User reviews

I looked for this for a long time, as I could only remember the plot, and none of the authors or writer...and I only realised after I recognised Douglas Hodge when he was in the Caretaker on stage, that i got my lead...

This was an excellently atmospheric dramatatisation about indulgence, abuse, decay and guilt and the past catching up. It was wonderfully scripted and acted...and there was something really chilling about that house and those grounds...

I remember watching this when i was nine, wrapped in a blanket on cold winter's nights..and it gave me nightmares for weeks afterwards...but i didnt mind that....

I recall very well when this was initially shown on the Beeb in May of '92. I video'd it at the time & have retained it ever since. As well as the performances being first rate, by a young cast, it was the incidental score by David Ferguson that I found most haunting. His music for the likes of 'Moondial,' 'Cracker' & more I consider to be unsurpassed by any other of his ilk during the late 80's & early/mid 90's. However, this somewhat under-rated 3 part thriller deserves a singular DVD release, methinks, rather than it being thrown into a box-set with other lesser TV versions of Rendell's work. It's no 'Singing Detective' but it's still great. So there.

Now that we have your attention -- yes, there's actually quite a bit of attractive, hippie-ish, naked romping in this film, which flashbacks a lot. The same actors play themselves at 30-ish as well as ten years before -- quite authentically, it's not just lighting, their very movements say "young". A haunting tale, full of the carelessness of youth and the fear of discovery now that middle age, pride of place, and self-created family have begun to appear. Twists and turns, ending in an unjust but completely believable finish.