Children of the Stones
Encyclopedia
Children of the Stones is a television
drama
for children produced by HTV
in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom
's ITV
network in January and February 1977. A one-off serial, the story was depicted over seven episodes and produced by Peter Graham Scott
, with Patrick Dromgoole as executive producer. A novelization
by the serial's writers, Jeremy Burnham
and Trevor Ray
also appeared in 1977. In the United States
, it was broadcast on the Nickelodeon
television channel in the early 1980s as part of the series The Third Eye
.
ic stone circle
.
Filmed at Avebury, Wiltshire
during Summer 1976, with interior scenes filmed at HTV's Bristol
studios, it was an unusually atmospheric production with sinister, discordant wailing voices heightening the tension on the incidental music. The music was composed by Sidney Sager
who used the Ambrosian Singers
to chant in accordance with the megalithic rituals referred to in the story. Director Peter Graham Scott was surprised on seeing the script that the series was intended for children's airtime due to the complexities of the plot and disturbing nature of the series. The series is frequently cited by those who remember it as one of the scariest things they saw as children. Involving a temporal paradox
and issues of individuality and community assimilation, the series is also thematically challenging for its intended after-school audience, and can be described as a children's version of magical realism.
Cast as the leader of the village, Hendrick was well-known actor Iain Cuthbertson
, while the leading role of Adam Brake was filled by another experienced actor, Gareth Thomas
, who would later find greater fame as the main character in the science fiction series Blake's 7
. Child actors Peter Demin and Katharine Levy
played the teenage leads Matthew and Sandra. Popular character actors of the time Freddie Jones
and John Woodnutt
were cast as poacher Dai and butler Link.
Episodes were broadcast at 16:45 each week.
The series was repeated by ITV
from 21 July 1978 – 1 September 1978, at 16:15. Since then the show has not been broadcast in its entirety on UK television, either terrestrial or satellite.
bubble”. The main premise of this idea is that the village
within the stone circle exists in a time rift
, where the same actions are played out (with minor variations), over and over again, with the end result being that the power of the circle will eventually be released to the outside world
. Whenever this is faulted, however, the time circle resets and the same events attempt again to unfold. However, since time is passing in the outside world in a normal way, that within the time circle must also progress matching the time period of the real world while still attempting to play out the events within.
Within Children of the Stones, there are four cycles of the time circle that are clearly described, although in reality there are likely to be a great number more.
The original stone circle was built during megalithic Great Britain
and inhabited by a pagan folk led by a Druid
priest. The village priest then witnessed the formation of a supernova
and somehow deduced that a black hole
had formed shortly thereafter. Using a variety of psychic powers, mixed with folk magic, the priest was able to harness the power of the stones (which were natural magnets) and focus negative energy, via a beam of light, through the centre of the circle towards the black hole. This energy, however, was drawn from the minds of the inhabitants within the circle, turning them into creatures without will and totally under the control of the Druid priest.
When a pair of travellers entered the village, the Druid priest attempted to brainwash them as well, through the beam of light towards the black hole. The travellers outwitted the priest, however, and tricked him into thinking they had been brainwashed when the beam of light had not yet appeared. When the two travellers entered the circle of those who had already been taken in by the priest, the circle of control was broken. The beam of light then appeared, much to the priest’s horror, destroying his altar and turning the inhabitants of the circle to stone. The two travellers barely managed to escape the same fate, and were only able to survive by hiding in a rock cave towards the edge of the stone circle, known as the sanctuary.
The events of the original circle were later put down into the form of a painting
, which eventually made its way to become a key point of another cycle of the time circle.
. The Barber-Surgeon is an inhabitant of the village of Milbury, which had been built upon the original site of the stone circle. The events of the first circle began to unfold again in Milbury. How and why is never made clear. The Barber-Surgeon, however, seeing what was taking place is able to protect himself by use of a mystic amulet
. The amulet is palm sized and inscribed with a winged serpent
.
