The Box of Delights

This has been one of my favorite Christmas movies since I ran across it on the PBS "Wonder Works" series almost two decades ago. I was fortunate enough to have taped it at the time and I've watched it every Christmas since!

Devin Stansfield is Kay Harker, a young Briton from an affluent family who is travelling by train to spend the Christmas holiday with relatives. Taking a nap in an empty compartment, he unexpectedly finds himself in the company of two apparent clergymen (Jonathan Stevens & Geoffrey Larder) who cheat him out of a shilling and then steal his wallet! Appearances continue to prove deceiving as an old tramp (Patrick Troughton) turns out to be the ancient alchemist Raymond Lully, and Kay plunges into a wonderful adventure of magic and mystery.

The acting (mostly perfect) is occasionally a little wooden, and the special effects are a tribute to the demands a limited budget makes on the imagination. However the cinematography is superb and the screenplay does justice to the rich novel by Mansfield. The plot is excellent and the story taps a rich vein of English mythology.

It's unfortunate that this video is apparently only available from England, where it is only for sale in British video format - which is not compatible with U.S. machines! I hope that "The Box of Delights" will soon make its debut on DVD.

I first watched this film when I was 5 or 6 (1984/1985), on TV Ontario (TVO), here in Canada.

Over the years I have only remembered vague details about it, including that one of the words in the title was "Box". However I did remember certain characters and the basic plot, surrounding a "magic" box and knew that I really enjoyed it.

A few weeks ago I decided to do a title search here on the IMDB using "Box" as a keyword, sure enough about 20 minutes later I had found this wonderful film from my youth.

After seeing that it was not available on tape here in North America, I placed an order for a British copy and was able to watch the film for the first time last evening, it is just as wonderful as I had remembered.

Thanks IMDB for helping me to re-visit the amazing box of delights!

I was fortunate enough to be a child when this first appeared on BBC and for the life of me i cant understand why it isn't repeated around the festive season.

I lived in a house in Scotland, we had snow knee deep, a coal fire to keep me warm and while we had no wolves to worry about we did have the occasional nosey fox or foraging badger to add to the mix of realism this gem of a classic children's drams. Every night myself and my two sisters who despite being ten years older than me would sit all snug and toasty and be transported away by what can only be described as the closest you will come to believing in magic as you ever will in your life.

While the pace of this can be charmingly laid back there are enough moments of wonder and tension to make you wonder where those 30 minutes went.

I wont go into the story as so many others already have and lets face it, this has dropped of the radar of television so only those that watched it or even just caught a glimpse of it know about it already.

Im thirtymumblemumblemumblemumblefour now and like others i watch this every year. Because of its setting, a kind of famous five version of england that really only existed in literature the box of delights doesn't age as it was already in that in-between place of time so viewers of all ages can enjoy this.

This is a fine tribute to those actors sadly no longer with us who gave this story life and gravitas and a true sense of magic.

I loved this series and I was 25 when it was shown, I taped all episodes and watched them over and over, I can only lament the loss of the tapes but I can thoroughly recommend "The box of delights" to anyone who hasn't lost their childhood magic. Patrick Troughton is one of my favorite actors and is marvelous as is Robert Stephens in a dastardly role, the effects are very good considering the budget with the BBC and the acting is great. The story is a classic, although I had never heard of John Masefield until this series much to my chagrin. I know that children of all ages will enjoy it.I know I did and would again.

How could you not like a story where the villain - and an evil and odious villain he is - is a Methodist Bishop? Where little boys turn into mice and run through the walls to spy on the bad guys?

This is a thoroughly charming Christmas fantasy, wonderfully made by the BBC in the mid-80's, based on a children's book by John Masefield. Set in England in the 1930's, it tells the adventures of Kay Hawker as he returns home from school for Christmas. On the train he meets a mysterious but kindly old man who gives him the Box of Delights, a magical box which gives the holder the powers of flight, physical transformation, and the ability to travel through time. Of course, the forces of evil, led by the aforementioned Bishop, are out to steal the Box, and its up to Kay and his friends to stop them.

This is an absolutely first rate BBC production. Patrick Troughton of Dr. Who fame is the mysterious old man and Robert Stephens is the Bishop. The story, the visual effects, and the music are all enthralling.

Actually, its somewhat of a fluke that I have seen this program since it has - to my knowledge - never been shown in the United States. In the mid-80's I was living in Cleveland, Ohio, and we could pick up Canadian TV from across the Lake. One day I happened to turn on the television and this was on; I was instantly captivated. Ever since then I have tried to find tapes of this show but, unfortunately, they are not available in the U.S.