white day a labyrinth named school tv tropes

In the US, Irwin Allen’s colour series Land Of The Giants (ABC 1968-70 and a popular Channel 4 re-run in 1989/90) seemed for many to be the last word on the subject in the late 60s.

Doctor Who itself miniaturised the TARDIS crew – essentially by creating oversized props – in the 1964 William Hartnell serial Planet Of Giants, and revisited the concept in parts of Carnival Of Monsters (1973), The Invisible Enemy (1977) and most recently Into The Dalek (2014).

ITV got in first with its 1985 adaptation by Anglia TV and Barry Letts’ classic serials department tackled it for the BBC in 1986 – as one might expect from Letts, a CSO-heavy production featuring several Doctor Who alumni. Indeed, miniaturisation sequences are major elements of The Box Of Delights and Alice In Wonderland – two versions of which were made within 18 months of each other. Miniaturisation has long been a staple in cult television. On going through a tunnel they emerge as the only occupants of the carriage and alighting at an eerily deserted station they struggle make contact as the place has suffered vandalism and the only timetable is torn and unusable. The Halt featured football hooligans terrorising a train full of passengers. A boy is trapped by the inventor of a special camera in 1940 – in a piece of old film. No stranger to supernatural or magical stories, Dramarama produced some excellent examples in this era: Flashback, written by Dennis Spooner, in one of his last contributions to television before his untimely death in 1986, was a particularly memorable drama. Meanwhile, anthology series Dramarama was going from strength to strength on ITV. The second half of the decade saw the BBC riding high on the back of the success of their state-of-the-art adaptation of John Masefield’s Box Of Delights. Excellent production values, improved significantly by well-honed special effects work using Quantel, Paintbox and Harry, and moreover some interesting casting – often of very talented newcomers – produced some of the most memorable dramas of the era. The late 80s, arguably, saw a new golden age for spooky and magical kids drama. Read our look-back at UK kids’ fantasy dramas 1980 – 1984 here.īy 1985 British TV’s children’s drama had really hit its stride, achieving “a balanced diet of programmes” as Edward Barnes, the head of the BBC children’s department observed.

White day a labyrinth named school tv tropes