The Moon Stallion

Last updated

The Moon Stallion
Created by Brian Hayles
Directed by Dorothea Brooking
Starring Sarah Sutton
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Producer Anna Home
Original release
Network BBC1
Release1978 (1978) 
1978 (1978)

The Moon Stallion is a British children's television serial made by the BBC in 1978 and written by Brian Hayles, who also authored its novelisation. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The series stars Sarah Sutton as Diana Purwell, a young blind girl who becomes embroiled in mystical intrigue set around the Berkshire and Wiltshire countryside.

Plot

Set in the late Victorian era, the story tells of how the Purwell family travel to Wiltshire when the widowed father is contacted by Sir George Mortenhurze, local squire and a former cavalry officer, to seek out historical evidence of King Arthur. Professor Purwell takes his two children, Diana and Paul, with him.

Arriving at the railway station they are collected by the squire's groom, 'Todman', and driven by pony and trap to his estate. On the way they briefly encounter the Moon Stallion, a white horse living wild on the moors, whom Diana is aware of despite her being blind. It transpires that the horse is the mystical messenger of Epona, goddess of the Moon and horses; the horse is also connected to the story of Merlin. [2]

Diana and Paul, with Estelle the daughter of Sir George, discover that Mortenhurze and Todman seek to capture the horse. Todman, who it turns out is a "horse warlock", desires the power it would offer him as consort to Diana the moon goddess, while the squire blames the horse for his wife's death and seeks revenge.

Cast

Principal locations

Reception

The book The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy described The Moon Stallion as "an intriguing serial." It also stated that "Hayles' script was one of the most accomplished fantasies specifically written for television". [3]

Novelisation

Brian Hayles wrote a novelisation of The Moon Stallion in 1978; it was published by Mirror Books.

In 2015, Fantom Publishing republished Hayles' novelisation, along with novelisations of Children of the Stones , Raven and Sky . [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana (mythology)</span> Roman goddess of hunting and the wild

Diana is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside and nature, hunters, wildlife, childbirth, crossroads, the night, and the Moon. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uffington White Horse</span> Prehistoric carving in Uffington, England

The Uffington White Horse is a prehistoric hill figure, 110 m (360 ft) long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure is situated on the upper slopes of Whitehorse Hill in the English civil parish of Uffington in Oxfordshire, some 16 km (10 mi) east of Swindon, 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the town of Faringdon and a similar distance west of the town of Wantage; or 2.5 km (1.6 mi) south of Uffington. The hill forms a part of the scarp of the Berkshire Downs and overlooks the Vale of White Horse to the north. The best views of the figure are obtained from the air, or from directly across the Vale, particularly around the villages of Great Coxwell, Longcot, and Fernham.

The Triple Goddess is a deity or deity archetype revered in many Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions. In common Neopagan usage, the Triple Goddess is viewed as a triunity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being. These three figures are often described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the Moon, and often rules one of the realms of heavens, earth, and underworld. In various forms of Wicca, her masculine consort is the Horned God.

The War Games is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969.

Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrance Dicks</span> English author and screenwriter (1935–2019)

Terrance William Dicks was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, working as a writer and also serving as the programme's script editor from 1968 to 1974. The Doctor Who News Page described him as "arguably the most prolific contributor to Doctor Who". He later became a script editor and producer of classic serials for the BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice Warrior</span> Fictional alien from Doctor Who

The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by Brian Hayles, first appearing in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. In Doctor Who, the Ice Warriors originated on Mars, which within the series narrative is a dying world. Their early appearances depict the Ice Warriors as attempting to conquer the Earth and escape their planet as early as Earth's Ice Age. A frozen group are discovered by an Earth scientific team, one of whom, Walters, dubs them 'Ice Warriors' in their first appearance. Despite this not being the name of their species, an Ice Lord later refers to his soldiers as Ice Warriors in the 1974 serial The Monster of Peladon. Similarly there is a fleeting reference to themselves as such in The Curse of Peladon. Although originally appearing as villains, subsequent appearances have depicted Ice Warriors that have eschewed violence and even ally themselves with the Doctor. They have also been featured in flashback and cameo appearances, in addition to appearing frequently in spin-off media such as novels and audio releases.

The Masque of Mandragora is the first serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 25 September 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Sutton</span> British actress (born 1961)

Sarah Sutton is a British actress. She played the role of Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

The Stones of Blood is the third serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 28 October to 18 November 1978. Part 4 was broadcast during the week of the show's fifteenth anniversary.

The Brain of Morbius is the fifth serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1976. The screenwriter credit is given to Robin Bland, a pseudonym for writer and former script editor Terrance Dicks, whose original script had been heavily rewritten by his successor as script editor, Robert Holmes. It is the first serial to feature the Sisterhood of Karn.

<i>The Celestial Toymaker</i> 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Celestial Toymaker is the mostly missing seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 April 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Hayles</span> Television and film writer (1931–1978)

Brian Leonard Hayles was an English television and film writer, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Holdstock</span> British fantasy and science fiction author (1948–2009)

Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.

<i>Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter</i> 1974 British film by Brian Clemens

Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter is a 1974 British swashbuckling action horror film, written and directed by Brian Clemens, produced by Clemens and Albert Fennell for Hammer Film Productions, and starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant, and Caroline Munro. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson, supervised by Philip Martell. Shot in 1972, but belatedly released on 7 April 1974, the film was intended as the first in a series focused on the title character and his companions. Due to the film's violence and sexual subtext, Captain Kronos was rated R in North America. This was Clemens' only film as a director.

<i>Alanna: The First Adventure</i> 1983 novel by Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce. Originally published in 1983, it is the first in a series of four books for young adults, The Song of the Lioness. Pierce originally drafted a single novel aimed at adults, but revised it to a series for young adults after being unable to find a publisher. Set in a time and place where girls are forbidden from becoming knights, the novel details the beginning of Alanna of Trebond's training as a knight as she hides her gender from teachers and fellow pages.

<i>The Way We Live Now</i> (2001 TV serial) 2001 British TV series or programme

The Way We Live Now is a 2001 six-part television adaptation of the Anthony Trollope 1875 novel The Way We Live Now. The serial was first broadcast on the BBC and was directed by David Yates, written by Andrew Davies and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark. David Suchet starred as Augustus Melmotte, with Shirley Henderson as his daughter Marie, Matthew Macfadyen as Sir Felix Carbury, Cillian Murphy as Paul Montague and Miranda Otto as Mrs Hurtle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Joseph Henry Hawley, 3rd Baronet</span> English Thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder

Sir Joseph Henry Hawley Bt. (1813–1875) was an English thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.

References

  1. "The Moon Stallion". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 Bramwell, Peter. Pagan Themes in Modern Children's Fiction.London, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   9780230236899 (pg. 173-4)
  3. 1 2 Pringle, David, ed. (2006). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy. London: Carlton. p. 106. ISBN   1-84442-110-4.
  4. "Cult Classics", Vortex Magazine, April 2015. (p.4)