Underplayed Gems

The Magician's House (1999)

The Magician's House poster
Directed by
Paul Lynch
Genre
sci-fi & fantasy, family, drama
Country
United Kingdom
Length
2 seasons, 12 episodes
Rated
12
Rating
6.0 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Four children discover a magical house in the countryside where they encounter talking animals and travel to different times. The series follows their adventures as they try to protect their home from modern development.

whimsicalgentlenostalgicmysteriouscozyslighly-magicalslow-pacedearthy

What happens

The Magician's House is a quartet of children's fantasy books by William Corlett. Two mini-series were produced in 1999 for British television, which were directed by Paul Lynch. The series featured Jennifer Saunders and Stephen Fry voicing some of the animal characters. The books were published in the early 1990s, and named as follows: The Steps up the Chimney The Door in the Tree The Tunnel behind the Waterfall The Bridge in the Clouds Although in a rural setting, this series' focus on subjects such as industrial development and the combining of present-day and past settings in the plotline gives it a feeling tending more towards urban fantasy than simply contemporary fantasy. In addition, though there is no specific mention of Welsh myths and legends, the strong part nature plays in the stories and the settings bring to mind other British children's authors. Authors like Elizabeth Goudge, noted for The Little White Horse, and Alan Garner, who is perhaps best known for The Owl Service and Elidor, and Susan Cooper, famous for The Dark Is Rising sequence of books, who allude more specifically to British myth and legend in their writings. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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