THE WATCH HOUSE is another feather in the cap for Children's BBC, who filled their schedules in the 1980s with quality programming in the form of often spooky ghost stories that never pandered to their target audience. This one's a three-part adaptation of a novel by Robert Westall, another spooky kid's author who seems to be forgotten by most these days.
The setting is the Northumbrian coast, where a young girl comes to stay during her parents' divorce. She discovers that the local 'watch house' - a station for the rescue lifeboat - is haunted by a restless spirit that wants her help, but how? At just three 25 minute episodes this is short and to the point, but also incredibly spooky.
Bits that raised my hair as a kid were the rapping blind-pull on the window pane; the skull crashing through the window (THAT gave me nightmares), and of course the figurehead coming to life in the final episode. Seen today it's rather genteel, but still surprisingly effective. I particularly liked the fact that the protagonist is so likeable, and sympathetic thanks to her family plight. Come on BBC - this is the kind of quality production crying out for a DVD release...
The setting is the Northumbrian coast, where a young girl comes to stay during her parents' divorce. She discovers that the local 'watch house' - a station for the rescue lifeboat - is haunted by a restless spirit that wants her help, but how? At just three 25 minute episodes this is short and to the point, but also incredibly spooky.
Bits that raised my hair as a kid were the rapping blind-pull on the window pane; the skull crashing through the window (THAT gave me nightmares), and of course the figurehead coming to life in the final episode. Seen today it's rather genteel, but still surprisingly effective. I particularly liked the fact that the protagonist is so likeable, and sympathetic thanks to her family plight. Come on BBC - this is the kind of quality production crying out for a DVD release...
