''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' is a British television serial that was first aired in 1983. The story was adapted from the book ''

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 tra ...

'' by Dorothy Edwards and was aired as a six-part television serial produced by Television South for ITV and subsequently re-broadcast in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Israel.

Summary

A strange statue (the Grinnygog), which fell off the back of a truck carrying stones of an old church for relocation, is discovered by a woman on her way home from the store. The woman takes the statue home and gives it to her elderly father as a garden ornament. The family who now has possession of the Grinnygog, in particular one small boy, begin to experience strange feelings of

euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

and a desire to participate in folk magic rituals. At the same time, a nervous, "other-worldly" child begins to be seen around the town and appears lost and frightened. Meanwhile, three eccentric older women arrive in the town and appear to be searching for something. They bring with them the "daughter" of one of the women, later revealed to be a mannequin, but which at one point appears to be walking by itself. The story eventually reveals that the three women are witches from England's

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural moveme ...

who escaped a witch-hunt by somehow slipping through time into the modern age. The Grinnygog, which was an image of

the Horned God The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in Wicca and some related forms of Neopaganism. The term ''Horned God'' itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th-century syncretism, syncretic term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphi ...

, had lain dormant until being removed from the church, when it summoned the witches to the present day. One of the witches is now looking for her daughter who was separated during a witch-burning held hundreds of years ago in the town. The daughter escaped by slipping through time, but only intermittently, and is now lost without her mother. The presence of the witches, and their relationship to the Grinnygog, is eventually worked out by a group of children who investigate their town's local history and discover that the town must make amends for the ancient injustice of witch-burning. One clue is revealed through an old manuscript written by a town elder who apparently witnessed the witch-burning and wrote an account of the event in a journal: however, he died before revealing the final clue about the escaped witches. Another clue is the arrival of an African witch doctor, named Mr. Alabaster, who is seeking out the witches to help them. The story ends with the witches reunited with the daughter and taken away by Mr. Alabaster to someplace where they will be safe, along with the Grinnygog.

Production

The TV series was filmed in and around Titchfield and Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire. It was adapted by Roy Russell and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, with music by

James Harpham James is a common English language surname and given name: * James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambigua ...

. It was shown on Nickelodeon in the United States as part of the anthology series '' The Third Eye''.

Cast

The Children * Jimmy Firkettle - Paul Curtis * Essie Firkettle -

Zoe Loftin Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for " life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadc ...

* Dave Firkettle - Adam Woodyatt * Colin Sogood -

Giles Harper Giles may refer to: People * Giles (given name), male given name (Latin: ''Aegidius'') * Giles (surname), family name * Saint Giles (650–710), 7th–8th-century Christian hermit saint * Giles of Assisi, Aegidius of Assisi, 13th-century com ...

* Nan Sogood -

Heidi Mayo ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...

The Witches * Mrs. Ems - Sheila Grant * Edie Possett - Anna Wing * Miss Bendybones - Patricia Hayes * Margaret "Daisy" Ems - Eva Griffith The Adults * Reverend Anthony Sogood - Robert Swann * Granddad Adams - John Barrard * Mrs. Firkettle - Jane Wood * Twebele Alabaster - Olu Jacobs * Miss Possett - Anne Dyson Other Characters * Patrick Flanagan -

Liam O'Callaghan Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these ele ...

* Flanagan's mate - Gary Hailes * Major Gilmour - Alan Rowe * Old Peggy - George Malpas * Mrs. Featherly - Hilda Fenemore * News Interviewer - Carolyn Courage * Shop Customer - Heather Tobias * Bus Driver - Tariq Yunus

Availability

There has been no domestic commercial release of the series on any format in the UK. This is possibly due to ongoing rights issues after the production company, TVS, dropped out of the ITV network in 1992 and subsequently went through a number of take-overs. This problem affects the majority of the TVS programme archive as much of the original production paperwork and sales documentation has been lost during the intervening years and current owners, The Walt Disney Company, appear to have little or no interest in these programmes.

External links

*
Information about the television program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witches And The Grinnygog 1983 1983 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series 1980s British television miniseries British children's fantasy television series ITV children's television shows British television shows based on children's books British supernatural television shows English-language television shows 1980s Nickelodeon original programming Television shows produced by Television South (TVS) Witchcraft in television