The Owl Service Main Titles

[empanzee]

Do you have any full episodes of the Owl Service? I'm desperate to see more..

[gazhack]

@empanzee I'm not able to upload any, but the series is available on DVD from Network Video.

[empanzee]

@gazhack

Thanks! I'll look for it now :))

[deanwhitbread]

Alan Garner - one of the best post war authors. Regardless of his readership being supposedly children his books crackle with ideas and emotions. Wonderful writing.

[zedster911]

twas a weird TV series... but I watched it intensly

[sissors66]

its like watching that videotape from the ring

[scottytrotter]

Does anyone remember Red Shift, also by Alan Garner? Great Sunday afternoon viewing. All these progs were great because they were all so intriguing. At the end of every episode you thought "What the hell was that all about?" and then you had to wait a whole week for the next part. And, of course, you had to make sure that you were in to see it because it wasn't repeated ad nauseam (like today's stuff) and you had no means to record TV.

[gazhack]

@scottytrotter I remember Red Shift. An intriguing idea but personally I found it really depressing by the end. Still Lesley Dunlop was cute as the modern day girlfriend.

[DaveyC95]

@scottytrotter I have read the book of this last year..But my favourites by Alan Garner were The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, I know that part of Cheshire the two books were set in well, and Granada, my region,were going to adapt The Weirdstone of Brisingamen for television around early 1989 but didn't, I do not know why..As a six year old back then it would have been great.

[linmaisun]

One of my fave books ever. 'Elidor' also by Alan Garner is another good one

[LucretiaBorgia]

@linmaisun I remember reading Elidor because it was by the same author as The Owl Service. Both spooky and surreal to my 11-year old mind but I've never forgotten either story. Thanks to @gazhack for posting this!

[blackdanter]

Classic TV! I was starting to think I'd dreamt this as no one else I know seems to remember it! Anyone remember a similar mystery show about a ghostly victorian fireman or soldier?

[fabunova]

@blackdanter You might be thinking of The Clifton House Mystery, another impressive kid's TV series, and it's on you tube! :-)

[blackdanter]

@fabunova Thanks for that, will look it up as I'd love to see it again. :O)

[TheSjspen]

Any one remember the name of the series that used tracks fronm the Moody Blues album In Search of the Lost Chord??

[karyn13house]

Cliff hanger! lol

I really liked the book but didn't understand it when I was younger. Never saw the TV series. Maybe a bit of a blessing ;D Agree with lysander2828 that Carrie's War was good TV. Again, book was excellent!

[lifeson46]

I remember this and sky, great tv for kids unlike todays total crap

[Unhalfbricked]

Have watched this series twice now and am still discovering new layers of depth and symbolism in it.

'Children's' television of this calibre renders the likes of modern television - whether made for adults or children - utterly absurd and irrelevant.

[michaelleacy]

@Unhalfbricked Good comment. I first saw this at the age of 18 and it affected me greatly - the characters were so real and fantastically acted. I've since watched it so many times - maybe 20, and each time I see something new or get drawn into the magic of it further. It is actually the best TV serial ever made - nothing cuts so deep that you NEED to see it several times to uncover the various layers. A work of absolute genius and all-time work of art.

[mikamadperson]

"unknown to them, margaret has borrowed rogers binoculars" What? its a bit random..

[gazhack]

Yes out of context it sounds odd. What it led into after the recap was that her mum has been spying on them and tries to end of their relationship.

[flossy100]

@mikamadperson What don't you understand? That comment is not random? It totally relates to the previous statement. A voice-over is giving a synopsis of the situation and explaining that although they don't know it, they are being watched. It fits perfectly.

[STEPHENWRAYSFORD33]

buy the book, it really captures what being an adolescent feels like.

[ancientraver19881989]

Does any1 remember a scene from a childrens drama - there were about 3-4teenagers & they went into this room (I think it was at the coast) & there was a chair (possibly a rockin chair with a figure in it) & the teenagers went up to the chair (I think it was facing a window) & looked at the figure & it was a horrible man with pointed ears. It scared me 2 death & I've been fascinated by what it was ever since it would have been shown 1968-early69-not many clues but I was only 3or4 at the time!

[deangarman]

i have this on dvd if anyone is interested PM me!

[RadioNorthSea]

I remember this series from the 1970's. I shall not pretend that I understood it because I sure as hell didn't!

