel ''The Box of Delights'' in the 1970s. Stone told ''

Books for Keeps ''Books for Keeps'' is a British online magazine covering children's books. It took Stone ten years to obtain the rights and to get the green light on the production. There had been plans to make a Hollywood feature film of the book, so the rights had to be re-negotiated with the Masefield Trust, who administered the author's estate. Stone said in an interview with the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' that this delay was "a blessing" since the story "call dfor feats of animation which television simply couldn't realise five, perhaps even two or three years ago." Director Renny Rye was at that time on staff in the BBC Children's department at Television Centre, but had previous experience from the drama department, so was chosen by Edward Barnes to direct what would be one of their most ambitious children's dramas to date. With a large number of effects shots, coupled with extensive location filming, the production was the most expensive children's drama the BBC had yet created, costing more than £1 million in 1984.

Casting

To play Kay Harker, the main child protagonist, two hundred children were auditioned. Director Renny Rye recalls: "My purist notion was that children's imagination was so great they could do it better if they hadn't been tutored. So I went round lots of schools and saw children from many, many schools." Devin Stanfield was chosen on account of having "a good face without seeming too modern or too handsome...the demands of filming called for someone with a great deal of stamina

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

a ready imagination, especially as he'd be called upon to react to invisible delights that would only afterwards be electronically added to the film." Stanfield was the grandson of the actor Leslie Sands and had previously had a few small parts in television programmes. The kindly

man Cole Hawlings was played by Patrick Troughton, famous for his portrayal of the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' between 1966 and 1969. Renny Rye said that Troughton "was my favourite Doctor Who... ehad a quality that is unsurpassed, I think, as someone to pull you into a tale." A ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' feature at the time connected Cole Hawlings to the actor's earlier role, observing that Troughton was once again playing a mysterious, scruffy

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

ler.

was cast to play the sinister antagonist Abner Brown. He recalled hearing the 1948 BBC Radio production on ''

'' when he was seventeen and was so thrilled to be asked to appear in the television version he replied "Of course - for nothing!" At the time, he was portraying one of the ugly sisters in a panto when Rye discussed the role with him. Stephens said that he enjoyed the novel's depiction of the "magician and gangster" Abner dressing as a clergyman, since it upset the expectations of the audience. In a review for '' Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'', Rhys Thomas said that Stephens "put so much into it...he doesn't camp it up and make it funny, he's just really frightening." Stephens’ partner and future wife,

, best known for ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

'', was cast as Brown's own partner in crime, Sylvia Daisy Pouncer. Herne the Hunter was portrayed by Glyn Baker who previously played an imperial officer, Lieutenant Endicott in ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

''. He is the son of the actor and film producer

Stanley Baker Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...

was cast as one of the Greek soldiers. According to Rye, Sands "also loved the story and wanted to be involved."

Filming

Railway station scenes were filmed at and on the steam heritage

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a standard gauge, standard-gauge heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The single-track line runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, calling at four intermediate stations and three request stop ...

;

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town grew following the construction of Tewkesbury Abbey in the twelfth century and played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses. It stands at ...

became the fictional Tatchester; the bishop's children's party was recorded at Kinlet Hall, Shropshire (the location of Moffats Independent School, whose pupils and staff served as extras); the interior of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

and its choir were featured extensively in the final episode (although the exterior of "Tatchester Cathedral" was

Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury, commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey, is located in the town of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Conside ...

). Exterior shots of Abner Brown's theological college were filmed at

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820 ...

, near

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

, Herefordshire. The snowy mountainous landscape of King Arthur's castle was filmed at the

Peel of Lumphanan The Peel of Lumphanan, also known as the Peel Ring or Peel Bog of Lumphanan, is a defensive structure dating back to the 13th century. It is located near Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. The peel comprises a mound or motte, surro ...

Lumphanan Lumphanan ( ; ) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland located from Aberdeen and from Banchory. History Lumphanan is documented to be the site of the Battle of Lumphanan of 1057 AD, where Malcolm III of Scotland defeated Macbeth of Sco ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

. During filming, the crew were almost snowed in by 12-foot blizzards. Renny Rye recalls: "We could hardly use any of the locations I'd recced because we couldn't get out of the hotel. Nearly all the locations were unreachable because the snow was so thick (which is why it looks quite magical in the film), so virtually all of it was shot in the hotel gardens."

Visual effects

The production featured an ambitious number of visual effects for its day, particularly the combining of real actors and hand-drawn animation in the

scenes. These effects were supervised by Tony Harding (visual effects designer) and Robin Lobb (video effects). Paul Stone told the ''Radio Times'' that the programme featured "new sophistications of colour separation overlay, of the electronic 'paintbox' and the Quantel technologies." The latter allowed the shrinking of the actor to one-twentieth of the original image size, allowing Kay to shrink to a toy boat or Cole to disappear into a painting. Colour Separation Overlay (the BBC's term for chroma keying) had been in use at the Corporation since the 1970s, but had not been used to the extent of ''The Box of Delights''. Unlike the more common green screen used for digital effects, CSO used blue as the primary keying colour. When production began, Rye recalls that this process could only be created live in a studio, so the composite background and foreground images had to be fed through a desk. The Visual Effects team designed a system which took a black and white key of the foreground subject at the same time, meaning that images taken some time apart could be combined in post-production. Rye recalls "This was the biggest leap forward technically at the time. It meant that a lot of the things I couldn't work out how to do I could suddenly do. The post-production process took six months, aided by the BBC developing a new effects studio at Television Centre. The staff were able to use the programme as a test bed for new technology. For example, the

Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

Digital Optics (ADO) machine was purchased for the studio shortly after post-production work began meaning that they would zoom composite video sources during flying sequences. Rye recalls for one effects shot in episode 2 "we had to link up eleven separate inputs into this video studio. Seven or eight of them were video machines, which were downstairs. We were taking machines away from ''Match of the Day'' highlights and ''Top of the Pops'', which were being made at the same time, to feed images in to create one image."

