Worcestershire | Archive | 2003 | November | 07
From the archive, first published Friday 7th Nov 2003.
A CULT version of John Masefield's The Box of Delights will be given a special screening in Ledbury.
The BBC serial, a mixture of live action and animation, dates from 1984 and includes scenes shot at Eastnor Castle.
It stars Patrick Troughton, best known as the second Dr Who, as the mysterious Cole Hawkins.
Masefield's story, published in 1935, tells how young Kay Harker helps the wanderer Hawkins keep the Box of Delights away from evil wolves pretending to be clerics.
The BBC version contained a number of familiar names, some appearing before they were famous.
The late Robert Stephens played the baddie, Abner Brown, while James Grout, later Chief Superintendent Strange in Inspector Morse, appeared as a police- man.
There are also roles for future Heartbeat and EastEnders star Nick Berry, who appears as a rat, and Julian Sands, who starred in Room with a View, as a Greek soldier.
Masefield is Ledbury's most famous son and held the Poet Laureateship. He wrote 20 other novels, including a sequel The Midnight Folk.
The film can be seen at Ledbury's Market Theatre on Saturday, November 22, at 7.30pm. Admission on the door is £3 for adults, £1.50 for children, or in advance from Ledbury Tourist Information Centre in The Homend.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008