That didn't stop me from watching it though! :)

[Umerue]

He encontrado esta serie en dvd, pero no hay manera de saber si tiene subtitulos en castellano. Lo mismo me pasa con "children of stones". Alguna idea?

[coracleman]

this was so intense - really ahead of its time...

coraclewoman

[jenjencelia]

I loved watching this show every Sunday I was only 9 but it is still vividly in my memory. It was haunting and mysterious - and well acted.

[soocat]

This frightened me,watching it as a little girl-but I was glued to it every week-even now the opening credits are a bit disturbing!Must but the book one day and relive it all over again...

[audiodead]

I like the toilet flushing noises. Hilarious.

[megalith6]

now out on dvd

da iawn :)

[2206411411]

For something as early as 1968, from a company as small as Granada was at the time, this is truly amazing. Granada has always been known for pushing the limits of drama, and Alan Garner's works for children were (and still are) vastly more intellectual than mainstream fare. When television executives used to talk of people having "golden memories" of long-ago productions, they relied heavily on the fact that few people had the means to compare television of then with now. This is wonderful.

[kickham]

This used to scare the hell out of me as a kid. It was '68 and in the late Sunday afternnon slot before Stars on Sunday. I think Catweasle was in this slot the following year. I remember vividly the scene where Alison lowers the book she is reading and her face is covered in the Owl motiff from the plates. Shiver my timbers !!!!

[GAR3456]

Oh no! not the binoculars!

[lysander2828]

I 2 am amazed. Do u have "The Intruder", "Carrie's War" of same era, when "Children's TV" was not infantile?

Can anyone else help find these impressive pieces of TV?

[gazhack]

I'm afraid I don't have either of those shows :(

[83colfax]

"Owl Service" director/producer Peter Plummer also made "The Intruder" -- an eight-part series based on the novel of the same name by John Rowe Townsend. It won a BAFTA award in 1972.

[wellohmeeeeeee]

Does anyone remember a single scene... from a 1968 - 1973 ish period, childrens series, which may be this one. A scene with a victorian bedroom, an elderly lady on a couch in foreground, and an inquisitive young girl looking into a tall glass case with a wedding dress, inside. She ignores the old ladys warning , " not to open it " and when the air gets inside , the dress falls into dust. The old lady collapses. Its NOT Dickens, possibly from, A Little Princess 1973....if anyone knows that ??

[brandynigma]

I watched this series about 9 months ago, and don't remember any scene like that. There were a few other similar series around though: Moon Stallion, Children of the Stones, Ace of Wands...

[victoriavertes]

I bought a copy of Owl Service DVD on ebay (converted from video).

[joe41tash]

genius

[canyonsofremorse]

Very evocative, creepy feelings watching this. Was it on on a Sunday?

[gazhack]

Yes I think it was shown on Sundays. It was certainly repeated on Sundays in the early days of C4.

[blagger56]

Used to come on Anglia TV at or about 5-30PM, after the Golden Shot. Ah, Halcyon days...

[mlugg]

Excellent, what memoories. I hope the much rumoured DVD release actually happens.

[83colfax]

The official Owl Service DVD will be released on April 3rd by Network DVD.

[mistral55]

Alan Garner was responsible for some of the best childrens books ever written. Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Moon of Gomrath, all set around Alderley Edge & its legend in Cheshire. The Owl Service is a book that you can still enjoy on different levels as you get older. Had the pleasure of meeting Alan Garner a few times when I worked at a photography shop in Wilmslow a few years back. A real gentleman.

[trotter23]

masterpiece!!!!

[xwsftassell]

I remember avidly watching just about every episode of this on TV when I was 6 or 7 years old. Used to scare the life out of me. Had the book too. Got in my Christmas stocking. Was it Christmas '68? or '69? What I remember about the past is that was always very modern. They can't find a way to show that on TV.

[Pokazatel]

It is about to be released on DVD, apparently

[layde1]

Oh, Lord, I never thought I would see this again! I have not been able to find a DVD of this anywhere. I so loved the book and the TV series in the seventies. This is the first time I have seen it since then. The title sequence still scares me. Wow, what a find!

[alanstarkie2001]

I could never follow this series - I think I fancied Alison at the time!

[Shortwaves]

Remember this series and its surreal intro, thanks for the vid.

[deangarman]

i have the full series on dvd