Tom's Midnight Garden

The Wednesday CBBC drama slot was always filled with quality Stories and this is no exeption. Well acted time travel drama. You cant help but feel sorry for tom when he is lonley in the summer holidays and sent away but the disovery of the garden and the strange girl means that he cant wait for midnight when the clock strikes 13!

...probably because it's based on the book of the same name by Philippa Pearce. It's about a boy, named Tom (played by Jeremy Rampling), who has to spend twelve days of his summer vacation at his aunt and uncle's flat, as his brother, Peter (Simon Fenton), has the measles. At first things are quite dull for Tom, since his aunt and uncle have no children and he must stay in quarantine. But an old grandfather clock in the downstairs' hallway (which never strikes the correct time, though its face will show it), allows him to travel back in time. He goes back to the late 19th century, to when the flat was a house, and meets a lonely girl who lives there, named Hatty (Caroline Waldron). With her, Tom plays in the vast gardens and finds a reason to actually want to stay at the flat. This is approximately a six part miniseries, each one around half an hour. It's a BBC production (I'm quite fond of them) and is well-acted. The boy who plays Tom is especially appealing to watch. This is best watched in the evening, as it's sort of like a bedtime story. If you enjoyed the novel (which is very good), then you'll probably like this a lot.

The Midnight garden, where two children become friends, learn from one another and grow up. This movie keeps the quiet magic of childhood real, with all it's shocks, tears and pleasures.

My daughter's also adored it (at age 8 & 12).