The Barber-Surgeon is apparently a threat to whoever had restarted the events of the First Circle and, through means unknown, he is mysteriously crushed under a falling “sarcen stone”, also engraved with a serpent like the amulet the Barber-Surgeon had carried. The amulet was crushed, along with the Barber-Surgeon; however his bones were later removed and the stone that killed him re-erected within the circle. Whoever had caused the Barber-Surgeon to die, most likely another priest-like figure attempting to brainwash the village through use of the magic beam towards the black hole, did not succeed and the time circle again reset itself into the modern age.
Dai the poacher's life, death and activities are markedly similar to those of the Barber-Surgeon, suggesting a possible identity or link between the two characters.
text speaking of the original Druid Priest who had seen a supernova explode in ancient times. Hendrick was able to discover the location of the supernova (a discovery which made him famous) and further learn that the supernova was now a black hole in the constellation
of Ursa Major
, the great bear.
Hendrick then traveled to Milbury, the site of the stone circle in which the Druid Priest had years before conducted his attempt at brainwashing the circle’s inhabitants. Through means unexplained, Hendrick learned the power of the circle and how to harness the negative energy of the Milbury villagers into the beam of light towards the black hole. Through complex astronomical calculations, he determined exactly when he could form the energy beam and began brainwashing the villagers into becoming whom he called "Happy Ones".
The one challenge to Hendrick was a local poacher
named Dai; however, Dai suffered a mysterious death in the same location as the Barber-Surgeon had years earlier. Dai’s body was also apparently mysteriously replaced with a fallen stone carved with a serpent, but then both the stone and the body vanished. After Dai was killed, pieces of a broken amulet were found, where those pieces matched exactly the gaps in the broken amulet of the Barber-Surgeon.
With nothing to stop Hendrick, the villages were brainwashed by the beam of light, one by one, until only a visiting professor and his son remained. Professor Brake’s son, Matthew, was apparently psychic and also had come across a painting a year before depicted the scene of the first circle. By the time Hendrick was seeking to brainwash Brake and his son, both had figured out that Milbury was replaying the events of the first circle and attempted to find a way to escape.
In the final episode, by setting Hendrick’s digital timekeeping system ahead five minutes, Professor Brake and Matthew were able to trick Hendrick into thinking they had been brainwashed by the beam of energy and, when they entered the circle of "Happy Ones", the power of control was broken. Hendrick then was exposed to the beam of light himself, and turned into an image of the ancient Druid priest. Despite every effort of Professor Brake and Matthew to save two others, Margaret and her daughter Sandra, they had befriended, it proved impossible to do so. The villagers then turned to stone when they looked at the beam of light from Hendrick's house, as Professor Brake and Matthew escaped to the Sanctuary, just as the ancient travellers had done in the original circle. When Brake and Matthew awoke the next morning, the village had changed back to normal (with only minor variations) and displayed no sign that Hendrick or his plan had ever even existed. Even the poacher, Dai, was alive and well and living in the Sanctuary, but gave no indication that he knew Professor Brake or Matthew. Upon leaving town, Matthew commented to his father that he wondered if the Time Circle had reset and would the events they had just witnessed happen again. Professor Brake jokingly asked Matthew if he would like to go back to the town and find out, but Matthew asked him to drive far away and only stop off somewhere for a sandwich to eat.
in the last round of the Time Circle to Hendrick’s evil plan.
The gentleman
introduces himself as Joshua Litton, a former Professor at Cambridge University
who has come to Milbury from London
. He comments on what a nice place it will be to retire and that he will be very happy there. The implication is clear that the Time Circle has reset and the events of the stone circle have begun again.
in 1981 in edited form, becoming one of the earliest children's dramas to be released on the format. It was later re-released in 1992 in its entirety, although the opening and closing credits from the middle episodes were cut out. Currently, the serial is available on DVD
, released by Second Sight in the UK and by Acorn Media in the US. The DVD includes interviews with actor Gareth Thomas and producer Peter Graham Scott.
