''The Haunting of Cassie Palmer'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

for children produced in 1981 by TVS (

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, ini ...

) for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network and first broadcast on 26 February 1982. The series was based on a novel by

Vivien Alcock Vivien Alcock (23 September 1924 – 11 October 2003) was an English writer of children's books. Life and career Alcock was born in Worthing, now in West Sussex, England, and her family moved to Devizes in Wiltshire when she was ten years o ...

. In the United States, it was aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

as part of the series '' The Third Eye'

The show was part of the launch programming for TVS which started broadcasting on 1 January 1982. Nickelodeon had also recently launched when it added ''The Third Eye'' series to its live-action line up. ''The Third Eye'' was a sci-fi/supernatural anthology that included '' Into the Labyrinth (TV series), Into the Labyrinth'', ''The Haunting of Cassie Palmer'', ''

Children of the Stones ''Children of the Stones'' is a British television fantasy drama serial for children, produced by HTV in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom's ITV network in January and February 1977. The serial was produced by Peter Graham Scott, with ...

'' and ''

Under the Mountain ''Under the Mountain'' is a 1979 children's book by New Zealand writer Maurice Gee. It has been adapted into a 1981 television miniseries, a 2009 film and stage show. Plot Beneath the extinct volcanoes surrounding the city, giant creature ...

''. Later ''

The Witches and the Grinnygog ''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' is a children's novel by the writer Dorothy Edwards, published in 1981 and shortlisted for that year's Whitbread Prize for a children's book. ''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' is a story of pre-Christian trad ...

'' was added.

Plot

This is a story of 13-year-old Cassie Palmer who lives with her mother, older brother, and sister. Cassie's mother is an eccentric "psychic" (medium). After some of her clients are incensed to discover her mother has tricked a woman into thinking that she is communicating with her deceased husband by brushing her face with a feather, the clients threaten to prosecute her. Mrs. Palmer pleads with them not to as such an action would render her homeless. Mrs. Palmer explains to Cassie that her powers are only intermittent, and as result she sometimes has to embellish the reading to produce results her clients will be happy with. Mrs. Palmer explains that Cassie, being seventh child of a seventh child, would develop great psychic powers as she reached maturity. However, Cassie has no wish to be a psychic. Unfortunately, these abilities have already manifested and Cassie is simply unaware of them. Desperate to protect her mother from charges of fraud, Cassie goes to a cemetery to try to call up a spirit Charlotte Webb who died as a small child. Instead a dark figure appears from behind a tombstone. He tells her his name is Deverill and wants to know why she's summoned him. Cassie runs away. Cassie eventually tells her mother, who soon is gravely concerned for their safety. Deverill appears to Cassie several more times, but aside from Cassie and her mother, no one can see or hear him. Unsure of Deverill's intent, she invites him to her house so that her mother can find out what his motives are. He complies but vanishes before her mother can discern if he is a sinister or benevolent entity. Eventually the Palmers have to sell their house and move to another town as a result of poor business and the bad reputation acquired from the clients who accused Mrs. Palmer of fraud. Deverill reveals to Cassie that when he was alive he buried a small treasure in the floorboards of a house in town. Cassie finds the treasure and is able to use it to purchase a new home for herself, and her mother and two older siblings to start a new life. In exchange for this good deed, Mr. Deverill is able to leave this plane of existence for the great beyond. Cassie had freed his

restless spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

of an eternity of darkness and torment. Her psychic powers apparently were burned out during the struggle thus enabling her to lead a normal life, free from the influence of the supernatural.

Credits

Cast

*Cassie Palmer: Helen Probyn *Mrs. Palmer:

Elizabeth Spriggs Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

*Deverill: Geoffrey Rose *Tom Palmer: Stephen Bint *Mary Palmer: Ruth Adcock

Crew

*Director:

Dorothea Brooking Dorothea Brooking (née Smith Wright; 7 December 1916 – 23 March 1999) was an English children's television producer and director. She also contributed to works for television, mainly early in her career, and in other capacities. Life and ...

*Writer:

Alfred Shaughnessy Alfred James Shaughnessy (19 May 1916 – 2 November 2005) was an English scriptwriter, film director and producer best known for being the script editor of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Early life Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London, his father, ...

*Producer / Executive Producer:

Anna Home Anna Margaret Home ( ; born 13 January 1938) is an English television producer and executive who worked for most of her career at the BBC. Early career After graduating from Oxford University, where she read Modern History at St Anne's Colleg ...

*Original Music Composer: Kenyon Emrys-Roberts *Production Designer: John Newton-Clarke *Stunt Arrangers: Sue Crossland & Paul Weston

Availability

There has been no domestic commercial release of the series on any format in the UK and the master recordings have since been destroyed. This series is regarded as

lost media Lost media are pieces of media that are nonexistent, missing, or unavailable to the general public. The term ''lost media'' primarily encompasses visual, audio, or audiovisual media such as films, television and radio broadcasts, music, and video ga ...

by the archive TV preservation group, Kaleidoscope - although home recordings of the full series have appeared on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haunting Of Cassie Palmer 1982 British television series debuts British children's drama television series 1982 British television series endings 1980s Nickelodeon original programming ITV children's television shows Television shows based on children's books English-language television shows Television shows produced by Television South (TVS) 1980s British children's television series Television series about teenagers