Village Library

Children of the Stones was produced by HTV and was filmed at Avebury, Wiltshire during the memorably hot summer of 1976, with interior scenes videotaped at HTV’s Bristol studios. It was broadsact between 10th January and 21st February 1977.

[PS This Look-in never was, but it should have been!]

The serial was novelised by series writers Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray and released by Carousel Books in 1977. The book adds some detail to the TV series and changes a few minor points. Both the 1977 Carousel edition and the 1983 re-issue have excellent covers. 

Children of the Stones was released as a pre-certification UK VHS video, published by Guild Home Video. Publication date was November 1981. 

Children of the Stones the Complete Series was released as a PG VHS video, published by Television Entertainment Limited. Publication date is 1992. A few scenes have been reordered and title sequences removed except for the first and last. 

The series was released on DVD by Second Sight in the UK and by Acorn Media in the US. These DVDs included interviews with actor Gareth Thomas and producer Peter Graham Scott. Despite the questionable artwork they now fetch very high prices on eBay. If you see one in a charity shop – buy it! 

This later DVD does not include the interview extras. Instead it has a booklet by Tim Worthington on HTV’s fantasy television programming

and a second disc with episodes of Sky, King of the Castle, The Clifton House Mystery and Into the Labyrinth. 

Comedian Stewart Lee explores the 1970s television series Children of the Stones, a story of mystery, excitement and terror. Broadcast October 2012. Features interviews with many of the cast and crew. Highly recommended. 

Twenty-five years after the terrifying events at Milbury, Matthew Brake returns to the English village, this time with his own son Tom.

Return to the Stones is a sequel to the television series and is published by Fantom. While it’s no competition for the original, it is worth a read. The character of Dai is taken in a particularly interesting direction.

Originally published as a Kindle e-book in November 2012, followed by a hardback edition in 2013.

I love this audiobook, one of Gareth Thomas’s final projects. He gives new life to all the characters and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

The BBC funded a new audio adaptation as a 10-episode podcast in October 2020. Produced by Bafflegab. It starred Reece Shearsmith, India Brown, Steve Oram and Ralph Ineson.

Oh dear. No doubt a very well intentioned idea and not without it’s successes, (Ralph Ineson as Laces among them) but this production ultimately disappoints. For me, the central relationship between a parent and child is vital to the story but this production reduces that relationship to a dicey tolerance. 

Available from Truck Records This one-sided LP (there is only 17 minutes of music in all across the series) is a special TRUNK ONLY limited edition. Also available as digital download. Excellent and much underrated music. I still can’t actually believe this record got released but thank Hendrick it was. 

Explore my own 3D, online environment. Make yourself comfy on your very own 'stone throne' and listen to the later, great, Mark Fisher's fascinating essay Mesolithic Astropunk. Available on spatial.io