Soundtrack

The opening and closing title music features an orchestral arrangement of "

The First Nowell "The First Nowell" (or Nowel), modernised as "The First Noel" (or Noël), is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.. It is listed as number 682 in the Ro ...

" extracted from the third movement of the ''

Carol Symphony ''Carol Symphony'' is a collection of four preludes, written by Victor Hely-Hutchinson in 1927. It is based on five Christmas carols, given additional orchestration and counterpoint arrangements. The four movements are written to be played uninte ...

'' (Andante quasi lento e contabile) by

Victor Hely-Hutchinson Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson (26 December 1901 – 11 March 1947) was a British composer, conductor, pianist and music administrator. He is best known for the ''Carol Symphony'' and for humorous song-settings.Hurd, Michael'Hely ...

. The movement had previously been used for the 1940s ''

'' radio adaptation and has become synonymous with the story. Hely-Hutchinson wrote his ''Carol Symphony'' in 1927, and had a long association with the BBC, eventually becoming its Director of Music in 1944 until his death aged 45 during the harsh winter of 1947 when he caught pneumonia as a result of refusing to turn on the heating in his office. Jon Jacob notes describes the work's suitability for the titles: "It's not immediately obvious what we're listening to at the beginning...one steady note in the strings hangs in the air; a harp creates an eerie music-box effect. A counter-melody joins soon after. A vague sense of menace threatens to overpower...The unsettling feeling doesn't last for long: it's resolved with the quietest of bassoons playing one suspended note transforming the moment into a quiet triumph and, the introduction of a familiar carol – The First Noel." The recording used in the 1984 adaption was from a 1966 EMI recording (LP catalogue No. ESD 7021) featuring the Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by Barry Rose. Incidental music is by

Roger Limb Roger James Limb is a British composer, specialising in electronic music. He was born in 1941 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He is best known for his work on the television series ''Doctor Who'' whilst at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. ...

of the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

using a combination of orchestral and synthesised instruments. Tom Urges notes that Limb's incidental music "adds to the heady mix of ancient and modern, of reality and fantasy, and builds on the atmosphere we are prepared for as viewers by one of the best choices of theme music in the history of British TV." An extract featuring the "First Nowell" title segment was released as a single by

BBC Records BBC Records was a division of the BBC founded in 1967 to commercially exploit the corporation's output for radio and television for both educational and domestic use. The division was known as BBC Radio Enterprises (1967–1970), BBC Records (1 ...

. A soundtrack album was released in December 2018 by Silva Screen Records (SILCD1547). ;Track listing

Reception

The BBC TV production of ''The Box of Delights'' won three British Academy of Film & Television Arts awards (BAFTAs) and a Royal Television Society award: The serial was nominated for five BAFTAs - for best Children's Programme, Video Cameraman, Graphics, Video Lighting and VTR Editor; and won three - for best Children's Programme, VTR Editor and Video Lighting. The Royal Television Society award was won for Technique, for Robin Lobb and the BBC Special Effects team. In the mid-1980s the BBC made concerted efforts into making productions for international sale, and the success of ''The Box of Delights'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in the U.S. led to commissioning of further fantasy series, in particular ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

'' (1988–90). In 2015, ''Radio Times'' magazine reported that amongst its audience:

''The Box of Delights'' made a big impression on those who saw it when it originally aired more than three decades ago on BBC1. Mainly because it somehow managed to be the image of snowy Edwardian chocolate-box perfection, and pretty bloody creepy at the same time...The incidental music and special effects — while nostalgic for those who revere, say, Peter Davison-era ''Doctor Who'' — do seem dated to 21st-century kids dazzled by CGI. But the whole thing is carried off with such innovative spirit and charm that it really doesn't matter."

The children's author Piers Torday noted that the series was his first experience of "appointment to view" television, stating "The early special effects in the style of ''Doctor Who'' were as stardust to my young eyes...It wasn't only the state-of-the-art animation and the compelling performances that captured my imagination, but also the magic of the story." Simon Brew, reviewing the series for ''Den of Geek!'' in 2011 was of the opinion that although dated in some respects, the festive atmosphere and story contribute to its continued appeal:

Inevitably, under greater scrutiny, it's not hard to see the Sellotape holding it all together in places. There's also a lull in the middle of the story that's hard to ignore, and cliffhangers that are barely worthy of the name. But there's also a strong drama, with surprisingly broad appeal here. It benefits from such a large cast...the ambition of the production, and the weaving in of practical effects, animation, and some computer work, is quite excellent...Most of all, though, it just works. It has a strange quality, in that it just feels so right, that it doesn't require being picked at and pulled apart. It is what it is, and in this case, that means it remains one of the most magical Yuletide dramas that the BBC has ever made."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Box of Delights (TV series), The BBC children's television shows Television shows based on British novels Period television series 1984 British television series debuts 1984 British television series endings British television series with live action and animation British children's fantasy television series