Children of the Stones, Part 1- Into the Circle

 "I deny the existence of that which exists."

Happy day!

One episode in, and I'm hooked. No, actually... I was hooked by the deeply atmospheric opening titles, with the uncanniness of both the music and the splendidly unsettling way the stones (actually the Avebury Stone Circle) are shot. The mood throughout is utterly superb.

And so are the performances. A pre-Blake's 7 Gareth Thomas as Professor Adam Brake gives us a charismatic lead. Iain Cuthbertson, as landlord Mr Hendricks, is... well, the jovial yet unsettling character that Cuthbertson always plays, which is a very good thing indeed. Even the kids can act.

And, of course, there's the sheer joy of seeing the England of 1977, the time and place of my birth. the cars, the fashions, the shop interiors, the bikes, the hairstyles, even the very 1970s style woo and nonsense- ley lines and all that, so deeply ingrained that Adam can pooh pooh ley lines at one moment and then happily plan some "electronic dowsing" in the next.

Best of all, though, is the gradual unravelling of what's going on. Some of the kids are "happy" and others are not. And being "happy" seems to mean genius intellect but also blind obedience... almost a kind of psychic link and control? And then there's the mysterious painting, Matt's weird visions, and that cliffhanger...

This is very good stuff. 

This is very good stuff.