Children of the Stones

1977

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Into The Circle Jan 10, 1977

Adam Brake, an astrophysicist, and his son Matt arrive at the village of Milbury, where they plan to do research on the giant stones that encircle the village. They possess a painting depicting an ancient ritual in which a circle of people are turned to stone by a light beam shooting into the sky. They meet some of the villagers: Mrs. Crabtree, the housekeeper for the cottage where they are staying; Raphael Hendrick, the Lord of the Manor and their landlord; Margaret Smythe, the curator of the village museum; and Dai, an old poacher. At school, Matt notices that some of the students, ""The Happy Ones,"" are very good at mathematics and cannot be hurt physically; aside from Matt, there are three other students who are not ""happy""--Kevin Lyle, the son of the village doctor; Sandra Smythe, Margaret's daughter; and Jimmo Browning. In the meantime, Adam touches one of the stones and experiences psychic phenomena.

EP2 Circle Of Fear Jan 17, 1977

Dai tells Matt to come to his home, ""The Sanctuary,"" if he ever needs help. Adam discovers that there is an underground rock dish beneath the village with the stones at its perimeter. Matt suggests that psychic lines emanating from the stones delineate an inner circle surrounding Hendrick's manor house. Later that night, he finds the villagers forming a ring around the manor house and chanting. When he tries to get closer, Dai grabs him and throws him against a stone.

EP3 Serpent In The Circle Jan 24, 1977

Matt awakens back at the cottage and tries to tell his father what happened to him, but Adam thinks his son was just sleepwalking. At school, Jimmo has become very good at mathematics and has obviously joined ""The Happy Ones."" Dai explains to Matt that he was protecting him from the stones the night before. He suggests that the circle within the stones is a maze with the treasure of knowledge at its center. Dai is protected from the stones' power by an amulet with a serpent on it. In the meantime, Adam is told by Hendrick that the stones align in space with a black hole, which he discovered--Hendrick's Supernova.

EP4 Narrowing Circle Jan 31, 1977

Kevin and his father Dr. Lyle are planning to leave the village to visit an old patient. Matt touches a pair of gloves inadvertently left behind by Dr. Lyle and sees a vision of the Lyles being stopped at the edge of the village by the stones. When questioned later, however, the Lyles deny that anything happened to them, but it is obvious that they have become ""happy."" Matt and Sandra find Dai's dead body, his hand clutching the fragments of his broken amulet.

EP5 Charmed Circle Feb 07, 1977

When Adam and Hendrick go to investigate Dai's death, the body is gone. Matt uses Sandra's scarf to watch psychically what happens to Margaret and Sandra when they go to Hendrick's place for dinner. Matt ""sees"" Hendrick perform a ceremony where the Smythes are transformed into ""Happy Ones.""

EP6 Squaring The Circle Feb 14, 1977

The transformed Smythes join the other villagers who have encircled the manor house, but later back at the cottage they deny that anything has happened to them. The next day, Adam decides that he and Matt are leaving the village. However, as they drive out of the village, they are stopped by the stones, just as the Lyles had been. They wake up in Hendrick's house and are prevented from leaving by the villagers who are ringing the house again for the next transformation ceremony.

EP7 Full Circle Feb 21, 1977

Speculating that the black hole is involved in the transformation process, Matt and Adam sabotage Hendrick's clocks so that he will misjudge the position of the black hole during the tranfromation ceremony. However, believing that the transformation has been successful, he sends Matt and Adam to join the other villagers. Adam touches Margaret's hand, breaking the spell over the villagers. A beam of light changes Hendrick into an ancient priest and some of the villagers into stone. Matt and Adam escape to The Sanctuary, where they spend the night. The next morning, they find Dai and the other villagers alive and well, and leave the village.
7.5| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 10 January 1977 Ended
Producted By: HTV Cymru Wales
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

In a sleepy English village surrounded by a megalithic stone circle, an astrophysicist and his teenage son arrive to research the standing stones, but end up delving into the past in ways they never expected.

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Reviews

Roedy Green The music was so corny I almost abandoned the video immediately. It was extremely bad and amateurish. It almost makes the film unwatchable, like something in a high school video project.The video is broken into 10-minute segments, each with opening and closing credits and a recap of the previous segment. This is tedious.The science is pretty shaky, but at one point went completely off the rails. They decide some stones point up permanently aligned with a star in Ursa Major. Vertical stones in England would never align so far north. Further, no English stones would be permanently aligned anywhere because the earth rotates and revolves around the sun.In general, the science is utterly embarrassing. It would be too silly even for an Austin Powers movie.I think the writer went to a math library and grabbed snippets and formulae at random to include in the script. Given that there is so much of this and that it is central to the plot, I think they could have hired a real (or at least student) mathematician to compose some plausible dialogue.The movie is carried by Matthew, a scientist's ten-year-old son. He is unusually intelligent, curious and spunky. He is a considerably better actor than any of the adults in the movie. The acting, in general, has a stagy feel with lots of contrived exposition.They show you something strange, then let you sit with it for a long time before giving their explanation. It does a good job that way of building suspense. The way they build unease is by showing you very ordinary things, but that just should not happen, like a giant stone appearing in a different place. There is almost nothing that would count as a special effect, other than possibly a dissolve.Despite all the negative things I said about the movie, it was engaging. I cared about the characters. It was creepy. The very last reel was high camp. I expected the villain to play Toccata and Fugue on an organ.
Kenesay10 This was a movie that US Nickelodeon channel used to show when I was young (and Nickelodeon channel was new). I loved the movie then because it was so unlike any other movies I had seen. Would definitely recommend it (it is now available on DVD but is fairly expensive for US markets).When I had a chance to go to England for school, I actually went to Avebury and saw the stone circle (which is older than Stonehenge). The movie itself is a nice blend of factual history, science, science fiction and eerie music.This is one of those lost gems that might be well worth another look!
mark monroe I remember watching this series when it was first aired many years ago - In fact while I was still at school! I find it hard to believe its for kids, as the plot is a complex one that most young kids probably would not follow. The story is father & son visit milbury, (actually its Avebury, Wilts - Not far from Stonehedge), a village surrounded by a circle of stones. Once people enter the village they cant leave! Adam brake is the scientist who saves the day.The series was run mid 90's several times on the Childrens Channel. I managed to pick the entire series up on video a few years ago, now I want the DVD versions (somehow i dont think this will happen!!)Catch it if you can!
gnb If ever any one ITV region was the head of the pack when it came to producing children's TV, then HTV West, on the merit of "Children of the Stones" alone, would be it.Broadcast in 1977, COTS is a 7-part fantasy series set in the fictional village of Milbury. Starring a pre-Blake's 7 Gareth Thomas and 70s telly stalwart Iain Cuthbertson, this delightful little series concerns a scientist and his son's attempts to discover the secret power behind the Milbury stone circle.This is an incredibly eerie sci-fi series and to call it a kids show is a bit of an insult. It is a well crafted tale, brought to the screen with some very adept direction and a remarkably haunting musical score.The performances from the cast are uniformly excellent and special praise must got to the talented youngsters involved.If you can get a hold of this tremendous series then I can highly recommend it. However, it has been deleted on video in the UK for some time.COTS is kids TV at its best - thoughtfully written, well acted, amazingly directed and a delightful, summery, eerie masterpiece. Because of its folksy score and pagan references COTS has been referred to as "The Wicker Man" for kids - it could be called a lot worse.