''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'' by Dorothy Edwards and was aired as a six-part television serial produced by

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV franchise holder in the 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, initially as 'Television South plc' and ...

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 and a desire to participate in

folk magic In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized ...

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 A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...

, 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 A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

by somehow slipping through time into the modern age. The Grinnygog, which was an image of the Horned God, 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

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...

, 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 Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titc ...

and

Bishop's Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route betw ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. It was adapted by

Roy Russell Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

and directed by

Diarmuid Lawrence Diarmuid Seton Lawrence (15 October 1947 – 20 September 2019) was an English television director. Born in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, Lawrence began his career in 1978 as a production assistant on the BBC television drama '' Pennies from Heaven ...

, 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 (disambiguati ...

. It was shown on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

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 Broadcast ...

* Dave Firkettle -

Adam Woodyatt Adam Brinley Woodyatt (born 28 June 1968) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Ian Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he played between 1985 and 2022. Early life and education Woodyatt was born on 28 June 1968 in W ...

* 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 compa ...

* 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 Used ...

The Witches * Mrs. Ems -

Sheila Grant Sheila Corkhill (also Grant) is a fictional character from British soap opera, ''Brookside (television programme), Brookside'' played by Sue Johnston. Sheila appeared in Brookside from the first episode in 1982 until the character's departure i ...

* Edie Possett -

Anna Wing Anna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing (30 October 1914 – 7 July 2013) was an English actress who had a long career in television and theatre, known for portraying the role of Beale family matriarch Lou Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. ...

* Miss Bendybones -

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...

* Margaret "Daisy" Ems -

Eva Griffith Eva Griffith, also credited as Eva Griffiths (born ), is a British actress, and a historian of the English Renaissance theatre. She began her career as child actress. Early life Eva Griffith was born in Knightsbridge, London, the daughter of W ...

The Adults * Reverend Anthony Sogood - Robert Swann * Granddad Adams -

John Barrard John Barrard (12 September 1924 – 13 October 2013) was a British character actor who had a career spanning five decades and who perhaps is best known for playing Dooley, Santa's No. 2, in '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985). Barrard's te ...

* Mrs. Firkettle - Jane Wood * Twebele Alabaster -

Olu Jacobs Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, (born 11 July 1942), known professionally as Olu Jacobs, is a Nigerian actor and film executive. He has starred in several British television series and international films. Olu Jacobs has been hailed by many as one ...

* Miss Possett - Anne Dyson Other Characters * Patrick Flanagan - Liam O'Callaghan * Flanagan's mate -

Gary Hailes Gary Hailes (born 4 November 1965 in London) is an English actor. Hales attended Holloway School. The Old ...

* Major Gilmour - Alan Rowe * Old Peggy - George Malpas * Mrs. Featherly -

Hilda Fenemore Hilda Lilian Fenemore (22 April 1914 – 13 April 2004) was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in ''The ...

* News Interviewer - Carolyn Courage * Shop Customer - Heather Tobias * Bus Driver -

Tariq Yunus Tariq Yunus (16 October 1946 – 26 August 1994) was an Indian actor known for his role as chef Alaudin in television sitcom '' Tandoori Nights''. Biography As a young man (his brother being the politician Kunwar Khalid Yunus), Yunus gaine ...

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 The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

, 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