❉ Happy Day! A new Radio 4 podcast drama, based on the cult 1977 television series!
“As a huge fan of the incredibly creepy original – it was a thrill to step in and preside over the running of Milbury over 40 years later. It is still a wonderful place full of very happy people. I hope everyone will tune in to the broadcast to find out for themselves. In fact it’s vital that they do. The plan depends on it. Happy Day!” – Reece Shearsmith
BBC Radio 4 present a new adaptation of the cult 1977 television series Children of the Stones – starring India Brown (BBC’s Worzel Gummidge), Reece Shearsmith (Inside Number 9), Steve Oram (Sightseers), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), Jairaj Varsani (The Personal History of David Copperfield), Teddie Malleson-Allen (Swallows And Amazons) and Taj Atwal (In The Club).
The series’ producer/director, Bafflegab Production’s Simon Barnard, told We Are Cult:
“Eighteen months ago I pitched a remake of creepy ’70s kids TV serial Children of the Stones to the BBC. It’s been a slightly tortuous journey since then to getting it made – one of the original TV writers dying, another adaptation for Netflix in the works, adapting the (really weird!) original into something that 20-something podcast listeners might like, recording the whole thing in lockdown – but here it is, out today and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out!”
Mia Brake moves to Milbury, a sleepy village framed by an ancient stone circle. But something’s not quite right here. The stones emit a strange power. The villagers are eerily happy, greeting each other with the unnerving phrase “Happy Day!” And at the village school the other children can solve incredibly complex mathematical problems. As one-by-one her friends join the Happy People, Mia must uncover the nightmarish, impossible secret of the stones.
Credits:
Mia Brake ….. India Brown
Rafe Hendrick ….. Reece Shearsmith
Adam Brake ….. Steve Oram
Laces ….. Ralph Ineson
Rafiq ….. Jairaj Varsani
Jess …… Teddie Malleson-Allen
Tom ….. Louis Suc
Colin / The Guide ….. Ewan Bailey
Priya / Therapist / Mother ….. Taj Atwal
Surgeon / The Butcher ….. Guy Adams
Physiotherapist / Sam / TV Host ….. Richard Reed
Martha / Reporter ….. Becky Wright
Teacher / Mrs Everitt …. Lizzie Roper
Dougie / Student ….. Tom Barnard
Podcasters ….. Dan Starkey, Paul Morris
Radio presenter ….. Danny Robins
Students ….. Stanley Silver, Louie Silver, Charlotte Harrison, Kim Stevens
Producer/director: Simon Barnard
Writers: AK Benedict and Guy Adams, based upon the television serial by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray.
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Edwin Sykes
❉ ‘Children of the Stones’ is a Bafflegab Production for BBC Radio 4. Listen on BBC Sounds now: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08sy3qx
❉ News source: BBC Media Centre.
❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.
Children of the Stones was my favourite show as a kid and I’m very grateful to Simon Barnard for keeping its memory alive. However, in my opinion, this is a ‘stagey’, BBC ‘tick box’ adaptation. Unfortunately, everyone is blandly reading their lines rather than believing them. Disappointing.
Agreed. It’s bloody awful and all the strangeness is forced and mixed in with endless angst about how tough it is to be a kid is now that doesn’t add to the story other than making it deeply irritating.
I found this very confusing to follow: was this reworking originaaly written for TV, rather than for radio/podcast? Little thought seems to have been given to communicating context/setting to the audience. The focus seems to have been on trying to create mood via intrusive sound effects, but that just served to muddle. Not sure that any of the actors gave a convincing performance, perhaps with the exception of Ralph Ineson as the peripheral Laces.