THE MOVING PICTURE BOY ARCHIVE
THE BOX OF DELIGHTS
Devin Stanfield as Kay Harker graces the front cover of the 17-23 November 1984 issue of Radio Times (right click and select Open image in new tab to view full size image; see below for full RT article)
Title: The Box of Delights
Production Type: TV Mini-Series
Year of Release: 1984; the first 5 episodes were shown weekly from 21 November, with the last episode being shown on Christmas Eve, five days after the penultimate episode.
Director: Renny Rye
Country of Production: Britain
Principal Boy Actors: 13 year old Devin Stanfield plays Kay Harker; Crispin Mair plays Peter.
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Length: 6 episodes of approximately half an hour each
Language: English
Availability: Official blu-ray release
Synopsis
Returning home from boarding school from the Christmas holidays in 1934, Kay Harker meets Cole Hawlings, a Punch and Judy man, who entrusts him with a magical box that is sought by Abner Brown for his own evil purposes. Kay undergoes various adventures as he seeks to protect the box from Abner's gang.
The BBC series was based on the 1935 novel of the same name by John Masefield (1878-1967).
Further information
Opening the Box of Delights (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1st edition, 2020, 2nd edition, 2024), by Masefield expert Philip W. Errington, is a comprehensive volume on the original novel and its various adaptations. The first edition of this volume (front cover, below left) has 12 pages on the TV adaptation, covering Production, Publicity and Original Broadcasts, Actors, Locations, Music, and Videos and DVDs. The second edition of this volume (front cover, below right) is much expanded, and includes the rehearsal script of episode one of the TV series; though at the time of writing this second edition seems to be practically unobtainable.
Radio Times
The series was trailed with an article in the BBC's Radio Times for 17-23 November 1984. The front cover of this issue is shown at the top of this page. The full article can be read by clicking on the images below.
The page below, from the same issue of the Radio Times, features the listing for the first episode.
Photo of Devin Stanfield in harness from Blue Peter Book Twenty-Two (the accompanying article contains no new information).
Production and publicity photos
Screenshots
Episode 1
Episode 2
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