Children of the Stones

[bookzombie]

Those British people of a certain age may remember a childrens' TV series called <i>Children of the Stones</i>.


Filmed at Avebury, with its famous stone circle, it starred a pre-<i>Blakes 7</i> Gareth Thomas as Adam Brake, a scientist who arrives with his teenage son, Matthew, to investigate the magnetic properties of the stones.

In a convoluted story, Adam discovers that they have become stuck in a time loop and family by family the inhabitants are being drained of their free will by the psychic power collected by the circle, all this arranged by the self-styled squire, Hendrick, played by Iain Cutherbertson.

The series was one of my great childhood memories and even seeing at an adult (and being more aware of its weaknesses) it is eerily effective. One thing that also stands out now is the relationship between the two adult characters who, unusually in childrens' drama, have scenes apart from the children and actually act like adults.

Anyway, this is all ancient history and you may wonder why I bring this up now? Well, I recently discovered that the writers, Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray, actually wrote a book adaptation. I had no idea this existed and managed to trace a copy via Amazon Marketplace. Judging from that fact that most copies seemed to be ex-library copies (even the UK edition) I can only assume that the book had a small print run which mainly went to libraries. I was hoping that the book might add some depth to the story and clarify some of the confusion.

Alas, the book is the old-fashioned type of adaptation which pretty much transcribes the script onto the page. The book actually manages to make you realise how much the original series depended on three things to work: the setting, the eery and discordant choral soundtrack, and the way the characters are portrayed by the actors.

To take an example, in the series Matthew discovers that he has the power of being able to hold an object and find things out about the person it belongs to (a sort-of psychometry). Towards the end of the series, Matthew steals the headscarf belonging to his friend, Sandra, to try and see what happens when she and her mother go to see Hendrick. When Adam discovers it he teases Matthew a little, wrapping the scarf around Matthew's head and joking that it doesn't suit him. In the series this is played fairly humourously and says much about the warm relationship between Adam and Matthew. In the book it is described thus:

         When the the girls were gone Adam demanded an explanation. Why on earth should Matthew want to steal Sandra's scarf?
         Matthew protested, "I only borrowed it."
         "But it doesn't suit you."
         They both laughed, then Matthew, rather self-consciously, for it was a far-out idea that he had, told his father...

And so on.
Sorry, but this is just dead; it has none of the character that the television series has. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by the quality of an adaptation, but the book is poor even by tie-in standards.
To be fair, the book does enhance a couple of things: you realise that Hendrick honestly thinks that what he is doing is the best thing for everyone, and his manservant, Link, comes across as much more the power behind the throne.

It was interesting to read the book; it was a reminder of how bad tie-ins can be. But best let any cherished memories you might have of the series be unspoiled.

Comments

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

Feel vaguely guilty that I'd not mentioned this to you as I am sure as sure can be, without going downstairs to look, that I have a copy of this.

[sdn.livejournal.com]

a far-out idea

oh dear.

what happens in the end of the series?

[bookzombie.livejournal.com]

A bit of an explanation of what is actually going is needed to explain what happens at the end. So (deep breath!):

The stone circle is at the centre of a set of ley-lines (53 in fact, the same as the number of stones and the number of people in the village until Adam & Matt arrived) and the stones are collecting and storing the psychic energy from the lines.

Hendrick's is taking this power and projecting it up from the circle into a black hole which is directly above the circle at certain times (yes I know this doesn't make a lot of sense, but hey). The dining room in Hendrick's house is in the centre of the cirle and he 'converts' people by having them in the dining room at the right time so the power passes through them on its way up through the circle (he sees himself as a sort of 'high priest' taking away the sins of his children). He is protected both by turning away from the power and having the other villagers chanting some sort of 'prayer' in a circle outside the house (this is one of those bits that is not entirely clear how this works).

By the end all the others villagers are converted and only Adam and Matt remain. They try to leave and are prevented, waking up from an apparent car crash in Hendrick's house. By this point A&M have worked out most of what is going on. Hendrick's uses atomic clocks to time when the black hole is in position, so A&M use their equipment to interfere with the signal from the master clock to the other clocks in the house to move the clocks forwards five minutes.

So when Hendrick 'converts' them, the power isn't actually flowing so they are unharmed. They fake conversion and walk out to join the circle of people, but because they are still 'normal' they break Hendrick's protection. At the moment Hendrick finds this out he is caught in the beam himself and appears to change to an old man, the original version of the high priest from thousands of years ago.

Meanwhile, the people of the village start to try and escape from the circle but one by one are turned to stone. Only Adam & Matt escape, hiding in the Sanctuary (a protected part within the circle). They pass out.

When they wake up, everyone in the village is alive but back to being normal people again; the time loop has reset itself. As A&M drive away, finally able to escape, a car passes them, heading towards the village. The car arrives at what was Hendrick's house which is for sale. The estate agent, looking remarkably like Link greets the likely new buyer, Litton, who bears a startling resemblence to Hendrick. And at that point, it ends...

Hope that all makes sense!

[sdn.livejournal.com]

whew.

now i'll never have to watch it!

you should read the gathering by isobelle carmody if you like stories about newcomers to an ... odd ... community. it's great.

[numbat.livejournal.com]

I don't recall seeing this one but it does feel familiar. I suspect because for a time there in the seventies there was quite a bit of British sf/fantasy for teenagers appearing on the ABC.