Huckleberry Finn and His Friends

Don't know why they don't show it on tv now for kids. I remember in 1985 i used to get up and have breakfast then run into the living room to watch it. It was on everyday for 6 weeks at 9-30 am every weekday mourning during the summer school holidays along with other programmes such as "silas" and "jack holburn" all 3 of these programmes where producted by a west german companies, but they were all good. The BBC or ITV should show them again, I remember the first time we see tom sawyer in the Huck Finn programmes whit washing aunt polly's fence, class.

I saw this back in the early 80's on Showtime's "Mark Twain Theater". Since it was a series, there was enough time to capture details in the book very accurately. In fact, it was quite true to the book. It was enjoyable to watch, for young children and adults as well. The young actors were all very good, especially Ian Tracey as Huck Finn. I wish it would be on again so I could show it to my children. As far as I know, it is not available on video.

That's saying a bit seeing as adaptations of both books have been hit-and-miss in quality, especially with Huckleberry Finn. Both have very good adaptations(Tom Sawyer with the 1938 film, Huckleberry Finn with the Mickey Rooney film) but none outstanding. Until this 26-part 11-hour show, which is very close to perfect(apart from occasional lapses in dubbing and lip-synching particularly with Aunt Polly). Huckleberry Finn and His Friends is beautifully and authentically filmed with very appropriately chosen locations. The music is lilting and haunting in equal measures depending on the tone of each scene, with a theme tune that will leave you humming for days. The dialogue has the spirit of Mark Twain's way with words and phrasing with some light-hearted humour and some very touching and dark moments. The story is incredibly compelling from the get go and captures the details and spirit of the storytelling of both books, even with the odd omission here and there. It is also one of the few adaptations of either book that not just captures the lighter nostalgic charm as seen in the friendship between Tom and Huck(Becky and particularly Jim also) but also the grimmer, darker aspects, like with Injun Joe(his leap from the court-room is not one to forget) and Pap, doing that while balancing them adeptly. The acting is very, very good especially from a superb Ian Tracey as Huck, and he is supported wonderfully by in particular a spirited Tom, a creepy Injun Joe, the roguish Duke and Dauphin, a brutish Pap, a kindly Aunt Polly and a very dignified Jim. All in all, a wonderful show and the best version of either book, if you haven't read either yet do, Huckleberry Finn is a little hard to get into at first but they're both excellent. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I loved this TV series, it made me a fan of both books "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Because of this show, I read the books for the very first time in my life and enjoyed them too. I thought Ian Tracey's acting in it was SUPERB, he played a likeable older version of Huckleberry.

The theme song will always be in my mind as well.

Makes me wanna go back to those days and re-live them.

Cool that it was filmed in Canada (where I'm from as well).

Hope this review helps.

I used to come home from school on my lunch hour just to watch that show. It brings back memories just thinking about that time... I hope they show it again soon on tv. The only flaw would probably be that it didn't run long enough.