Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The

1 9 6 7 (UK)
10 x 20 minute episodes

Initially intended as a small-scale Jackanory-style presentation with just a narrator and illustrations, this ABC production grew and grew to become an ambitious live-action Sunday serial.

The technical aspects of the serial show brilliantly how an epic can be staged with relatively meagre resources. The production team even brought in sheets from home to provide snow-covered hills, while several features of the set came second-hand from The Max Bygraves Show in the studio next door.

Looking for all the world like a theatre production on television, the designers provided a delightful stylised look, suggesting an impression of the land of Narnia.

Taking a cue from the novel’s original illustration of the likes of Mr Tumnus, all of the creatures – including Aslan the lion – were played by actors walking upright on two legs.

The available budget did not stretch to special effects, so a narrator was used – in this case, the professor (Jack Woolgar), who lives in the old house where the children are staying, narrated the story, sat by a crackling fireside.

The narrator also covered for costume and prop changes between scenes as the series was broadcast ‘as live’.

Susan
Zuleika Robson
Lucy
Liz Crowther
Peter
Paul Waller
Edmund
Edward McMurray
The White Witch
Elizabeth Wallace
Ginaarbrik The Dwarf
George Claydon
Mrs Beaver
Susan Field
Mr Beaver
Jimmy Gardner
Aslan
Bernard Kay
Mr Tumnus
Angus Lennie
Maugrim
Robert Booth
Giant Rumblebuffin
Norman Mitchell
St Nicholas
Guy Deghy
Professor
Jack Woolgar

Episodes

What Lucy Found in the Wardrobe | Edmund and the White Witch | Into the Forest | A Day with the Beavers | The Witch’s House | Aslan is Coming | Peter’s First Battle | The Triumph of the Witch | Deeper Magic from Before the Dawning of Time | The Battle