The series was praised by comedian Stewart Lee
in the 2007
BBC Four
series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
. Lee commented on depictions of teenagers on television in different decades, contrasting Children of the Stones with Channel 4
's modern drama Skins
, highlighting how Children of the Stones was still relevant to a modern audience. Several clips of the story were shown.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
for children produced by HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network in January and February 1977. A one-off serial, the story was depicted over seven episodes and produced by Peter Graham Scott
Peter Graham Scott
Peter Graham Scott was an English film producer, film director, film editor and screenwriter. One of the producers and directors who shaped British television drama in its formative years, Scott brought a background in film editing and directing to his work that helped to move the small screen out...
, with Patrick Dromgoole as executive producer. A novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
by the serial's writers, Jeremy Burnham
Jeremy Burnham
Jeremy Burnham is a British television actor of the 1960s and 1970s and a screenwriter.Burnham began in the late 1950s as an actor and appeared in many popular British TV series such as The Avengers, The Saint and Randall and Hopkirk in 1969....
and Trevor Ray
Trevor Ray
Trevor Ray is a British actor who has appeared in many TV-series..Ray penned the final version of the first episode of the Doctor Who serial The Ambassadors of Death, though he was not credited on the episode...
also appeared in 1977. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was broadcast on the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
television channel in the early 1980s as part of the series The Third Eye
The Third Eye (television series)
The Third Eye is a mini-series anthology that aired on Nickelodeon that consisted of a variety serials from the UK and New Zealand.When Nickelodeon premiered, The Third Eye was one of its first programs...
.
Overview
The series followed the adventures of astrophysicist Adam Brake and his young son Matthew after they arrive in the small village of Milbury, which is built in the midst of a megalithMegalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
ic stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
.
Filmed at Avebury, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
during Summer 1976, with interior scenes filmed at HTV's Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
studios, it was an unusually atmospheric production with sinister, discordant wailing voices heightening the tension on the incidental music. The music was composed by Sidney Sager
Sidney Sager
Sidney Sager was an English composer, conductor and trombonist, best known for his music for television and radio.-Overview:Born into a Jewish family in London's East End, he joined the British Army at the age of 14 as a band boy, and as a result of his natural ability was sponsored by the Army to...
who used the Ambrosian Singers
Ambrosian Singers
The Ambrosian Singers are one of the best-known London choral groups, particularly appreciated for its great variety of recorded repertory.They were founded after World War II in England...
to chant in accordance with the megalithic rituals referred to in the story. Director Peter Graham Scott was surprised on seeing the script that the series was intended for children's airtime due to the complexities of the plot and disturbing nature of the series. The series is frequently cited by those who remember it as one of the scariest things they saw as children. Involving a temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
and issues of individuality and community assimilation, the series is also thematically challenging for its intended after-school audience, and can be described as a children's version of magical realism.
Cast as the leader of the village, Hendrick was well-known actor Iain Cuthbertson
Iain Cuthbertson
Iain Cuthbertson was a Scottish character actor. At 6' 4", he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive "gravelly" heavily accented voice.-Early life:...
, while the leading role of Adam Brake was filled by another experienced actor, Gareth Thomas
Gareth Thomas (actor)
Gareth Thomas is a Welsh actor.Thomas is best known for the part of Roj Blake in the dystopian science fiction television series Blake's 7, but has taken roles in many other films and television programmes, including Adam Brake in Children of the Stones.Thomas trained at RADA and is now an...
, who would later find greater fame as the main character in the science fiction series Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
. Child actors Peter Demin and Katharine Levy
Katharine Levy
Katharine Levy is a British actress. During her childhood, she appeared in a number of 1970s TV shows, most notably in 1976 as Jane Masters in Gerry Anderson's The Day After Tomorrow and Sandra in Children of the Stones in 1977 and as a young Livilla in I Claudius. Her career as an adult reached...
played the teenage leads Matthew and Sandra. Popular character actors of the time Freddie Jones
Freddie Jones
Frederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
and John Woodnutt
John Woodnutt
John Woodnutt was a British actor.He was born in London, and at the age of 18 made his acting debut at the Oxford Playhouse....
were cast as poacher Dai and butler Link.
