Tag: HTV West

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Sky

Goodchild

SearchArby stops Sky from engaging in battle with the newly arrived figure in the forest, but they are picked up by the police, who press breaking/entering and assault charges against Sky because of his encounter with Roy’s father. Sky uses his ability to influence the mind of others to convince the police sergeant to release him. There is another brief encounter with the shadowy figure from the forest, convincing Sky that not only is he in danger, but Arby, Jane and Roy are in danger due to their contact with him.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Terry Harding
music by Eric Wetherell

SkyCast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Jack Watson (Major Briggs), Frances Cuka (Mrs. Vennor), Thomas Heathcote (Mr. Vennor), Robert Eddison (Goodchild)

Notes: The 2″ master videotape of this episode suffered critical damage in the 1990s, and is Skyrepresented on DVD by a VHS backup copy of noticeably lower quality. David Jackson (1934–2005) would go on to play freedom fighter Gan, a member of the Liberator crew during the first two seasons of the BBC’s space opera Blake’s 7.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sky

What Dread Hand

SearchThe shadowy man known only as Goodchild has attacked Sky again, rendering the boy feeble and weak; Roy, Arby and Jane take him to the nearest hospital, unsure of what else they can do to help him. In the hospital, Sky continues muttering something about the Juganet, and tries to reach out telepathically to his new friends for help, but otherwise remains in a trancelike state. Goodchild adopts a less medieval outfit to blend in and finish the battle, and Sky’s friends may not be able to save him in time.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Derek Clark
music by Eric Wetherell

SkyCast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Jack Watson (Major Briggs), Frances Cuka (Mrs. Vennor), Thomas Heathcote (Mr. Vennor), Meredith Edwards (Tom), Gerald Hel (Dr. Saul), Ursula Barclay (First Nurse), Monica Lavers (Second Nurse), Barbara Baber (Receptionist), Geoff Serle (Orderly), Robert Eddison (Goodchild)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sky

Evalake

SearchWith the help of Tommy, the mental patient from the hospital, Sky tries to explain the circular nature of the Juganet to his friends. At the same time, Sky learns about Earth religions, and marvels at the destructiveness of the human race. With the help of Arby and Jane, Sky narrows down the possible site of the Juganet on Earth to a tall, round hill topped by an ancient castle. Sky goes there, intent to activate the Juganet to return to his home dimension, but Goodchild is also there.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Terry Harding
music by Eric Wetherell

SkyCast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Jack Watson (Major Briggs), Meredith Edwards (Tom), Pruella Ransome (Susannah), Sean Lynch (Michael), Gerard Hely (Dr. Saul), Ursula Barclay (First Nurse), Monica Lavers (Second Nurse), Robert Eddison (Goodchild)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sky

Life Force

SearchAs has happened virtually every time he has left their company, Sky once again comes under psychic attack when he leaves Arby and Jane to go it alone. When they try to help, they are locked into a room in the castle by a man working for Goodchild. Roy, with the police in tow, comes looking for his friends, but no one hears their cries for help. The battle between the elemental forces of nature is joined. At stake: the future of all life on Earth, and the secret of the location of the Juganet.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Leonard White
music by Eric Wetherell

Cast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Trevor Ray (Rex), John Curry (Policeman), Robert Eddison Sky(Goodchild)

Notes: Guest star Trevor Ray is also a writer of some renown, as well as co-creator of two genre series of his own, Children Of The Stones and Raven – both of which were also produced and broadcast by HTV West, and both of which also concern ancient stone circles.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sky

Chariot Of Fire

SearchThe Juganet is revealed: 20th century civilization knows it as Stonehenge. Sky steps into the stone circle and vanishes; a disbelieving Arby follows him, and finds himself in another time, among what he believes is Sky’s civilization, though they banish him to a “place of darkness” for being evil. Sky explains that these are the descendants of humanity, dedicated to harmony with nature – and that they may achieve more than 20th century civilization ever could. But none of that answers the question of whether or not Arby can safely return to his own time.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
directed by Derek Clark
music by Eric Wetherell

SkyCast: Marc Harrison (Sky), Stuart Lock (Arby Vennor), Cherrald Butterfield (Jane Vennor), Richard Speight (Roy Briggs), Bernard Archard (Haril), Peter Copley (Revil), Robert Eddison (Goodchild)

