The Magician's House is s television adaption of the children's fantasy books by William Corlett which were produced for CBBC and was broadcast in 1999. The series was Drama, Family, Fantasy genre series which consisted of six 330 minute episodes. The series ran from 31 October 1999 – 17 December 2000.
The television adaptation altered the relationship between the children slightly, with Mary becoming Jack's daughter and William and Alice's cousin. Her character is also considerably more argumentative and headstrong than in the books, as well as having apparently relocated from Canada to Jack's home country, as had Phoebe, who, like Mary, has a Canadian accent.
Although it has not of yet been released to DVD, the whole series is available on Youtube.
Summary[]
The story follows Mary and her cousins, William and Alice, during the summer holidays at her father's home - Golden House - in the mountain forests of Wales' Golden Valley. Here, once again, they are drawn into alchemist Stephen Tyler's magical world of fantasy and time travel. The beautiful valley and its rare Golden Badgers are under threat from greedy developer, Charles Morden, who plans to transform Golden Valley into a theme park.
Meanwhile, in the 16th century, Stephen the Magician creates Black Gold and discovers its powerful - but evil - magical properties. When the Black Gold falls into the hands of Stephen's wayward assistant, Matthew Morden, the valley is threatened by another, far more sinister force. Matthew uses the Black Gold to travel to the present day, curious to meet his descendants and stop the children interfering with their plans.
In an attempt to follow him, Stephen becomes trapped between two worlds and, without his Gold Pendulum, finds his own power diminishing, as the evil Black Gold grows in strength. The children are the Magician's only hope in re
Cast[]
- Ian Richardson as Stephen Tyler.
- Neil Pearson as Jack Green.
- Siân Phillips as Meg Lewis.
- Katie Stuart as Mary Green.
- Jennifer Saunders as The Rat.
Characters[]
- Mary Green - Mary is Jack's daughter who is passionate about saving the valley and its population of Golden Badgers. She gets to morph with Pica the magpie and one of Golden Lake's otters.
- Alice Constant - It is Alice who discovers that baby Stephanie - the first child to be born in Golden Valley in 400 years - senses the valleys' magical secrets. Spot the talking dog is Alice's loyal companion.
- William Constant - William is Mary's cousin who, intrigued by Stephen's magic and the power of the Black Gold, is the one who helps Matthew Morden travel into the present.
- Stephen Tyler is the ageing Magician whose spell to make Black Gold has created the potential for evil to take over Golden Valley.
- Meg the reclusive animal crusader is determined to protect the valley's rare badgers, but is almost persuaded to sell her land to the Mordens.
- Jack is Mary's father, whose initial support for the Morden's Theme Park in Golden Valley causes a rift between him and the children.
External links[]
- The Magician's House on IMDB.
- The Magician's House on CBBC Website (Archive)