Episodes
- Into the Circle (TX: 10 January 1977)
- Circle of Fear (TX: 17 January 1977)
- Serpent in the Circle (TX: 24 January 1977)
- Narrowing Circle (TX: 31 January 1977)
- Charmed Circle (TX: 7 February 1977)
- Squaring the Circle (TX: 14 February 1977)
- Full Circle (TX: 21 February 1977)
Episodes were broadcast at 16:45 each week.
The series was repeated by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
from 21 July 1978 – 1 September 1978, at 16:15. Since then the show has not been broadcast in its entirety on UK television, either terrestrial or satellite.
Plot outline
One of the more complicated aspects of Children of the Stones is the concept of the “time circle” and the “psychicPsychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
bubble”. The main premise of this idea is that the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
within the stone circle exists in a time rift
Time slip
A time slip is an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time via unknown means...
, where the same actions are played out (with minor variations), over and over again, with the end result being that the power of the circle will eventually be released to the outside world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
. Whenever this is faulted, however, the time circle resets and the same events attempt again to unfold. However, since time is passing in the outside world in a normal way, that within the time circle must also progress matching the time period of the real world while still attempting to play out the events within.
Within Children of the Stones, there are four cycles of the time circle that are clearly described, although in reality there are likely to be a great number more.
The Original Circle
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and inhabited by a pagan folk led by a Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
priest. The village priest then witnessed the formation of a supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
and somehow deduced that a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
had formed shortly thereafter. Using a variety of psychic powers, mixed with folk magic, the priest was able to harness the power of the stones (which were natural magnets) and focus negative energy, via a beam of light, through the centre of the circle towards the black hole. This energy, however, was drawn from the minds of the inhabitants within the circle, turning them into creatures without will and totally under the control of the Druid priest.
When a pair of travellers entered the village, the Druid priest attempted to brainwash them as well, through the beam of light towards the black hole. The travellers outwitted the priest, however, and tricked him into thinking they had been brainwashed when the beam of light had not yet appeared. When the two travellers entered the circle of those who had already been taken in by the priest, the circle of control was broken. The beam of light then appeared, much to the priest’s horror, destroying his altar and turning the inhabitants of the circle to stone. The two travellers barely managed to escape the same fate, and were only able to survive by hiding in a rock cave towards the edge of the stone circle, known as the sanctuary.
The events of the original circle were later put down into the form of a painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, which eventually made its way to become a key point of another cycle of the time circle.
The Barber-Surgeon
One of the less explored manifestations of the Time Circle is the story of the Barber-SurgeonBarber surgeon
The barber surgeon was one of the most common medical practitioners of medieval Europe - generally charged with looking after soldiers during or after a battle...
. The Barber-Surgeon is an inhabitant of the village of Milbury, which had been built upon the original site of the stone circle. The events of the first circle began to unfold again in Milbury. How and why is never made clear. The Barber-Surgeon, however, seeing what was taking place is able to protect himself by use of a mystic amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
. The amulet is palm sized and inscribed with a winged serpent
Serpent (symbolism)
Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...
.
The Barber-Surgeon is apparently a threat to whoever had restarted the events of the First Circle and, through means unknown, he is mysteriously crushed under a falling “sarcen stone”, also engraved with a serpent like the amulet the Barber-Surgeon had carried. The amulet was crushed, along with the Barber-Surgeon; however his bones were later removed and the stone that killed him re-erected within the circle. Whoever had caused the Barber-Surgeon to die, most likely another priest-like figure attempting to brainwash the village through use of the magic beam towards the black hole, did not succeed and the time circle again reset itself into the modern age.