Notes: The 2″ master videotape of this episode suffered critical damage in the 1990s, and is Skyrepresented on DVD by a VHS backup copy of noticeably lower quality. This is the final episode of the series, and its nature-over-technology message is strikingly similar to a BBC series, The Changes, aired the same year.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Into The Circle

Children Of The StonesAstrophysicist Adam Brake and his son Matthew move to the village of Milbury, home to an ancient megalithic stone circle whose magnetic properties Brake wants to study. Milbury seems pleasant enough, but also odd: Brake nearly runs over his new housekeeper in his car, but moments before, Matthew perceived the woman as a large stone standing in the road. The population seems joined in lockstep, making the new arrivals’ sense of discomfort even more acute. Brake meets a fellow academic who has just arrived in Milbury, and learns of her inexplicable feelings of foreboding. Matthew continues to have strange visions of free-standing stones who turn out to be nothing more than the local townsfolk, and has a hard time as an outsider in the local school. Though who don’t immediately assimilate into the Milbury mindset are branded “strange” by their neighbors.

When Adam Brake’s new acquaintance suggests he should touch one of the ancient stones, “strange” doesn’t even begin to describe what happens next.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Cast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Freddie Jones (Dai), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), Peter Demin (Matthew), Katharine Levy (Sandra), Ian Donnolly (Bob), Darren Hatch (Kevin), Jimmy Lock (Jimmo), June Barrie (Mrs. Clegg), Peggy Ann Wood (Mrs. Warner)

Notes: A single-season supernatural children’s series produced by regional UK TV network HTV West and broadcast nationally on ITV, Children Of The Stones is remembered to this day for its unsettling storyline, imagery and music. In retrospect, it seems doubtful that such a series could be produced for children in this day and age.

Children Of The StonesGareth Thomas, a popular actor in Welsh television and theater, was already well on his way becoming a mainstream star on UK television when he took the lead protagonist role in children Of The Stones. The actor behind Adam Brake would later become interplanterary revolutionary Roj Blake in Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7, which premiered a year after this series. He faced off against Nation’s other famous creations, the Daleks, in a series of Big Finish audio plays, and returned to Wales for a guest role in the first season of Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood.

Respected British character actor Freddie Jones, perhaps best remembered in genre circles for portraying Thufir Haway in David Lynch’s film version of Dune, has appeared in countless genre TV roles (The Avengers, Out Of The Unknown, Space: 1999, Neverwhere, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) and many high-profile movies (Firefox, Krull, The Elephant Man, Firestarter, The Black Cauldron, Young Sherlock Holmes).

Series co-creator Trevor Ray was an uncredited “assistant script editor” for much of Patrick Troughton’s final season as Doctor Who and part of Jon Pertwee’s first year. Script editor Terrance Dicks faced such a heavy workload of rewriting scripts (or writing last-minute replacements for unsuitable scripts) that Ray was hired to help. He eventually vacated the post to become the script editor of the troubled spy series Paul Temple, whose producers were Troughton-era Who veterans Derrick Sherwin and Paul Bryant.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Circle Of Fear

Children Of The StonesKnocked out cold by his brief contact with one of the stones in Millbury’s stone circle, Brake is taken home by Margaret to recover. Margaret is sure that what happens on contact with one of the stones is psychic in nature, but Brake insists that the explanation is electromagnetism… and yet he can’t shake the impressions that are left in his mind. Matthew is shaken by an encounter with Dai, who would seem to be the village idiot, but he also quickly realizes that Dai seems to be more of an individual than the rest of the townsfolk. But Dai’s warning – that no one can ever leave the circle – is disturbing. Brake probes the circle with sonar and finds a bowl-shaped rock formation in the center of the circle, almost resembling a receiving dish, and Matthew discovers that the stones, rather than being aligned with respect to the positions of the sun or moon at any particular solstice, are all upright: pointed in the same direction as the buried dish formation, toward some unknown point in the constellation Ursa Major. Brake’s attempt to take Margaret out on a date that doesn’t involve psychic phenomena falls flat – because at night, almost everyone in Millbury simply vanishes. But Matthew knows where everyone has gone: they’re standing at the center of the stone circle, hands joined, wailing an eerie song…

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Cast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Freddie Jones (Dai), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), Peter Demin (Matthew)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Serpent In The Circle

