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There’s a genuinely spooky, haunting feel to Moondial , and whilst perhaps modern viewers may turn away from a six-part adventure because of the pacing, the story is never less than interesting and raises plenty of questions in the mind of the viewer. Not all are always answered, and perhaps this is no bad thing – viewers don’t always need to be spoon-fed. This is a complex, layered story rather than your typical runaround adventure which caught the attention of children: some even being interviewed for the BBC’s Take Two programme to voice their opinions. Paul Stone also appeared, answering questions from Phillip Schofield on whether the serial was too scary for younger viewers.
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If you want to know how they achieve it, you will have to read the book for yourself, but I can tell you it isn't as straightforward a solution as you might think. I'm not even sure if you will think it's a happy ending, but the children seem pleased enough.
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Helen Cresswell continued the writing duties for the TV adaptation having previously written scripts for The Bagthorpe Saga and The Secret World of Polly Flint. Keen to continue in the world of telefantasy, Cresswell also went on to script Five Children and It, The Return of the Psammead, The Demon Headmaster and The Phoenix and the Carpet. Directing Moondial was Colin Cant who had previously directed the equally spooky The Children of Green Knowe and later found himself in the director's chair for Russell T Davies' early, mysterious offerings of Dark Season and Century Falls. Built between 1685 and 1688 by John Brownlow (1659-97), along with the ponds and gardens, Belton House sits in the parish of Belton and Manthorpe not far from Grantham, Lincolnshire. Situated on the axial pathway is a figure of Time made from Portland stone, seated on a globe and supporting a baluster column with the assistance of a cherub. Atop this statue is a brass sundial inscribed by Thomas Wright and dating to 1725. [3] I have a vague recollection of being 7 years old, coming home from school and watching a terrfying kid's tv show in which a young girl with a birthmark on her face cannot look in a mirror for fear she'll summon the devil. I knew there was a sundial central to the story, but didn't know much else about it - and couldn't find anyone else who remembered it, until I met Alysa.
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Children’s drama in this era was thought-provoking and intelligent, with real care and attention made during the productions. The BBC seemed to go to great lengths to produce high quality programmes that made children think, entertained them and which didn’t belittle them. Like most other drama of this period, Moondial was made entirely on videotape (with quite a bit of day-for-night recording too), but this doesn’t detract from the quality of the storytelling and the series still manages to stand up to scrutiny today. Cant resists the temptation to go overboard with special effects (which would undoubtedly date any production), with only minimal use of video effects. Even the day-for-night material has a slightly unsettling quality to it, due to the images having been slightly colour desaturated. A legacy of Helen’s book is the Moondial Trail which she worked on with the Learning and Community officer at Belton House. The trail begins in the west courtyard, going through the entrance into the garden. School parties are encouraged to use their senses along the trail. Standing on the north terrace the path to the sundial lies ahead. Going through the church gate the trail reaches the icy corner of the tower and Tom’s headstone, before going onto the Orangery and the fountain in the pool of the Italian garden. This trail helps children experience the garden as the author and Minty did. Jacqueline Pearce is the standout name amongst the guest cast, taking the dual role of Miss Raven and Miss Vole. Familiar to 1980s viewers of course as Servalan from Blake’s 7, Moondial represents one of the – sadly – few major roles that she would go on to take on. Cant would use her again in Dark Season, again as a villain, and it appears that she became somewhat typecast following her time as the Supreme Commander. It would have been interesting to have seen such a talented actress in a wider variety of roles. As Miss Raven, Pearce looks like and plays the part rather similarly to that of Servalan, but is never less than captivating. Miss Vole, is even worse – she is completely horrid to Sarah and the scenes in which Vole torments the girl shows of some of Pearce’s most effective ever acting. But Sarah is an innocent, beautiful child who has been led to believe she is evil has seemingly never been loved or accepted by anyone. At one point, Minty and Tom witness her daring venture into the daylight and trying to wash the devil’s mark from her face by the fountain in a heart-breaking scene that shows the true extent of the mental torment she has been subjected to. And all the while, as she walks the grounds of Belton House in darkness, singing her solitary song, ‘I’m weeping for a play-mate on a bright summers day’ she is completely unaware she has two mates awaiting to save her from her loneliness.
