The Owl Service (1969-70)

The Owl Service (1969-70)

Dir. Peter Plummer | 8 episodes, approx 24 mins each.

Adapted from Alan Garner's 1967 novel of the same name, The Owl Service is a story that draws from Britain's pagan past in order to comment on present day social situations (c. late 1960s).

At its core are three youths in their late teens, not blood relations but through circumstance living in the same country house in a remote Welsh valley.

Firstly there's Alison (Gillian Hills), whose mother Margaret is newly married to a man named Clive.

The second youth is Roger (Francis Wallis), Clive's privileged son who over the course of the eight short episodes begins to lust after his step-sister.

The final corner of the triangle is Gwyn (Michael Holden), the son of cranky housekeeper Nancy and the only one of the trio that's working class.

There's a peculiar groundsman (Raymond Llewellyn), too, but while each of the adults play a part in what follows, initially the drama revolves around the three children and the events that unfold after a mysterious scratching is heard coming from the attic of the house one evening.

It's a difficult series to classify; it's primarily a drama about young adult relationships, obligation and social class, but has a mystery with elements of supernatural and fantasy and could even be classed as a ghost story without any actual ghosts (kind of). In addition to all of that there's an influential local myth involving flowers and owls, murder and sexual jealousy that becomes increasingly relevant. The youths struggle with individual challenges while inheriting a larger one, one that has played out before in previous generations. In many ways, they're heirs to tragedy.

- Roger, Alison, Gywn. -

It takes its time revealing the bigger picture, building its themes of desire and jealously in an oddly continental manner, with striking camerawork and editing, particularly the final episode.

Screened at the time in B+W (due to TV workers strike), the Network DVD is taken from the original full colour film stock, which is just as well because colour plays a notable role (if you've watched the series but didn't pick up on what I'm referring to, Gwyn hints at its use indirectly when he speaks of his records). Like a lot of Network's Children's TV, it's a good example of what teen drama in Britain used to be: not dumbed down nor afraid to challenge its audience.

The flip side of that approach is that the relationships may be too complex for a young audience to follow. Its subtlety (e.g., Roger's 'comical' Sigmund Freud) and its boundary-pushing steps in the opposite direction (e.g., the night-time scene in Alison's secret retreat) will make sense to older viewers, but you certainly wouldn't see the likes of it today in a Children's TV time-slot.

- Alison and groundsman Huw. -