Children Of The StonesAs Matthew recovers from receiving a mysterious shock suffered by touching one of the stones, Brake meets Dai for the first time and learns that Matthew and a few other recently-arrived children in the Millbury school look up to the scruffy poacher. Dai lets the children draw a copy of a design on an ancient stone he keeps with him, bearing the image of a snake. Brake’s inquiries with his colleagues at the Mount Palomar observatory reveal an interesting fact: the point in Ursa Major at which the Millbury stone circle is aimed was the site of a supernova spotted near the beginning of recorded history, a place in the sky where modern astronomers now know a black hole exists. Brake isn’t the only man in Millbury who knows this, either: his landlord, Hendrick, is a retired astronomer renowned for researching the early accounts of the supernova. And more and more of Millbury’s new arrivals are falling under the town’s strange spell before Brake’s eyes.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Children Of The StonesCast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Freddie Jones (Dai), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), Peter Demin (Matthew), Katharine Levy (Sandra), Darren Hatch (Kevin), Jimmy Lock (Jimmo), Richard Matthews (Dr. Lyle), June Barrie (Mrs. Clegg), Hubert Tucker (Browning)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Narrowing Circle

Children Of The StonesWith more people falling into the strange, almost suspiciously carefree behavior of Millbury’s longtime residents, Brake and Margaret find a fellow skeptic in Dr. Lyle, who claims that no one in Millbury ever seems to get sick, which seems to eliminate the need for a town doctor. Putting together what they know, they determine that there are two others seemingly immune to Millbury’s perpetually happy mindset: Hendrick, the town mayor, and Dai, the homeless poacher Matthew Brake has befriended. Dr. Lyle has plans to leave town briefly, but he leaves his gloves at Brake’s house. Matthew touches the gloves and sees a strange event befalling Lyle at the edge of town: a psychic vision through the doctor’s eyes. When Dr. Lyle returns, however, he has changed – he’s now the same as everyone else in Millbury. And when the amulet he claims has been protecting him is broken, Dai suffers an even worse fate.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Children Of The StonesCast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Freddie Jones (Dai), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Peter Demin (Matthew), Katharine Levy (Sandra), Richard Matthews (Dr. Lyle), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), Peggy Ann Wood (Mrs. Warner), Darren Hatch (Kevin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Charmed Circle

Children Of The StonesAdam Brake rushes to Hendrick’s home to report Dai’s death, and Hendrick calmly insists on seeing the poacher’s body for himself. When he and Brake return, there’s nothing but broken stone at the spot where Dai died. But Brake also collected the broken fragments of Dai’s amulet – fragments that now fit in perfect alignment with fragments of an identical amulet found decades ago near the body a man found crushed by one of the stones in Millbury’s stone circle. When placed together, the fragments complete the ancient amulet, and Matthew recevies another vision. Margaret and her daughter also received a dinner invitation from Hendrickson, an invitation which will change everything.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Children Of The StonesCast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Freddie Jones (Dai), Peter Demin (Matthew), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Katharine Levy (Sandra), John Woodnutt (Link), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree)

Notes: Though credited, Freddie Jones appears in this episode only in a clip recapping the previous episode.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Squaring The Circle

Children Of The StonesMargaret and Sandra return from their dinner at Hendrick’s home – in reality, a temple fashioned to serve as the center of the circle in Millbury – completely changed. Adam and Matthew no longer have any allies in Millbury. Matthew sees Hendrick near the local church – a church which has supposedly been unoccupied by either priest or parishioners for years – and sneaks inside, finding cutting-edge computers… and Hendrick waiting for him. Hendrick returns Matthew home, but now Adam is certain that he and his son need to leave Millbury.

If, indeed, it’s actually possible for anyone to leave.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Children Of The StonesCast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Peter Demin (Matthew), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Katharine Levy (Sandra), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), John Woodnutt (Link)

Notes: The notion that time is passing at a different rate outside Millbury than it is within the village – and that there’s only one point at which there’s an interface between the two – beats the acclaimed series Lost to one of its central twists by 30 years.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Children Of The Stones

