Children of the Stones

This was a movie that US Nickelodeon channel used to show when I was young (and Nickelodeon channel was new). I loved the movie then because it was so unlike any other movies I had seen. Would definitely recommend it (it is now available on DVD but is fairly expensive for US markets).

When I had a chance to go to England for school, I actually went to Avebury and saw the stone circle (which is older than Stonehenge). The movie itself is a nice blend of factual history, science, science fiction and eerie music.

This is one of those lost gems that might be well worth another look!

If you haven't seen Children of the Stones yet, I strongly suggest you do. It is appropriate for all age levels and is an extremely well written and well preformed miniseries. As was the case with the BBC and other british TV production houses in the '70's, they operated on a shoestring budget. While this limited any serious use of special effects, it allowed for great script writing with a well thought out storyline. Children of the Stones will draw you into an odd, sometimes surreal, story about a small country town with a strange history centering around the ancient standing stones in and around the town. What begins as a simple scientific survey of the stones by an "outsider" and his teenage son soon becomes an investigation of a number of oddities with the townfolk and the strange history of the area. The local museum curator, another "outsider", joins in experience. The past and present mingle. The town and it's people have a tale to tell. Spellbinding and sometimes spooky, Children of the Stones will draw you in and keep you riveted, wanting for more! The plot is not as thin as one might think when beginning the journey. What is the secret of the town? Why are the people wary of visitors, but at the same time try to entice strangers to stay and live there? What happens to a person for them to suddenly change their minds and make them decide to become a permanent resident? How are the ancient standing stones connected with it all? If you appreciate a great plot, this miniseries is a must-see.

Wonderful HTV series for children that still sends a shiver up the spine, Children of the Stones is a masterclass in how to create atmosphere on a low budget, although the plot, largely borrowed from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, doesn't make a great deal of sense. The brilliant soundtrack of wordless choral music contributes immensely, while the Avebury setting with its weathered stones is used to excellent effect. Some reviewers have suggested it is like a kids' version of The Wicker Man - not really, this is played very straight and has none of The Wicker Man's comedy or eccentricity. Night of the Demon might be a closer comparison.

Iain Cuthbertson puts in a trademark eye-rolling performance, while the parents Gareth Thomas and Veronica Strong are a bit too like the nice teachers at school. The child actors do well, and are less irritating than most. Freddie Jones hams it up like a good 'un, and Ruth Dunning is the housekeeper from hell.

The ending is truly awful, sci-fi gobbledegook that merely provides a form of words to allow them all to stop. It is all about atmosphere, leaving logic and coherence behind at the boundary of Milbury.

If ever any one ITV region was the head of the pack when it came to producing children's TV, then HTV West, on the merit of "Children of the Stones" alone, would be it.

Broadcast in 1977, COTS is a 7-part fantasy series set in the fictional village of Milbury. Starring a pre-Blake's 7 Gareth Thomas and 70s telly stalwart Iain Cuthbertson, this delightful little series concerns a scientist and his son's attempts to discover the secret power behind the Milbury stone circle.

This is an incredibly eerie sci-fi series and to call it a kids show is a bit of an insult. It is a well crafted tale, brought to the screen with some very adept direction and a remarkably haunting musical score.

The performances from the cast are uniformly excellent and special praise must got to the talented youngsters involved.

If you can get a hold of this tremendous series then I can highly recommend it. However, it has been deleted on video in the UK for some time.

COTS is kids TV at its best - thoughtfully written, well acted, amazingly directed and a delightful, summery, eerie masterpiece. Because of its folksy score and pagan references COTS has been referred to as "The Wicker Man" for kids - it could be called a lot worse.

Many years ago, when ITV in the UK was an amalgamation of separate TV companies (like HTV, the makers of this show along with many other great series, serving the west of England and Wales), which used to make their own shows for local consumption, before submitting them to the network for a national screening, they used to come up with gems like this.

It's a bizarre story of a kid and his dad entering a strange place in the west of england (the Dad is a Historian on a research trip, but his son finds out more than his Dad was expecting), only to find that everything is not as it seems. The locals are being drawn into a strange cult which revolves around an ancient stone monument in the locality (actually the ancient monument which still stands in Avebury, Wiltshire, UK)...

I really couldn't tell you any more without spoiling things, but my description of this series would be: If that great cult movie "The Wicker Man" had been made as a children's programme, it might have looked something like this. It's a true hidden gem, which caught the imagination of kids across the UK upon its original transmission in the UK in early 1977.

If any overseas viewers (who like something a bit out of the ordinary) want to check it out, then I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend the UK DVD release by "Second Sight" - and if you ever find yourself in the UK, take the time out to visit the location used in the series... It's a truly mystical place, with a truly strange atmosphere which will stick in your mind long after your trip...

ITV in the UK these days is a very different operation, and they just don't make shows like this anymore. If ITV made a show called "Children Of The Stones" today, it would probably be a reality show starring Jade Jagger and Theodora Richards....

Watch and enjoy what once was, in the days when we Brits were truly proud of the programming we produced, as opposed to these days, when we are frankly embarrassed by 95% of it... :-(