13-year-old Cassie Palmer (Helen Probyn), the daughter of a psychic medium (Elizabeth Spriggs), decides to see if she has inherited her mother’s powers. She visits the local graveyard and tries to conjure up the spirit of a young girl named Sarah, who died at the age of seven.
Instead, a tall, dark figure appears from behind a tombstone. He tells Cassie his name is Deverill and demands to know why she has called him. Scared witless, Cassie runs off.
Deverill subsequently appears to Cassie several more times, although she doesn’t understand why he follows her and is unsure of his intentions.
Convinced that Cassie has inherited her psychic power, Mrs Palmer is anxious to meet the mysterious Mr Deverill. Cassie invites him to their house because but he vanishes suddenly in the middle of Mrs Palmer’s questioning.
The Palmer family fall on bad times and are ultimately forced to sell their home and face an uncertain future. Cassie and her sister find the ideal cottage to move to, but unfortunately, the price is too high. But as it turns out, Deverill holds a secret which will solve their problems.
He reveals to Cassie that he buried a small treasure in the floorboards of a house in town when he was alive. Cassie finds the treasure and uses it to purchase a new home for herself, and her family to start a new life.
His good deed frees Deverill from an eternity of darkness and torment. Cassie’s powers burn out in the process and she is able to continue a normal life, free from the supernatural.
Premiering on 26 February 1982, this six-part children’s drama was produced by TVS and based on a 1980 novel by Vivien Alcock. The series was aired on Nickelodeon in the US as part of the series The Third Eye.
Until she appeared in The Haunting of Cassie Palmer, the nearest 13-year-old Helen Probyn had come to stardom was playing in her village pantomime in Nutley, Sussex. She was then spotted by production director Dorothea Brooking and invited to audition for the TVS series, where she was picked from many other girls.
Cassie Palmer
Helen Probyn Mrs Palmer
Elizabeth Spriggs Deverill
Geoffrey Rose Mary Palmer
Ruth Adcock Tom Palmer
Stephen Bint Ann Hopper
Denise Margetts Mrs Pettifeather
Hilda Fenemore Sue
Sarah Hobbs
Deverill subsequently appears to Cassie several more times, although she doesn’t understand why he follows her and is unsure of his intentions.
His good deed frees Deverill from an eternity of darkness and torment. Cassie’s powers burn out in the process and she is able to continue a normal life, free from the supernatural.