Dai the poacher's life, death and activities are markedly similar to those of the Barber-Surgeon, suggesting a possible identity or link between the two characters.
Children of the Stones
The Time Circle again took another loop in the 1970s when a famous astronomer, Rafael Hendrick, uncovered an ancient Dog LatinDog Latin
Dog Latin, Cod Latin, macaronic Latin, or mock Latin refers to the creation of a phrase or jargon in imitation of Latin, often by directly translating English words into Latin without conjugation or declension...
text speaking of the original Druid Priest who had seen a supernova explode in ancient times. Hendrick was able to discover the location of the supernova (a discovery which made him famous) and further learn that the supernova was now a black hole in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
of Ursa Major
Ursa Major
Ursa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...
, the great bear.
Hendrick then traveled to Milbury, the site of the stone circle in which the Druid Priest had years before conducted his attempt at brainwashing the circle’s inhabitants. Through means unexplained, Hendrick learned the power of the circle and how to harness the negative energy of the Milbury villagers into the beam of light towards the black hole. Through complex astronomical calculations, he determined exactly when he could form the energy beam and began brainwashing the villagers into becoming whom he called "Happy Ones".
The one challenge to Hendrick was a local poacher
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
named Dai; however, Dai suffered a mysterious death in the same location as the Barber-Surgeon had years earlier. Dai’s body was also apparently mysteriously replaced with a fallen stone carved with a serpent, but then both the stone and the body vanished. After Dai was killed, pieces of a broken amulet were found, where those pieces matched exactly the gaps in the broken amulet of the Barber-Surgeon.
With nothing to stop Hendrick, the villages were brainwashed by the beam of light, one by one, until only a visiting professor and his son remained. Professor Brake’s son, Matthew, was apparently psychic and also had come across a painting a year before depicted the scene of the first circle. By the time Hendrick was seeking to brainwash Brake and his son, both had figured out that Milbury was replaying the events of the first circle and attempted to find a way to escape.
In the final episode, by setting Hendrick’s digital timekeeping system ahead five minutes, Professor Brake and Matthew were able to trick Hendrick into thinking they had been brainwashed by the beam of energy and, when they entered the circle of "Happy Ones", the power of control was broken. Hendrick then was exposed to the beam of light himself, and turned into an image of the ancient Druid priest. Despite every effort of Professor Brake and Matthew to save two others, Margaret and her daughter Sandra, they had befriended, it proved impossible to do so. The villagers then turned to stone when they looked at the beam of light from Hendrick's house, as Professor Brake and Matthew escaped to the Sanctuary, just as the ancient travellers had done in the original circle. When Brake and Matthew awoke the next morning, the village had changed back to normal (with only minor variations) and displayed no sign that Hendrick or his plan had ever even existed. Even the poacher, Dai, was alive and well and living in the Sanctuary, but gave no indication that he knew Professor Brake or Matthew. Upon leaving town, Matthew commented to his father that he wondered if the Time Circle had reset and would the events they had just witnessed happen again. Professor Brake jokingly asked Matthew if he would like to go back to the town and find out, but Matthew asked him to drive far away and only stop off somewhere for a sandwich to eat.
Joshua Litton
In the final scene of the series, no sooner than Professor Brake and Matthew departed from the village, a well dressed man in an expensive motor car drives into Milbury. The man looks, oddly enough, identical to Rafael Hendrick. The man drives to Hendrick’s old house where he meets with Link, Hendrick’s former butler and also henchmanHenchman
Henchman referred originally to one who attended on a horse for his employer, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshal, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a subordinate official in a royal court or noble household...
in the last round of the Time Circle to Hendrick’s evil plan.
The gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
introduces himself as Joshua Litton, a former Professor at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
who has come to Milbury from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He comments on what a nice place it will be to retire and that he will be very happy there. The implication is clear that the Time Circle has reset and the events of the stone circle have begun again.
Cast
- Hendrick: Iain CuthbertsonIain CuthbertsonIain Cuthbertson was a Scottish character actor. At 6' 4", he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive "gravelly" heavily accented voice.-Early life:...
