Classic Nick Wed. 8 – Children of the Stones

Children of the Stones originally aired on the United Kingdom's ITV Network in January and February 1977 and became a part of Classic Nickelodeon when the network aired it as part of their anthology series “The Third Eye”.

In the series opener we meet astrophysicist Adam Brake and his young son Matthew as they arrive in the small village of Milbury, which is built in the midst of a megalithic stone circle.

The main premise of the show was that the small village of Milbury exists within a stone circle, reminiscent of Stone Hedge, where they were stuck in a time rift where the same events unfold every time the time circle resets with only minor variations occurring each time. Then when the power of the circle fails to be released to the outside world it resets and the same events attempt to unfold again.

As Adam Brake and his son Matthew attempt to make establish a life for themselves in their new surroundings they begin to notice something very odd about their new neighbors. One day they are normal functioning people and the next they seem to be in a fog, distant and detached from everything and everyone around them expect from their fellow “Happy Dayers”.  By this time it seems that the only other people who have not been affected by the strange phenomenon are the museum curator Margaret and her daughter Sandra.

During this time we discover that Matthew has psychic abilities and had only the year before come across a painting, which depicted the scene of the first circle with a beam of light in the middle to the circle. While attempting to discern the meaning of the painting Matthew meets Dai, the village poacher, who seems to know more than people think he does.

When Margret and Sandra eventually fall under the spell of the “Happy Dayers” Adam and Matthew know they must work quickly to break the spell or fall victims to The Circle themselves.

Availability

Currently, the serial is available on DVD, released by Second Sight in the UK and by Acorn Media in the US. The DVD includes interviews with actor Gareth Thomas and producer Peter Graham Scott. The series was released yet again in 2011 by Network DVD.

Episodes

Into the Circle

Circle of Fear

Serpent in the Circle

Narrowing Circle

Charmed Circle

Squaring the Circle

Full Circle

Cast

Hendrick – Iain Cuthbertson

Adam – Gareth Thomas

Dai – Freddie Jones

Link – John Woodnutt

Margaret – Veronica Strong

Mrs. Crabtree – Ruth Dunning

Matthew – Peter Demin

Sandra – Katharine Levy

Kevin – Darren Hatch

Jimmo – Gary Lock

Dr. Lyle – Richard Mathews

Miss Clegg – June Barrie

Browning – Hubert Tucker