Chocky

When I was younger I was so obsessed with those evil ghost kids or ghosts "befriending" kids type of movies.

Watching this gave me that vibe (but in a better and unique way). Of course, that was the purpose of the show at first. Is Matt threatened by some ominous presence?! I love the vibe and atmosphere. I loved how good the build up was until it was revealed who Chocky really is and why she came to Matthew.

And that beautiful haunting opening/closing score? That's a melody I can never get out of my head. I wish I could find a longer version of it. That score is like a creepy lullaby....unsettling but very soothing. Definitely one of my favorite main titles in a TV show.

I found out about this show this decade. I don't even know how I came across it. Perhaps by chance? Whenever I was looking for a British retro kids show... I never saw this come up. I never saw reruns or even heard of this show when I spent some of my years in (my home away from home) England.

~This is why I've dedicated most of my free time looking for shows I could've watched in England (or wish I paid more attention to). So thank the gods for Britbox!~

After Matthew leaves the show it does take a different turn (Chocky's Challenge and Children)...it's no longer atmospheric. So if you want a short, nice, atmospheric children's sci-fi (that is somewhat heartfelt), then I recommend watching this as a standalone show.

I've managed to find these to download and i am amazed by the depth and complexity of what is essentially a children's TV show. this handles the subject of a childs "invisible" friend to another dimension with matthew's friend being some sort of aid to his life, helping him learn to swim to save his sister, helping him paint photo realistic portraits and other miraculous feats.

I cant understand how this was ever classed as children's TV, programs with such subject matter would never make it into the 4 o clock slot on todays TV and its mind boggling it ever did in the early 80s.

Anyone who has any recollection of this would love to see it again, indeed a lot of well slept memories were awoken by the sights n sounds of this series.

I first watched this as a kid, back in 1985, I believe. It struck my as a fascinating and intelligent story, unfolding slowly and perfectly, and Andrew Ellams does a perfect job as the adopted boy Matthew Gore, who one day starts hearing a voice communicating with him. But unlike his little sister make-believe friend Missy, this entity seems to have a separate existence outside of Matthews imagination. It is British, in the sense that it is both well played and quite slow in it's build up. I, for one, enjoy the slowness of it, compared to todays pacing. Don't get me wrong, the series is not at all filled with dead time, but whenever something significant happens to take the story forward, it actually means something. Considering this was more or less a children's show, it is quite complex. My guess is the plan was to make a show that the whole family could watch together. And the fact that season 1 functions so well on several levels seem to support that idea. For any fan of Sci-Fi themes beyond space-westerns with laser guns and spaceships, this is a gem!

I have to briefly mention that there were two more seasons made, season 2 «Chockys Children» and season 3 «Chockys Challenge». Season 2 is far from the quality of season 1, though watchable. Season 3, on the other hand, is dreadful. It clearly shows how much Andrew Ellams carried the first season (he's out of the picture in season 3) and there are just too many things bad about season 3 to even start a rant here.

If you haven't, do watch season 1 of Chocky, it is a true sci-fi- drama classic! Highly recommended.

Fun fact, the opening title music is more or less a rip off of Brian Enos "Sparrowfall". How they got away with that, is beyond me.

I, like many here, first saw this show and it's sequels when I was a child in the 1980s. It was memorising, mostly because of the visual effects for Chocky herself and the sparkly vocal effect that was put on actress Glynis Brooks' voice.

Watching it again as a 42 year old adult it's surprising that they ever passed it off as a children's show. It's writing is advanced and far more complex than I think any child could really comprehend. In fact, I do recall not really knowing what the show was about when I was a boy as a lot of it flew over my head. Regardless, it's well acted and well written. Andrew Ellams is superb as Matthew, the boy who is chosen by the Alien entity to be a pupil. He shows a wide range of emotions and puts everything into his performance. It's amazing that Ellams never had any real acting experience previous to this, and also very sad that he never did any more acting after the Chocky saga.

The show isn't without it's problems though. It's a very slow affair, and the pacing feels drawn out - almost to the point where I felt that my attention was waning in certain parts (and that's my adult brain talking). Most of this first series involved the parents just sitting around talking, and I can't quite see how that would be entertaining for a child.

The second (my personal favourite) and third series have much better pacing and more focus on the children which makes for a superior watch I feel. However, despite it's sometimes turgid (some might say dull) pace, there is a better sense of authenticity to this first series.

Regardless of any shortcomings, this is a classic of it's genre, and part of the many "creepy kids shows" which were common at that time and helped to fire young imaginations.

Based on the novel by John Wyndham, this is a great, a sensitive and absorbing adaptation! Two sequels followed (one Australian I believe), but none surpassed this excellent piece of British children's television.