The Secret World of Polly Flint (1987) (Episode 3)

Ep 3: Frustrated by Aunt Em's rigid house rules, Polly escapes into her own secret world as she explores the village countryside, but she is a little unnerved by the mysterious figure in black she saw in the woods with a net. She is later stunned to learn that her parents are moving to a hospital in the hope that an operation may restore her father's use of his legs, leaving Polly to stay on with Aunt Em. Becoming ever more captivated by the May Pole, she sneaks out early one morning to perform her own ceremony to it, only to see a vision of children dancing about it - "Time Gypsies", Old Mazy later tells her, who may have slipped through a net of time... Starring Kate Reynolds, Susan Jameson, Don Henderson, Emily Richard, Malcolm Storry, Dylan Champion and Daniel Pope, with narration by Michael Hordern. Episode 3 and our heroine Polly Flint is beginning not only to hear but see things. But is it her imagination or can she see into the past? The countryside settings really help conjure up a enchanting old world feel to things, as does novelist Helen Cresswell's knowledge of old customs and traditions that strike real here. What's even more surprising is despite it's beautiful country settings it still conjures up something of an unsettling feeling at times. And it's helped no end by the performance of Don Henderson, who is wonderfully ambiguous as Old Mazy, both seemingly amiable and sinister at the same time. Please note by the way that these come from old video recordings (not mine, I hasten to add - see Episode 1), so occasionally the tape may jump. This cannot be helped as this rarely repeated series has never been released on DVD - like so many kids series from this era and the 1990's. which is astonishing when you think of it today.