The Witches and the Grinnygog (1983)

The Witches and the Grinnygog (1983)

Dir. Diarmuid Lawrence | 6 episodes, approx 25 minutes each

A miniseries based on the children's book of the same name (1981) by Dorothy Edwards. I've not read the book, but I did watch the series back in the 80s when it was first screened on British TV. Once the titular Grinnygog appeared onscreen the memories of that time came flooding back to me - almost literally, I felt like I'd been hit by a driving wave of forgotten salad days.

The Grinnygog is a horned, cheeky-faced stone statue that's about the size of an average garden gnome. The little guy doesn't actually do very much besides look cool, but the majority of the important events that subsequently occur in the lives of the main protagonists happen as a result of his sudden appearance. Without seeming to do so directly, the Grinnygog influences and twists the threads of fate so that the correct people are in the correct place at the correct time.

The witches of the wayside faith appear later and for a while their motivations are a mystery to the children that the story centres around most and, by extension, a mystery to the viewers, too.

There are five kids in all, four of whom work together to create a museum of local history, a place where the town's past can be viewed and appreciated by everyone regardless of age. Their research not only educates them in the obvious manner but also proves useful in other ways.

- The Grinnygog. It's a low-res picture but it's all I have because like most (or all?) of TVS productions from the era it's not currently available on disc. -

It's both a fascinating and enjoyable exercise for me as an adult to look back at children's television from yesteryear and note how often the makers of the shows tried to scare the crap out of us while simultaneously feeding us compelling tales of Britain's pagan past.

TWatG doesn't tread the scary route but does take the other, and it does it in such a way that neither condescends nor elevates the importance of one individual belief system over the other.

I feel that's an important point to stress because being a children's show means that its target audience is typically more suggestible than viewers in some other genres, and kids should always respectfully be allowed the freedom to form their own opinion about such matters.