The Exorcism of Amy

There were only three TV shows that scared me as a kid, Assignment 4 of Sapphire & Steel (the photograph one), the shadow sitting in the armchair in the opening titles of Armchair Thriller and, when I was thirteen and off school ill, watching the Dramarama episode, 'The Exorcism of Amy', which freaked my fever riddled brain right out.

The story is partly narrated by Elizabeth (Annabelle Lanyon) an only child whose family gives a home to a troubled young girl named Amy (Lucy Benjamin - Eastenders' 'Lisa Fowler') who brings with her, Amelia (also played by Benjamin), her malevolent imaginary friend who has spoiled all her previous homes.

Made for the 'Spooky' series that preceded ITV's long running 'Dramarama' series, written by Paula Milne ('Gemini Factor') it hasn't aged as well as some of the things we feature here but choosing to film it in a translucent, minimalist, dreamscape complete with a nightmarish fancy dress party was a bold choice, and with strong central performances from the two girls, and a shattering sting in the tail it was certainly fun to revisit and a reminder of just how much film-makers of the time loved to terrify their young viewers.

The Restless Ghost

Based on the story of the same name by Leon Garfield, a staple of many a ghostly anthology, 'The Restless Ghost' is the story of two young lads, Bostock (Stephen Rooney) & Harris (Jonathan Jackson), who decide to play a trick on the old sexton (Wilfrid Brambell) who stops them scrumping apples by dressing up as the ghostly drummer boy (Matthew Peters) who reputedly haunts the graveyard.

Unlike a number of the other 'Spooky' episodes that launched the long running Dramarama series this one isn't actually all that spooky with it's studio sets and it's very old fashioned storyline but it holds together well and has some solid performances from the cast (even the kids) which is rounded out by Colin Jeavons, an actor with strong wyrd credentials having appeared in the likes of Doomwatch, Doctor Who, Kinvig and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but who will probably be most widely remembered alongside Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Lestrade in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

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In a Dark, Dark Box

Once upon a time in a dark, dark wood there was a dark, dark house; 

In the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark hall;

In the dark, dark hall there were dark dark stairs;

Up the dark, dark stairs there was a dark dark passage;

 

For folks like me who were just that little bit too young to catch some of the cornerstones of Wyrd Britain TV when they were first televised - I was born the day after episode six of  'The Owl Service' was aired and I was 5 when 'The Changes' was shown - the first 'Spooky' season of the ITV series Dramarama shown in 1982 holds a bit of a place in our hearts.

 

In the dark, dark passage there was a dark dark door;

In the dark dark door there was a dark dark room; 

In the dark dark room there was a dark dark corner;

In the dark, dark corner there was a dark, dark cupboard; 

 

This, the fifth episode of that series, puts a young boy (Andrew Downer) visiting his granny (Sheila Burrell) in bed in the room his drowned father grew up in where she begins to recite him a poem.  As the poem progresses he starts to wonder if it's describing the room he's in and whether there is actually a trunk in that dark cupboard in that dark, dark corner.

 

In the dark, dark cupboard there was a dark, dark trunk; 

In the dark, dark trunk there was a dark, dark box; 

 

Directed by Vic Hughes, who had a pedigree for scaring kids with episodes of 'Ace of Wands', 'Shadows' and 'The Tomorrow People' under his belt and with 'Chocky' still to come, who makes good use of a script by Jane Hollowood which has a nicely old fashioned creepy, ghost story at it's heart which it ultimately bottles out of .

 

In the dark dark box there was another dark dark box;

And in the last dark dark box there was a poem 

And the poem said;

 

Hughes makes great use of his limited resources and works hard to build suspence through some excellent use of shadows, some lovely, disquieting, haunted music and echoey disembodied voices that taunt and cajole the young boy but he can only do so much and in the end this is a bit of a missed opportunity but still one that rewards a watch.

 

Once upon a time in a dark, dark wood...

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War Games With Caroline

The inaugural series of the long running kids drama show Dramarama revolved around - happily for us here - 'Spooky' stories. We've featured episodes from the series on Wyrd Britain before - see here and here - and this episode, 'War Games With Caroline', was the one that launched the series.

It's 1982 and Kevin (Wayne Norman) is obsessed by war and war games and with a desk full of 'Warlord' comics who is once again in trouble for it and stuck in detention with his sniffly teacher Mr Lilly (Adam Bareham).  Visiting the teacher to prepare for Founder's Day is an old teacher Mrs Rawley (Faith Brook) whilst Kevin gets visited by a student, Caroline (Lucy Durham-Matthews), who insists it's 1944 and who's worried about an imminent German doodlebug attack on the school.

While some of the acting is of the usual drama school type and the story is a little obvious there's much to like here especially thanks to director John Woods who conjours up some nicely spooky vibes through his simple but effective use of a very mobile camera, some unusual camera angles, a fabulously bizarre corridor scene that would have felt very much at home in an episode of Sapphire and Steel and some great use of shadows that make this ghostly timeslip tale well worth a watch.

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The Danny Roberts Show

The ITV children's television series 'Dramarama' launched itself into a nations nightmares with it's inaugural 'Spooky' series of seven chillers including the fabulous Alan Garner scripted haunted house story 'The Keeper' and an episode, 'The Exorism of Amy'  which I must admit terrified a young me.  This episode, the series' third, subjects a deeply unpleasant late night radio DJ, played with smarmy abandon by Nicholas Ball (Hazell) to a series of phonecalls from quite literally the caller from Hell (Christopher Reich) while his harrassed and bullied producer, played by Gwyneth Strong (Nothing But The Night), remains oblivious to these calls assuming him to be simply cracking under the weight of his own ego and of course she may well be right.

There's some great soundwork here - and a groovy eighties pop soundtrack including Japan's 'Ghosts' over the end credits - and strong performances throughout including by Godfrey James, who had a great career in movies and TV beloved of us here including Witchfinder General, The Oblong Box, The Blood on Satan's Claw, The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core and Doctor Who: Underworld, as the security guard Vernon and a tiny cameo from Edward Judd (The Day the Earth Caught Fire) as the announcer.  Despite this the episode never really quite manages to elicit any real sense of trepidation which with it's confined setting it could have done so easily and as can be seen from some other episodes from the 'Spooky' series the producers had no real qualms about traumatising their young audience so a bit of a miss but still an engaging curio.

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The Keeper (1983)

'The Keeper', written by Alan Garner, was the final episode of the original 'Spooky' series of the long running Dramarama series, an anthology show for children.

Garner's story concerns 'Beacon Lodge' a dilapidated and long abandoned gamekeeper's lodge where two paranormal researchers - Peter (Tim Woodward) and Sally (Janet Maw) -  settle themselves in for the night.  We know right from the off that there is something already resident, and comfortably at home, in the house and it's not best pleased at the arrival of the interlopers. A game of scrabble and a poem set the scene for the conclusion as the secret of the house is revealed.

At the heart of the story is a typically Garner tale of the power that resides in the land, an animistic presence that holds sway over the patch of earth.  It's a short little tale that uses many well worn tricks to build suspense - eerie acoustic instruments, predominantly a dulcimer, and a restless camera that's constantly circling and hovering just behind Peter and, particularly, Janet - but it must be remembered this is a show made for kids for whom many of these tricks of the trade would be new and also they are well worn because they work.

A genuinely scary story from that golden age of kids television when film-makers had literally no qualms about utterly terrifying their young audience.



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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much appreciate a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain