The Box of Delights (1984)

Directed by

Renny Rye

Genre

fantasy television program

Country

United Kingdom

Length

1 season, 6 episodes

Rating

8.0 of 10 from 13 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A schoolboy gets a magical box that lets him travel through time and change his shape. He must keep the box away from an evil magician.

whimsicalmagicaladventurousnostalgiclightheartedsuspensefulchildlike wonderenchanting

What happens

The Box of Delights is a BBC Television adaptation of John Masefield's 1935 children's fantasy novel The Box of Delights starring Devin Stanfield, Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens. It was broadcast on BBC1 between 21 November and 24 December 1984. The series was adapted from Masefield's novel by Alan Seymour, directed by Renny Rye and produced by Paul Stone. The series is a fantasy adventure about a schoolboy who is entrusted with a magical box which allows him to time travel and shapeshift to protect the box from an evil magician. An innovative mixture of live action and animation, the production made extensive use of the Quantel Paintbox and chroma key effects. The series cost £1 million to make in 1984 (£3.36 million in 2024), the most expensive children's series the BBC had made to that date, but it was widely acclaimed and won a number of BAFTA and RTS awards, in particular for its special effects. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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