- Adam: Gareth ThomasGareth Thomas (actor)Gareth Thomas is a Welsh actor.Thomas is best known for the part of Roj Blake in the dystopian science fiction television series Blake's 7, but has taken roles in many other films and television programmes, including Adam Brake in Children of the Stones.Thomas trained at RADA and is now an...
- Dai: Freddie JonesFreddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
- Link: John WoodnuttJohn WoodnuttJohn Woodnutt was a British actor.He was born in London, and at the age of 18 made his acting debut at the Oxford Playhouse....
- Margaret: Veronica Strong
- Mrs Crabtree: Ruth DunningRuth DunningRuth Dunning was a Welsh actress of stage, television, and film. She first came to prominence in the role of Gladys Grove in BBC Television's The Grove Family , also portraying that character in the 1955 film It's a Great Day...
- Matthew: Peter Demin
- Sandra: Katharine LevyKatharine LevyKatharine Levy is a British actress. During her childhood, she appeared in a number of 1970s TV shows, most notably in 1976 as Jane Masters in Gerry Anderson's The Day After Tomorrow and Sandra in Children of the Stones in 1977 and as a young Livilla in I Claudius. Her career as an adult reached...
- Kevin: Darren Hatch
- Jimmo: Gary Lock
- Dr Lyle: Richard Mathews
- Miss Clegg: June Barrie
- Browning: Hubert Tucker
Crew
- Written by: Jeremy BurnhamJeremy BurnhamJeremy Burnham is a British television actor of the 1960s and 1970s and a screenwriter.Burnham began in the late 1950s as an actor and appeared in many popular British TV series such as The Avengers, The Saint and Randall and Hopkirk in 1969....
and Trevor RayTrevor RayTrevor Ray is a British actor who has appeared in many TV-series..Ray penned the final version of the first episode of the Doctor Who serial The Ambassadors of Death, though he was not credited on the episode... - Technical advisor: Dr. Peter Williams
- Film cameras: Bob Edwards, Brian Morgan
- Film sound: Mike Davey, John Cross
- Film editor: Adrian Brenard
- Designer: Ken Jones
- Music composed by: Sidney SagerSidney SagerSidney Sager was an English composer, conductor and trombonist, best known for his music for television and radio.-Overview:Born into a Jewish family in London's East End, he joined the British Army at the age of 14 as a band boy, and as a result of his natural ability was sponsored by the Army to...
- Executive Producer: Patrick Dromgoole
- Produced and Directed by: Peter Graham ScottPeter Graham ScottPeter Graham Scott was an English film producer, film director, film editor and screenwriter. One of the producers and directors who shaped British television drama in its formative years, Scott brought a background in film editing and directing to his work that helped to move the small screen out...
Availability
Children of the Stones was novelised by series writers Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray and released by Carousel Books in 1977. It was released in the US two years later. The serial was first released on Guild Home VideoGuild Home Video
Guild Home Video or Guild Film Distribution was one of the very first video distribution companies to start operating in the UK. Unlike other independent labels such as Intervision or Videoform, GHV not only survived for a very long time, but continued to grow, eventually becoming a video...
in 1981 in edited form, becoming one of the earliest children's dramas to be released on the format. It was later re-released in 1992 in its entirety, although the opening and closing credits from the middle episodes were cut out. Currently, the serial is available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, released by Second Sight in the UK and by Acorn Media in the US. The DVD includes interviews with actor Gareth Thomas and producer Peter Graham Scott.
The series was praised by comedian Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
in the 2007
2007 in television
2007 in television may refer to:*2007 in American television*2007 in Australian television*2007 in British television*2007 in Canadian television*2007 in Japanese television...
BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...
. Lee commented on depictions of teenagers on television in different decades, contrasting Children of the Stones with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's modern drama Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
, highlighting how Children of the Stones was still relevant to a modern audience. Several clips of the story were shown.