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.
Cast
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 Tucke
Episodes
Circle of Fear
Serpent in the Circle
Narrowing Circle
Charmed Circle
Squaring the Circle
Full Circle
Children of the Stones – full series