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I recognised Helen Cresswell's name as writing the screenwriter for the excellent BBC adaptation of The Demon Headmaster so was interested to find out she had written some fiction for children. It features children from three different time periods – Minty of the 1980s, Tom from the 1860s and Sarah from the 1770s. Moondial, a ‘time shift within a time shift’ centres around the sundial in the gardens of Belton House. As 2017 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Moondial, an exhibition loaned by the Cresswell family has been on show in Belton House’s library. And, again - who was Miss Raven and what truly was her objective? With just that little bit more, this book could have had full marks from me. Regardless, I did enjoy it, and will probably gladly reread it at some point. And I will read further works by this author, time and availability permitting. :) I spoke to one school child who went on the ‘Below stairs’ tour and experienced life as a kitchen boy. He dressed up as a servant polishing the silver in the kitchen which was used as part of the filming of the television series. He learnt that all the kitchen boys were called Tom. Tom in Moondial is the kitchen boy from the 1860s. Connecting the house to the kitchen is a tunnel with a rail for moving food to the dining room. When the kitchen boys were in the tunnel, they had to whistle or hum to stop them eating anything on the way. Century Belton House sees a ghostly, shrouded, and hooded figure walk its gardens. This is Sarah (Helena Avellano), the third child in this story, who is hidden in the depths of Belton House by the oppressive and abusive Miss Vole (Jacqueline Pearce) – whose mirror image is, inexplicably, that of Miss Raven, a ghost hunter, who torments Minty in the present day with unspoken threats of finding the children. Sarah hides in shame and internal loathing and only dares venture out into the late night.
Books by Helen Cresswell (Author of Moondial) - Goodreads
Moondial itself owes a little to some of Creswell’s earlier books, especially Polly Flint, but the whimsy is countered by a darkness and a genuine thrill at knowing that kids don’t need to have EVERY question answered because they can provide their own solutions when necessary. There’s a lovey ambiguity about the ending, about who Miss Vole and Miss Raven might be, and where Tom and Dorrie and Sarah actually go. Creswell provides some endings but also leaves other bits wildly open to interpretation which is incredibly bold and welcome in a genre where the gap between what adults what think kids want (tidy endings) and what kids actually will accept (messiness, strangeness and room to make their own endings) is often very large indeed. It’s less scary and dark than the TV version but treads a fine line between whimsy and menace during the best passagesShe finds herself drawn by some deep and secret force to the sundial in the grounds of old Belton House which she immediately knows, by instinct, is also a moondial. Now, really, there is no such thing as a moondial for telling the time with because the moon, unlike the sun, does not always follow the same path through the skies. But a sundial cannot work during dark moonlight hours, so the ordinary rules of time don't apply when the sundial is working as a moondial. That's how this time travel story works.
Moondial | Book reviews | RGfE - Reading Groups Moondial | Book reviews | RGfE - Reading Groups
And if P J Lynch had illustrated the tower with the golden pennants which never moved in the breeze, I'd have been most grateful - I never understood how this was meant: like stiff flags, vertically from the tower or corners? Or hanging horizontally and downwards from rampants? Or strung along like a bunting? For some reason I never got a good mental image of this, nor understood why Minty wondered if they ever moved.The illustrator of Moondial, P J Lynch, was a young man who had recently left Brighton Art College and was illustrating book covers for Faber when he was given Moondial to read. He told me that once he had read the book, he was excited about illustrating it. There are around twelve line drawings which are evocative of the mood of the story and add an air of mystery to the book. P J Lynch’s front cover cleverly captures several elements of the book, including the Halloween masks taken from the faces on the urns in the garden and the cloaked figure of Sarah. He was particularly pleased with the front cover which is still used by Faber. Moondial’ (1988) is available on DVD from Second Sight Films, originally released 4 May 2015. BBFC classification PG. Running time 158 mins. Catalogue no. 2NDVD3274.