ronnaylor

Absolutely loved this superb six part drama. A highlight was the outstanding performance of the young female actors - Eva Morgan was truly brilliant and Sadie Soverall was likewise first rate. The young male actors were also so well cast. The complexity of growing-up in multi-faceted 2024 society was sharply and keenly focused put under a uncompromising lens. The amazing use of stunt doubles to add visual vibrancy and the excellent portrayal of every character added so much credibility to the well-written storyline. I truly loved how the production team filmed and presented the conclusion. This is the very BEST drama I have seen for such a long time. And, as a former teacher from Liverpool, I can genuinely vouch for the underpinning authenticity of The Gathering's characters, setting and complexity of growing up in 2024.

Derren Nesbitt leads an extremely capable cast in this rarely seen B movie. Indeed, Nesbitt's performance is consistently first-rate throughout the film. The limited number of settings (a country lane, an office, a old English pub and a farm) may be quite basic, but these allow the well-crafted plot to shine through. Indeed, the story-line is surprisingly strong, building a tension which makes the movie's hour long running time pass remarkably quickly.

The underpinning theme of the movie is that a child murderer has escaped from an asylum. The actions and reactions of the inhabitants of the neighbouring village are really well-explored by director Terry Bishop.

Released under the Parroch Films banner and distributed by Butcher's Films in 1959, Renown digitally remastered the movie in 2009. It's revival on the Talking Pictures channel is really welcome.