The Secret Garden (TV series)


The Secret Garden is a 1975 British television adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel of the same name. Adapted, produced and directed by Dorothea Brooking, it was first broadcast on BBC 1 in seven 30-minute episodes.

Plot

The series begins with Mary Lennox being abandoned by residents of a house due to fears of Cholera, and found by some soldiers. She is sent to Misselthwaite Manor where her uncle lives. She befriends his maids and meets a boy named Dickon. One night she hears crying and leaves her room to investigate - she meets Colin her cousin. Colin is bedridden and thinks he is a hunchback, but learns he isn't. He begins to go outside, spending time with Dickon and Mary in the gardens. Mary finds a key and finds a hidden door as well, and learns that behind the wall is a secret garden that her uncle's wife had worked on every day until she died, so he hid the key and the door. Colin learns to walk and Mary's uncle learns of this and the series ends with her uncle and Colin walking with each other.

Episode list

Theme music

The soundtrack features a solo oboe playing "The Watermill" by Ronald Binge.

Reception

The drama was nominated for a British Academy Television Award in 1976 in the drama/entertainment category, and in 1979 it was nominated in the children's entertainment series category at the 1979 Daytime Emmy Awards.