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FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is another sterling example of Children's BBC back when they made decent, cultured fare for children. This one's a six-part adaptation of the E. Nesbit (THE RAILWAY CHILDREN) novel, featuring a quartet of kids who discover a mysterious Psammead (or 'Sand Fairy') living in the local sandpit who has the power to grant a wish a day.

Okay, the quality of this production - not to mention the acting - isn't up with the likes of, say, THE BORROWERS, but it's still a lot of fun and I loved it as a kid. The child cast are, shall we say enthusiastic, if not incredibly talented, but they come second to the excellent Psammead, whose combination of animatronics, voice acting, and mannerisms is unforgettable. I particularly love the way he sings the lyrical song over the closing credits.

Each of the six episodes offers a mixture of mini-adventures as the kids wish for something that inevitably goes wrong somehow. The special effects are dated, but the budget extends to some fairly impressive milieus of circuses and medieval castles. Some of the sub-plots are better than others, but there's plenty of wry humour which works well, and by the end you've fallen in love with both characters and Psammead. A sequel, RETURN OF THE PSAMMEAD, followed, but avoid the 2004 Hollywood-ised film like the plague; it takes the original novel, shreds it, and throws in nonsense about dinosaurs and assorted nonsense.

This was made as a six part serial for the BBC in 1991. It was very successful and much of this is due to the quirky charm of the Psammead, a sand fairy. The story is a faithful adaptation of E.Nesbit's classic novel and possesses all of the enchantment and magic of the original. The children happen on an ancient and temperamental sand fairy, the Psammead, as they play in a gravel pit. It finds itself compelled to grant three wishes a day which it does somewhat resentfully by inflating its wrinkly stomach, these moments alone are well worth the price of the video (the DVD fully remastered with extras is due for release in October 2004). This is well worth a look.

When I was growing up the were a few programs on for children during the day, we had a couple of hours of stuff in the afternoon, after school.

Generally it was OK but they make terrible rubbish like this, and then repeat it for years, probably twice a year.

The production isn't great, the scripts were boring and the acting terrible.

Even at the time it didn't stand up well against the likes of Grange Hill and Byker Grove.

This is a beautiful adaptation of an Edith Nesbitt book, very full of a beautiful childlike innocence and wonder. The Sand Fairy(or Psammead) is one of the best creature puppets I have ever seen- its movements are amazingly lifelike and full of personality. An excellent fantasy film- highly recommended.

I have vague recollections of this...and until the new film version came out I had all but forgotten it.

It was a bbc children's program and the acting was not too bad. ( from the usual child actors that sometimes ( as is with most bbc serials)....you just wanted to slap for being so well spoken and polite)

but the star was the sand fairy, the puppet was amazing and captured all his indignity and self pride.

all in all i would say 8.5 /10

ps

the sight of the wee sand fairy as he granted wishes...........was a thing that NOBODY should miss seeing. hard to explain but best way to describe it would be "a bad case of constipation"

This movie, about a little puppet fairy in a gravel pit grants four English kids three wishes. The children make horrible wishes, and screw their lives up. An extremely worthless movie, it's not worth your time, money, or attention. Please, disregard this movie.