The Return of the Borrowers
Encyclopedia
The Return of the Borrowers is a BBC
TV miniseries first broadcast in 1993 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the third and fourth novels of author Mary Norton
's The Borrowers
series: The Borrowers Afloat
and The Borrowers Aloft
, respectively.
The miniseries is the sequel
to The Borrowers
, another TV miniseries that first aired in 1992 also on BBC2 and TNT.
Both series follow the Clocks, a family of tiny people who have fled from their home under the floorboards in an old manor into the English countryside.
of Little Fordham where they try to live in secret. They are eventually discovered by a couple who own a rival model village and are kidnapped with the intention of being put on attraction
when that model village opens for tourist season. Imprisoned in the couple's attic, the Clocks are able to use materials they find to create a balloon
and basket which lifts them out of a window and to freedom moments before they are to be put on display.
Knowing they cannot risk moving back into Little Fordham the family again take to the great outdoors, in search of a new place to call home. Spiller tells the Clocks that there's an old watermill
, one human and plenty to eat down the stream. The series ends with the Borrowers sailing down the stream, and Pod says that whatever happens, there's always some way to manage.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV miniseries first broadcast in 1993 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the third and fourth novels of author Mary Norton
Mary Norton (author)
Mary Norton, née Pearson, was an English children's author. Her books include The Borrowers series.-Background:...
's The Borrowers
The Borrowers
The Borrowers, published in 1952, is the first in a series of children's fantasy novels by English author Mary Norton. The novel and its sequels are about tiny people who live in people's homes and "borrow" things to survive while keeping their existence unknown...
series: The Borrowers Afloat
The Borrowers Afloat
The Borrowers Afloat is a children's fantasy novel by Mary Norton, published in 1959. It is the third book in the five part The Borrowers series, preceded by The Borrowers and The Borrowers Afield...
and The Borrowers Aloft
The Borrowers Aloft
The Borrowers Aloft is a children's fantasy novel by Mary Norton, published in 1961. It is the fourth book in the five part The Borrowers series, preceded by The Borrowers , The Borrowers Afield and The Borrowers Afloat...
, respectively.
The miniseries is the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to The Borrowers
The Borrowers (TV miniseries)
The Borrowers is a BBC TV miniseries first broadcast in 1992 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the 1952 Carnegie Medal Award winning first novel and second novel of author Mary Norton's The Borrowers series: The Borrowers and The Borrowers...
, another TV miniseries that first aired in 1992 also on BBC2 and TNT.
Both series follow the Clocks, a family of tiny people who have fled from their home under the floorboards in an old manor into the English countryside.
Plot
Once again the Clock Family (a teenage girl named Arriety and her parents, Pod and Homily), tiny "borrowers" who live in the homes of regular sized human beings, are forced to find a new place to live when they learn of the upcoming departure of the humans in whose house they reside. With the help of their friend Spiller, they escape through the house drain system and move to the model villageModel village
A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, in most cases built from the late eighteenth century onwards by industrialists to house their workers...
of Little Fordham where they try to live in secret. They are eventually discovered by a couple who own a rival model village and are kidnapped with the intention of being put on attraction
Attraction
In general, an attraction draws one object towards another one. The term may have the following specific meanings.* In physics, attraction may refer to gravity or to the electromagnetic force* Attractiveness...
when that model village opens for tourist season. Imprisoned in the couple's attic, the Clocks are able to use materials they find to create a balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
and basket which lifts them out of a window and to freedom moments before they are to be put on display.
Knowing they cannot risk moving back into Little Fordham the family again take to the great outdoors, in search of a new place to call home. Spiller tells the Clocks that there's an old watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, one human and plenty to eat down the stream. The series ends with the Borrowers sailing down the stream, and Pod says that whatever happens, there's always some way to manage.
Cast
- Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
as Pod Clock - Penelope WiltonPenelope WiltonPenelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
as Homily Clock - Rebecca CallardRebecca Callard-Early life:The daughter of Coronation Street actress Beverley Callard, she was born Rebecca Jayne Atkinson, but took her stepfather's surname when her mother married Steven Callard in 1989. In her early roles she used her father's surname and was credited as Rebecca Sowden.As a child Callard lived...
as Arrietty Clock - Daniel Newman as "Dreadful Spiller"
- Paul Cross as George
- Gemma JonesGemma JonesGemma Jones is an English character actress on both stage and screen.-Early life:Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of Irene and Griffith Jones, an actor. Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor...
as Miss Menzies - Robert LangRobert Lang (actor)Robert Lang was an English actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier invited him to join the new National Theatre Company, at the Old Vic, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell, best known for her portrayal of Marion...
as Mr. Platter