The Children of Green Knowe

Green Knowe is the most magical series, it has never failed to transfix every child who has ever watched it. Not to mention a family inability to say Burma without three rs! We also don't light a fire, we build up a "great blaze"! We had our almost worn out video put onto DVD which has extended the lifespan a little but is still almost monochrome. Does anyone have a way of getting colour back or have a better version? (If they can do it with Gone with the Wind, surely it can be done for Green Knowe!) There is an on line petition to get the BBC to reissue the film on DVD - we have all filled this in and hope that it will have some effect. There is a very good website which is of the actual Green Knowe house - Hemmingford Grey in Cambridgeshire - which is worth a visit.

I am delighted that I am not alone out there in the wilderness. I too, loved the wonderful adaptation of Children of Green Knowe. I have never forgotten it, indeed I have been writing to the BBC for years to ask if they would please re run it, or at least release it on DVD or video. Every man, woman and child should see this enchanting little gem of a series at least once. It captures the true innocence and enjoyment of Christmas as it should be.. simple, and captivating, with a little mystery thrown in. I was lucky enough to watch it the first time with my son, who also loved it. Now I would desperately love to share it with my little girl, and of course to be able to watch it every Christmas and soak up a little of its magic. So, build up the fire Tolly, I would like to hear the story of..The Children of Green Knowe.. Merry Christmas !! :)

"Make up a great blaze, Tolly, and I'll tell you a story!" I will always associate The Children of Green Knowe with poached eggs on toast and cup of tea; as a kid I used to watch this religiously with said meal and beverage. My parents used to have this on one of those old single-reel Betamax videos (does anyone actually remember those?) and, of course, when the VCR eventually broke, we couldn't get it repaired. We lost so many wonderful videos with that.

If only the BBC would re-run this lovely little series, or better still, release it on DVD. They did it with the Box of Delights (splediferous) and I'm sure they can do it with this as well. I've since begun reading the books and they do not disappoint. The role of Tolly's Grandmother could have been written for Daphne Oxenford - a truly wonderful performance. For me, this is the epitome of what children's drama should be - simple, yet magical!

A lot of British kids have memories of watching the original run of DR WHO and being forced to hide behind the sofa because they were too scared to watch the screen. I had the same experience, but with me it was THE CHILDREN OF GREEN KNOWE, a Children's BBC 4-part TV series adaptation of the 1950s novel by Lucy M. Boston. I watched this live on TV in 1986 at the age of 5 and it scared the life out of me. It was the bits in which inanimate objects come to life which really disturbed me, although even the rocking horse was spooky. Thankfully, the film has just come out on DVD over here in the UK, so I was able to catch up with it as an adult and I wasn't disappointed.

THE CHILDREN OF GREEN KNOWE is short, simple entertainment. A young boy goes to stay in an old ancestral house over the Christmas break, and soon becomes aware that there are ghostly children from the Stuart era that he can sometimes see. There are also various myths and legends associated with the place that he becomes involved in. This type of story was very familiar in TV & book form back in the day, but it's handled in a completely charming way here. The low budget effects aren't up to much, but the story and execution have bags of atmosphere and charm that make it impossible to dislike. Daphne Oxenford is like Maggie Smith but even better. I miss the days when the BBC had the skill to make stuff like this, as it's the kind of thing which manages the very difficult job of recapturing the magic of being a child - something that modern film and TV makers seem to have forgotten.

I hankered after this amazing drama for years, i had all but episode 3 on VHS and had given up on it being released officially on DVD, so was ecstatic when I found an unofficial copy at raretv.com. Granted, it is not the best quality burned from VHS recordings, but it better than nothing, and i still watch it to this day, and even now at 33 years old it has not lost any of It's magic to me, and my 5 year old son enjoys it too. Mr Christie(Tolly) was kind enough to reply to a message I sent him in relation to the show, he had not been recognised as Tolly since 1988 and told me how much fun he had making the programme. His views echoed those already mentioned by a previous user, that children's drama today failed to live up to the quality seen in those such as Greene Knowe, which is a terrible shame. I talk about this programme even now with my family who also had such affection. Im not sure if this is true,but I have read somewhere that the BBC have not got a copy of the original footage so it would be impossible for a official DVD release like they did with Box of Delights. Has anybody else heard this?