Full Circle

Children Of The StonesAdam and Matthew’s attempt to escape Millbury has failed, and they awaken in Hendrick’s home, presumably captives until their own dinner date with destiny. The father and son frantically brainstorm ways to avoid becoming brainwashed like everyone else they’ve met in Millbury, and devise a way to throw off Hendrick’s meticulous timing in order to avoid the stone circles lining up with the black hole Hendrick discovered. In the showdown between Brake’s astrophysical science and Hendrick’s strange brand of Pagan science, there’s only one uncertainty: whether or not Adam and Matthew Brake will survive with their free will intact.

written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Children Of The StonesCast: Iain Cuthbertson (Hendrick), Gareth Thomas (Adam), Peter Demin (Matthew), Veronica Strong (Margaret), Katharine Levy (Sandra), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Crabtree), John Woodnutt (Link)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Into The Labyrinth Season 1

Rothgo

Into The LabyrinthTerry and Helen, brother and sister, seek shelter in a cave when their day of playing outside is ruined by a sudden and violent thunderstorm. They’re not alone, either: an older boy named Phil has also sought refuge in the cave…but all of them hear another voice, somewhere deeper in the cave, asking for help. They find a man trapped under an enormous stone, a piece of rock that by all rights should have crushed him to death. With his instruction, they are amazed that they have the power to lift the stone and free him. He introduces himself as the wizard Rothgo, and he has been trapped in the cave by a sorceress named Belor. He seeks something called the Nidus, a magical item that will allow him to concentrate his power and escape his prison…but since he can’t leave the caves, he must trust his three new young friends to enter the labyrinth, and journey through various times in history to find it. They will find him there at various stages of his long, magically-extended life, and will have to seek his help against Belor. Their journey begins…

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker
based on an idea by Bob Baker & Peter Graham Scott
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Into The LabyrinthCast: Ron Moody (Rothgo), Pamela Salem (Belor), Lisa Turner (Helen), Simon Henderson (Terry), Simon Beal (Phil)

Notes: Executive producer Peter Dromgoole also worked with series co-creator Bob Baker on his previous series, Sky (1975), along with director (and series co-creator) Peter Graham Scott and composer Sidney Sager, was an integral part of a much-loved Into The Labyrinthprevious HTV children’s fantasy series, Children Of The Stones, in 1977. Like Children Of The Stones, Into The Labyrinth successfully jumped the Atlantic to become part of the “Third Eye” strand of children’s programming on nascent cable channel Nickelodeon, but only the first season was shown to American audiences.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Into The Labyrinth Season 1

The Circle

Into The LabyrinthTerry, Phil and Helen arrive at a point in the past that they can only identify as “druidic times”, where a bearded old man in tattered robes singles Phil out as his new champion and hands him a gleaming sword. Phil is to challenge an arrogant ruler named Cynon, who himself seems to have magical powers rivaling Rothgo’s. Phil also thinks he’s spotted the Nidus in the form of a shield, but when he and the others summon Rothgo for help, they may be fatally distracting the wizard from a battle he’s fighting with Belor on the astral plane.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker
based on an idea by Bob Baker & Peter Graham Scott
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Into The LabyrinthCast: Ron Moody (Rothgo), Pamela Salem (Belor), Lisa Turner (Helen), Simon Henderson (Terry), Simon Beal (Phil), Paul Lavers (Cynon), Edwina Ford (Bradwen), Peewee Hunt (Caw)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Into The Labyrinth Season 1

Robin

Into The LabyrinthStill on the trail of the Nidus, Phil, Terry, and Helen arrive at a new location in the labyrinth, and in a new time. When they are attacked by sword-yielding guards, Helen is separated from the boys, and meets a man named Robin…Robin of Loxley, or Robin Hood, as legend knows him. Still engaged in his struggle against the Sheriff of Nottingham, he believes Helen to be the Sheriff’s niece, and potentially a valuable hostage. Phil and Terry find a dazed magician they believe is Rothgo…but Belor is employing more trickery than usual to throw them off the trail of the Nidus.

Order the DVDswritten by Bob Baker
based on an idea by Bob Baker & Peter Graham Scott
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Sidney Sager

Into The LabyrinthCast: Ron Moody (Rothgo), Pamela Salem (Belor), Lisa Turner (Helen), Simon Henderson (Terry), Simon Beal (Phil), Tony Wright (Robin of Loxley), Conrad Phillips (Sheriff of Nottingham), Patricia Driscoll (Marian), Suzanne Wright (Rowena), Philip Manikum (Guard Captain)

LogBook entry by Earl Green