During their school holidays, four Edwardian siblings—Cathy (Candida Beveridge), Gerald (Simon Sheard), Jimmy (Marcus Scott-Barrett), and Mabel (Georgia Slowe)—uncover a magic ring on a country estate. The ring leads them to a sleeping princess in an enchanted castle and has the power to grant their wishes, though the magic rarely behaves as expected. Their adventures often involve their French governess, Mademoiselle (Diane Mercer), and a housemaid, Eliza (Gill Abineri). The ring’s chaotic power animates statues, summons ancient gods, and creates the ‘Ugly-Wuglies,’ an unsettling army of scarecrows built from household objects.
Commissioned as a successor to the BBC’s popular 1977 adaptation of The Phoenix and the Carpet, this serial trades a charismatic magical creature for the impersonal power of a wishing ring. This gives the production a darker and more mechanical quality than its predecessor, shifting the narrative focus from witty dialogue to elaborate visual set-pieces.
The production walked a fine line between fantasy and outright horror, stretching the capabilities of the effects department to realise animated statues and a stone brontosaur. The magic’s darker potential was fully realised in the ‘Ugly-Wuglies’, an army of figures assembled from broomsticks, whose lurching forms gave the serial its most potent sequence of juvenile horror.
Broadcast: BBC One, 6 Episodes, Wednesdays, 7 November – 12 December 1979
Dramatised by: Julia Jones
Director: Dorothea Brooking
Executive Producer: Anna Home
Designers: John Stout, Chris Pemsel
Main Cast: Candida Beveridge (Cathy), Simon Sheard (Gerald), Marcus Scott-Barrett (Jimmy), Georgia Slowe (Mabel), Diane Mercer (Mademoiselle), Gill Abineri (Eliza)
