Moondial [DVD]

I have to admit that I got this DVD without knowing anything about this show as I had not read the book beforehand. The reason I bought this was because I wanted to watch something new. I found this online and was intrigued by the storyline and positive reviews and bought this DVD. I am glad that I did because it definitely didn't disappoint. The storyline revolves around a girl called Minty (short for Araminta) who is sent to her aunt's house for the holidays. While she is there, she discovers an old house and a garden with a sundial. When Minty touches the sundial, she is sent back in time where she meets and befriends a boy called Tom. From there, the storyline takes many twists and turns. The only thing that I would have liked to see added to the storyline is more development of the Miss Raven character. The reason I say that is that I didn't really understand the connection between Miss Raven and Miss Vole and I would have liked the character to be developed further in order to explain that. There are a lot of additional things to like about Moondial. The scenery, the house and the garden are all beautiful and the storyline and characters kept me invested in the show until the very end. I would call this a ghost story as the storyline revolves around ghosts. There are a lot of haunting scenes - I found the scene where Minty sneaks out at midnight to visit the sundial/moondial particularly haunting. This is a show for children, but I think that it is mature enough for adults to enjoy it as well. Overall, this is a great show and extremely enjoyable.

Strange and frightening and thick with atmosphere, Moondial was easily the best TV series of my childhood. Usually I want stories to have all loose ends tied up, but Moondial doesn’t do this –questions are begged, and never quite explained – and this, I think, has captivated my curious mind for thirty years. When watching as a child I realised the three children, Sarah, Tom and Minty, were from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries respectively. As an adult I can see that they are divided not only by time, but by class – Sarah (upper), Tom (working) and Minty (middle), and by gender roles Sarah (female), Tom (male) and Minty (in-between). But their common sufferings, which they seek to resolve, far outweigh their differences. As well as Moondial itself, this DVD has wonderful bonus features including interviews with director Colin Cant, and Siri Neal (Minty). Fabulous!

Great BBC chrildren's drama of the 90s.

I was 8 years old when I was spellbound by Moondial back in 1988 on Children's BBC. It became an instant favourite, and I bought the long out of print VHS a year or so later, which was annoyingly edited with lots of scenes missing. It's wonderful that this cult classic has been finally given such brilliant DVD treatment, I was particularly thrilled with the interviews with director Colin Cant and particularly Siri Neal (or Siri O'Neal, as she is now known), who starred in the series as Araminta "Minty" Cane. The latter interview is particularly excellent, as Siri is very articulate and amusing, sharing some great memories and interesting stories, including about why she decided to no longer act. It was interesting to learn that adults as well as kids were fascinated by the show, and how much attention it received at the time, and is still fondly remembered to this day. The cast and crew commentaries for episodes 1 and 6 are also wonderful, I just wish they had done commentaries for all six episodes! The series holds up well, obviously dated in some places, but still as bewitching and endlessly rewatchable as it always was. The expression "they just don't make 'em like that anymore" is certainly true here, I wish the BBC would make something even half as good for kids today like they did with Moondial. Along with The Cuckoo Sister (which NEEDS a DVD release!), Five Children and It and Tom's Midnight Garden, Moondial is something they can always be proud of.

One of the highlights of my childhood was settling down once a week to watch Moondial. A charming ghost story for children about Minty a girl who is temporarily living with a Auntie whilst her mother recovers from a near fatal car accident. Lonely she befriends two ghost children, both from different times, whom she can only see after using the Moondial. This is a fabulous children's drama, devoid of "issues" that tends to dominate most children's dramas nowadays. Moondiala was previously available on Vhs. We'll my copy got chewed up long ago. It was available very briefly on DVD from Readers Digest but theses copies were selling for nearly £100! This DVD shows the film in its entirety, not edited unlike previous releases, And there are one or two bonus features. I watched this with my 9 year old niece and she loved it! This is engaging and charming. Thank you so much for finally releasing this fab kids drama on DVD complete and unabridged.

The 1988 TV series adapted from the 1987 novel and filmed at Belton House has stood the test of time. Teenager Minty travels back in time and meets two abused children: Victorian Tom who suffers physical abuse, and Georgian Sarah who is branded Devils Child because of a facial birthmark. Can Minty help them?

Atmospheric children's serial with music that it is very evocative and greatly enhances the mood. The child actors are better than average, especially Siri and the boy who plays Tom, and the only issue is that the little girl they try to help is a bit quietly spoken at times. Quite a spooky and in some ways socially aware tale, with the mistreatment of Tom and the little girl in their own eras. Timeslip rather than ghosts, which is a twist on the usual story of a haunted stately home.

I was lookong for this show for about 25 years, I couldn't remeber how it was called. And when I finally found out it's called The Moondial, I got another brief disappointment because it's not sold anymore. At least in the US. Imagine my joy, when I found it on Amazon. The seller even put a warning on the label that the dvd can only be played on a zone 2 player, and spared me yet anothert disappointment. I quickly got myself all zones dvd player, and was finally able to watch the "almost lost in my time" show. Thank you!!!!

didn't work on my old player, had to use the computer...

This was very good it was an older movie but I enjoyed it so much it was adventurous mysterious and magical

Top Serie ,schönes Ambiente, Gruselfaktor hoch !

Endlich! Danke, Danke, Danke. Hab schon ewig nach dieser Serie gesucht. War mir fest in Erinnerung geblieben, die Reise mit der Monduhr. DvD läuft einwandfrei und ich bin happy!