The Magician's House
| The Magician's House | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy/Children's television |
| Created by | William Corlett (books) |
| Directed by | Paul Lynch |
| Starring |
Ian Richardson Neil Pearson Siân Phillips Katie Stuart Christopher Redman Olivia Coles Steven Webb |
| Voices of |
Jennifer Saunders Stephen Fry Gary Martin |
| Composer(s) | Ken Williams |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Helena Cynamon Stephen Garrett |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC 1 |
| First shown in | United Kingdom |
| Original release | 31 October 1999 – 17 December 2000 |
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:
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 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.
The four books centre on young siblings William, Mary and Alice Constant. They spend their holidays at Golden House, a large, 16th Century house in the British countryside. The house is not give a specific location except close to Wales. The books follow the children as they discover the secrets of Golden House and the Magician who once lived there.
The events of the four books take place roughly over ten months; with the events of each book occurring during a traditional British school holiday period. Effectively, each book reflects a season: The Steps up The Chimney takes place during the winter and over the Christmas holiday; The Door in the Tree takes place in spring, during the Easter holiday; The Tunnel behind the Waterfall takes place during the long summer holiday; The Bridge in the Clouds takes place during the shorter autumn half-term. During these holidays, the children's parents are carrying out humanitarian work in the Third World, so the children stay with their uncle Jack and his partner Phoebe.
The storylines of the respective books incorporate various ecological and animal rights issues, such as badger baiting, fox hunting and industrial development. In addition, the children fight against the Magician's evil assistant, Matthew Morden, whose quest for power leads him to disturb the magical and ecological balance within Golden Valley.
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Wikipedia