This review originally appeared in wessex chronicle volume 14 issue 3 (autumn 2013)
For those of us who are concerned with localism and regional consciousness, ITV is in a sorry state these days. Local programming is largely confined to an hour or less of news every day, and regions are fewer and larger than they were. But until the last decade or so, ITV genuinely felt like a network, with different regions having their own identity and specialities. HTV was my region growing up in Bristol in the 1970s, and its speciality was fantasy and science fiction shows aimed at a family audience. Coincidentally, Cardiff – which housed one of HTV’s two headquarters, the other being Bristol – is still a hub for such shows, but for the BBC rather than its main rival.
One of the most fondly remembered HTV fantasy shows was Children of the Stones, which thanks to renewed interest, including a radio documentary presented by Stewart Lee, has recently been given a welcome re-release on DVD by the good folks at Network. According to the informative 24-page booklet that comes with the DVD, the ongoing popularity of the show is a classic example of the law of unintended consequences. The 1984 Video Recordings Act, which was crafted in response to the moral panic over so-called “video nasties”, required all home videos, with the exception of those in a few exempt categories, to carry a BBFC certificate. The original video distributor was not prepared to shell out the classification fee for what it saw as a marginal title, and the existing copies were removed from circulation. However, many of them ended up being sold off cheaply before the law came into effect, in order to get rid of them before it became illegal to sell them. Rather than killing Children of the Stones, the legal ban actually ended up boosting its circulation. The series was eventually classified as PG in 2002.
The DVD itself preserves the episodes very carefully, even beginning each one with the old HTV West “television aerial” logo. The sound of the jingle (known as Waterfall) took me back instantly to my childhood. Regrettably, though, Network has also decided to include the original placement of the ad breaks. These involve the actors having to stand still for an uncomfortably long time while the words “End of Part One” appear on the screen, which creates an unintentionally humorous effect, reminiscent of the end credits of Police Squad! (in color), where Leslie Nielsen and co would pretend to freeze frame as some bit of comic business goes on in the background.
You’ll notice that I haven’t said too much about the series itself. This is because it is one of those cases where the less you know going in the more you’ll enjoy the story. However, if I describe it as “The Wicker Man meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, you will at least have some idea of the tone, if not all the specifics of the plot. It was famously shot at Avebury, here renamed Milbury. The Hardyesque renaming gives the programme-makers an artistic licence that they wouldn’t have had if they’d used real place names. However, the story draws heavily on Avebury’s folklore and history. Producer Patrick Dromgoole was fond of using real Wessex locations in his drama serials, seeing it as compliant with HTV’s legal requirement, which it shared with all ITV regions, to provide regionally relevant programming. How sad that this legal requirement has apparently been lost, leading to an unbalanced representation of the regions on national television, as previously detailed by Jim Gunter in one of our early issues.
I mentioned the DVD booklet earlier, but I do want to return to it, as it really is excellent. It provides a history not only of Children of the Stones, but HTV’s entire telefantasy output, from Arthur of the Britons to Into the Labyrinth. After the latter, HTV’s output shifted to more realistic, non-genre dramas such as Jangles, starring Hazel O’Connor, though they did continue to produce the occasional one-off drama in the fantasy genre, not to mention Robin of Sherwood, which looked outside the HTV region for its inspiration.
Sample episodes of four of the most popular shows appear on the second disc in this 2-disc set, three of them coming from the fertile minds of Bob Baker and Dave Martin, aka “the Bristol Boys”. These include King of the Castle, a show that was originally intended to join Children of the Stones on what would nowadays be called CITV, but was judged too scary for a kiddie slot and shown later in the evening instead. The BBFC evidently agreed, giving the DVD of the show a 12 certificate. Because an episode appears here, this certificate is transferred to the disc as a whole, despite Children of the Stones itself only being a PG. It’s an odd decision, as is the fact that the sample episodes on the disc are almost all episode 2 of their respective serial. Episode 1 of each serial is contained on Network DVD’s sampler disc, which effectively makes disc 2 of this set an advert for an advert! Whilst I consider this a foolish move, I do commend Network for their sterling work in bringing some classic, Wessex-related television to a new generation of fans. Long may they continue