Moondial (1988) User Reviews

Watched it as a kid when it was originally broadcast...

[stebsmeister · 8/10 · 22 December 2020]

...and rewatched it for the first time in over thirty years this summer as part of a general binge of kids telly.

This was then, and still is now, really good. There's a real sense of mystery and eeriness, and the young cast act really well. The music/score is excellent, and while perhaps some of the effects have dated, the story hasn't, because it doesn't rely upon them.

British kids telly used to be brilliant, didn't it?!

One of the best BBC dramas of its era

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 17 November 2018]

For anyone who remembers watching it at the time, MOONDIAL was one of THE top Children's BBC dramas of the 1980s. Written by novelist Helen Cresswell from her own novel, this merely cements her reputation as the best children's writer of her era; anyone who enjoys her work should also check out her fine Edith Nesbit adaptations such as FIVE CHILDREN AND IT. Anyway, MOONDIAL was filmed up the road from me and I had the good fortune to visit Belton House itself during the late 1980s and yes, it is as spooky as it appears in this show, particularly the queen's bedroom. MOONDIAL tells a visual story in which Minty, the intensely likeable protagonist, retreats into a fantasy world due to family trauma and ends up helping out two restless children whose unhappy spirits are linked to the house. Fine performances from the youthful cast, an excellent score, and lots of haunting visuals help to make this a thoroughly engaging production.

Classic Childrens novel comes to life

[lucky_ducks · 9/10 · 22 February 2001]

This Six part childrens was just brilliant. Minty is a rather sulky teenager sent to live with her aunt following her fathers death. She finds a beautiful garden in at the local manor house and there is a sundial in the centre of the garden. Minty has strange mental powers and when she touches the dial she becomes dizzy! when she recovers she finds she has been transported through time to the turn of the century. Here she finds the manor house filled with maids and servants and lords and ladies. But there is a girl who is trapped in the house as she has a disfiguring birthmark which is seen as a devils mark! Minty with the help of the servant tom must rescue the girl before she becomes part of a sacrifice.