Doctor Omega
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Children of the Stones is a British television drama serial for children produced by HTV in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom's ITV network in January and February 1977. The story was depicted over seven episodes and produced by Peter Graham Scott, with Patrick Dromgoole as executive producer. A novelisation by the serial's writers, Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray also appeared in 1977. In the United States, it was broadcast on the Nickelodeon television channel in the early 1980s as part of the series The Third Eye.[1]
The series is today considered a landmark in quality children's drama and has been called "the scariest programme ever made for children".
Episodes
- Into the Circle (TX: 10 January 1977)
- Circle of Fear (TX: 17 January 1977)
- Serpent in the Circle (TX: 24 January 1977)
- Narrowing Circle (TX: 31 January 1977)
- Charmed Circle (TX: 7 February 1977)
- Squaring the Circle (TX: 14 February 1977)
- Full Circle (TX: 21 February 1977)
The series was repeated by ITV from 21 July 1978 – 1 September 1978, at 16:15. Since then the show has not been broadcast in its entirety on UK television, either terrestrial or satellite.
Critical reception
Children of the Stones has been almost universally praised as an outstanding children's series. Comedian Stewart Lee commended the series in the 2007 BBC Four series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe. Lee commented on depictions of teenagers on television in different decades, contrasting Children of the Stones with Channel 4's modern drama Skins, highlighting how Children of the Stones was still relevant to a modern audience. Several clips of the story were shown. In 2012 Lee narrated a documentary on the series for BBC Radio Four. It was introduced as "the scariest programme ever made for children", highlighting the eerie music and commenting that it was "the most inappropriate theme music ever used for a children's series." Among the interviewees were actors Gareth Thomas and Katharine Levy who both gave credit for the high quality of the scripts. Levy said that the finished programme surpassed all of their expectations and still stands up well today. Writer Jeremy Burnham stated that although it was only seven episodes, the series has stayed with him ever since due to the fans' interest.
Sequel
A sequel, Return to the Stones by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray, was published as a Kindle e-book in Nov 2012[11] followed by the hardback edition on 8 July 2013.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Retu...88257603&sr=8-1&keywords=return+to+the+stones
...although this has yet to be adapted...
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