Courtesy of Jonathan Calder, James Oliver reminds us of the brave shot which BBC TV made of the John Masefield children's epic. I would endorse what he writes about the acting and the music. Nothing can replace the original radio dramatisations (it must have been broadcast live several times before the recording we have today was laid down) in the mind's eye of those who heard them. The narration of Harman Grisewood and the Boyd Neel recording of Hely-Hutchinson's* Carol Symphony which provided the background music are inimitable. However, TV did add at least one episode from the book which was not in the radio version and Patrick Troughton's performance was priceless. As to the clunky animations, I would hope that they remained separate from the live action recording and may perhaps be replaced in a re-run by more up-to-date and magical versions.
* Victor Hely-Hutchinson is unjustly neglected in my opinion. His reputation probably suffers from not having enough time to build up a large body of work. He died at 45, victim of his own sense of public duty.
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