The Box of Delights (1984)

The Box of Delights (1984)

Dir. Renny Rye | 6 episodes, approx 30 minutes each.

In Britain TBoD is much-loved by many people, both young and old. I suspect that at least some part of the warm feelings that accompany such thoughts are to do with similar feelings toward the holiday season in which it's typically shown on television; i.e. the lead up to Christmas.

I'm not implying that to love the series you need also to love Christmas, but there's a definite correlation there. As such, while I sincerely enjoy what the production does on a technical level, its 'seasonal magic' is merely perfunctory for me.

And I apologise if it seems like I'm treading cruelly on someone's childhood memories when I say that the story is frequently uneven, losing ground in the middle section before pulling it back for an exciting ending that was itself followed by what I'd consider a clichéd cop-out if it wasn't for the slight ambiguity that lingers as the credits roll. Not meant to be unkind, it's simply a true refection of one person's feelings.

The story revolves around eleven-year-old schoolboy Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield), travelling home for the holidays. His adventure begins before he's even stepped off the train, and it moves to the next level when he bumps into a bearded Patrick Troughton (both pictured below), an encounter that changes the course of the youth's planned winter break.

The box of the title, which is more like a box of tricks than one of delights, is sought by a number of unscrupulous people who'll do almost anything to retrieve it. Kay and his friends must do their best to help keep it from the villains' lupine hands. The young actors are all fine, but the danger level never reaches the heights that were needed to keep me fully engaged with their plight. But I must admit that I sometimes find it difficult to relate to privileged rich kids.

It may appeal to fans of the BBC's more well-publicised adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988), which it predates by four years. (The original source novel for TBoD by John Masefield also predates Lewis' Narnia books. TBoD was published in 1935, whereas The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe didn't appear until 1950. For the record, I've read the Narnia books but not Masefield's, so can't comment on its merit as an adaptation.)

The 'technical' aspects that I mentioned above are used to enable the magical properties of the box to be realised onscreen. The effects are a mixture of practical work, chroma key, actors in suits and beautiful hand drawn animation. The latter was by far my favourite; the scenes of animals running, flying, etc, through various environments are often enchanting.