The Children of Green Knowe

Perhaps the greatest thing about portraying Alexander Oldknowe in the 1986 BBC Children's Television series 'The Children of Green Knowe' was meeting Lucy M. Boston, who wrote the novel upon which the four-part series was based, and who also wrote 'The River at Green Knowe'. She was a delightful lady, and I remember that we - myself and the other principal cast members - had our photograph taken with her.

Also great to work with Heather Ramsay, who played my mother. She noticed that I was reading Stephen King's awesome 1985 short story collection 'Skeleton Crew' during the making of the series, and recommended the work of acclaimed British horror author Ramsey Campbell. Thanks heaps, Heather!

Great too to work with the very talented Danny Schiller, who played Gabriel, the manic choirmaster. Danny went on to play Snorri the Miserable in Terry Gilliam's hilarious 'Erik the Viking' and also to portray a barrister in the 1992 thriller 'Under Suspicion', which starred Liam Neeson and Laura San Giacomo. And after all these years, I still remember the lyrics of song I sing before the King and his court (by the way, the banquet that you will descry laid out was fireproofed, so no one was game to pick at it!):-

Return, return you happy men/To your own blessed shades again/Lest staying long some new desire/In your cool bosom raise a fire/Like a perfumed gale o'er flowers/Now glide again to your own bowers

Saw Polly Maberly in an episode of 'Frost' in early 2001, and she acquitted herself very well indeed. She has grown into quite the young lady.

As Montague H. Withnail declares in 'Withnail and I', 'Alas! I have little more than vintage wine and memories'. But what memories!

James Trevelyan (Alexander Oldknowe)

I was fortunate enough to see this series for the first time yesterday at the NFF (South Bank), followed by a Q&A with Alec Christie, who played Tolly. I was amazed at the quality of the print which looked superb on the big screen of NFF 1. The magic, I think, lies in the detail of the settings and in the atmosphere which is created by a story which moves at a dignified pace. I wondered whether the singing was 'lip-syncd' by the boy who plays Alexander? The first time he sings, in the Cathedral church, I thought the sound was amazingly beautiful. The singing at the concert for King Charles was more authentic. Throughout, there is a wonderful feel for the mood of the drama which is in stark contrast to so much of today's TV dramas for kids!

If you have't seen it see it.If you don't like it your mad.Childhood dream's ghost's history and magic,upper class's lower class's if it is a story line in any film or book that you enjoyed it's in here. BBC at it's best.no DVD as such yet but as soon as it is out i will be buying this. i have a ratty old VHS with all episode's and my six year old son is down stair's most morning watching. well i say watching he's transfixed also only just found out there are five other book's which were never adapted for the silver screen. i have read two and are just as good as the original children of green knowe.As i said above you cant miss this classic programme.

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?