Marionettes and costumes of Beaver: the BBC series, 1988-1990

Four books in eighteen episodes, a puppet Aslan and Tom Baker as Puddleglum: the series that introduced Narnia to British children in the late 1980s.

• 18 30-minute episodes, broadcast on BBC One from November 13, 1988 to December 23, 1990.
• Four books adapted: The Lion, the Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair.
• Several BAFTA nominations and one Emmy Award nomination.

• Year — 1988
• Format — series

Technical sheet

• Original title — The Chronicles of Narnia
• Seasons —
  • 1988 — Books
    • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
    — 6
  • 1989 — Books
    • Prince Caspian
    • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
    — 6
  • 1990 — Books
    • The Silver Chair
    — 6
• Cast —
  • Aslan (voice) — Character

    Aslan

    — Ronald Pickup
  • The White Witch, the hag, the Lady in the Green Dress — Character

    Jadis, the White Witch

    — Barbara Kellerman
  • Reepicheep — Character

    Reepicheep

    — Warwick Davis
  • Puddleglum — Character

    Puddleglum

    — Tom Baker
• Awards —
  • BAFTA TV Best Video Lighting (1989, 1988 season)
  • BAFTA Children's Programme nominations (1988, 1989, 1990)
  • Emmy Award nomination, Children's Programme (1989)

In which books

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Prince Caspian
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Silver Chair

Other names

• The Chronicles of Narnia
• Marilyn Fox, Alex Kirby

In brief

The BBC adapted four Chronicles in three seasons of six episodes, broadcast on Sunday afternoons:

• 1988 : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ;
• 1989 : Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, combined into one season ;
• 1990 : The Silver Chair.

The producer was Paul Stone; the scripts were by Alan Seymour. The series was co-produced with WonderWorks, an American public television collection.

Did you know

Before digital effects, everything had to be handcrafted. Aslan is a large puppet operated from within, voiced by Ronald Pickup. The beavers are actors in costumes, and some sets mix live action and animation. These effects have aged a bit, but many readers still cherish this series, praised for its faithfulness to the text.

Going further

Barbara Kellerman plays all three major evil characters: the White Witch, the old hag in Prince Caspian, and the Lady in the Green Dress in The Silver Chair. Warwick Davis is Reepicheep; he will later play the dwarf Nikabrik in the film Prince Caspian. Tom Baker, famous for playing The Doctor in Doctor Who, is memorable as Puddleglum.

On screen

The series won a BAFTA in 1989, Best Video Lighting, awarded to John Mason for the 1988 season, and was nominated each year for the BAFTA Best Children's Programme. The first season was also nominated for the 1989 Emmy Awards, in the Children's Programme category, for the American co-production WonderWorks.

In French?

We have found no trace of a French broadcast of the series, neither on television nor on video. For many French-speaking readers, it remains a late discovery in the original version. It is nevertheless valuable: to date, it is the only adaptation of The Silver Chair, and the most faithful to the text. If you have seen it dubbed, write to us.

Going further

• All Narnia adaptations
• The differences between the books and the movies
• Reepicheep
• Puddleglum

Going further

• Narnia on screen, on radio and on stage
• The Narnia films judged by Lewis' standards
• Reepicheep
• Puddleglum
• Contact

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(TV_series)
• http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/562736/
• https://www.bafta.org/awards/television/childrens-programme-entertainment-drama
• https://www.bafta.org/awards/tvcraft/video-lighting/
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094500/awards/