In a Dark, Dark Box

Once upon a time in a dark, dark wood there was a dark, dark house; 

In the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark hall;

In the dark, dark hall there were dark dark stairs;

Up the dark, dark stairs there was a dark dark passage;

 

For folks like me who were just that little bit too young to catch some of the cornerstones of Wyrd Britain TV when they were first televised - I was born the day after episode six of  'The Owl Service' was aired and I was 5 when 'The Changes' was shown - the first 'Spooky' season of the ITV series Dramarama shown in 1982 holds a bit of a place in our hearts.

 

In the dark, dark passage there was a dark dark door;

In the dark dark door there was a dark dark room; 

In the dark dark room there was a dark dark corner;

In the dark, dark corner there was a dark, dark cupboard; 

 

This, the fifth episode of that series, puts a young boy (Andrew Downer) visiting his granny (Sheila Burrell) in bed in the room his drowned father grew up in where she begins to recite him a poem.  As the poem progresses he starts to wonder if it's describing the room he's in and whether there is actually a trunk in that dark cupboard in that dark, dark corner.

 

In the dark, dark cupboard there was a dark, dark trunk; 

In the dark, dark trunk there was a dark, dark box; 

 

Directed by Vic Hughes, who had a pedigree for scaring kids with episodes of 'Ace of Wands', 'Shadows' and 'The Tomorrow People' under his belt and with 'Chocky' still to come, who makes good use of a script by Jane Hollowood which has a nicely old fashioned creepy, ghost story at it's heart which it ultimately bottles out of .

 

In the dark dark box there was another dark dark box;

And in the last dark dark box there was a poem 

And the poem said;

 

Hughes makes great use of his limited resources and works hard to build suspence through some excellent use of shadows, some lovely, disquieting, haunted music and echoey disembodied voices that taunt and cajole the young boy but he can only do so much and in the end this is a bit of a missed opportunity but still one that rewards a watch.

 

Once upon a time in a dark, dark wood...

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