Patrick Dromgoole

The Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. This adaptation was made for Harlech TV and broadcast on 28th December 1986. It starred Twiggy and Roger Daltrey and features the song Mistletoe and Wine" which became a #1 hit for Cliff Richard in 1988, and the biggest selling record of that year

8.9/10

A young American couple inherits an English castle, only to find that it is haunted by the spirit of a disgraced ancestor, doomed to stay on the estate because of his cowardice. The only way he can escape is if one of his descendants performs an heroic act, something he intends to get the husband to do.

6.7/10

Arch of Triumph is a 1985 British made-for-television film based on the novel Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque, which was previously adapted in 1948 for a film of the same name with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Dr. Ravic (Anthony Hopkins) is an Austrian doctor who helps Jews escape from the Nazis. In 1939, he meets Joan Madou (Lesley-Anne Down), a woman he saves from suicide, and their relationship flourishes until he is arrested as a refugee without documentation and realizes he has some unfinished business with the Nazis. After a prolonged separation, without explanation, the two are finally reunited and struggle to put their relationship back on the right course as mayhem breaks out all around them.

5.6/10

Robin of Sherwood, was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel Showtime and on PBS. The show starred Michael Praed and Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character. Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, Robin of Sherwood combined a gritty, authentic production design with elements of real-life history, 20th century fiction, and pagan myth. The series is also notable for its haunting title music by Clannad, which won a BAFTA award.

8.5/10

Two one-act plays explore love and loneliness. In "Table by the Window" an aging fashion model contrives a reunion with her ex-husband, a politician ruined by scandal, and their passion is rekindled. In "Table Number Seven" a meek woman harbors a secret love for a man accused of fraud and sex offenses, forcing her to take a stand for the first time in her life.

7.7/10

Towards the end of their lives, two old friends discover that one of them was in love with the other one's wife for more than thirty years.

8.4/10

An adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play.

7.6/10

Into the Labyrinth is a British children's television series produced by HTV for the ITV network between 1980 and 1982. Three series, each consisting of seven 25-minute episodes, were produced and directed by Peter Graham Scott. The series was created by Scott along with Bob Baker, who had previously written several stories for Doctor Who.

7.6/10

An old woman's possessions are auctioned, and orchestral conductor Timothy Clare and his family move into her large, though rather gloomy and dilapidated, old house in Bristol. It soon becomes clear that this is a house full of secrets, and that Mrs. Betterton had good reason to leave with her young granddaughter, the ethereal, otherworldly Emily; after a series of frightening experiences and disturbing discoveries - including a walled-up room containing a skeleton - the Clares realise that they are not the only occupants.

7.5/10

Children of the Stones is a television drama for children produced by HTV in 1976 and broadcast on the United Kingdom's ITV network in January and February 1977. A one-off serial, the story was depicted over seven episodes and produced by Peter Graham Scott, with Patrick Dromgoole as executive producer. A novelisation by the serial's writers, Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray also appeared in 1977. In the United States, it was broadcast on the Nickelodeon television channel in the early 1980s as part of the series The Third Eye. The series is today considered a landmark in quality children's drama and has been called "the scariest programme ever made for children".

7.7/10

After she misses her train, a young woman is forced to hitch a ride back to town. After managing to get away from a lecherous trucker, she is given a ride by a good-looking but somewhat mysterious young man, who she comes to suspect may be a dangerous escapee from a mental asylum.

6.5/10

A 'machinegunner' (West Country slang for a debt-collector), turns amateur sleuth but finds himself in hot water with local criminals.

7.3/10

Sky is a mystically-oriented children's science fantasy television serial made for ITV by HTV and broadcast in seven parts from April 7 to May 14, 1975. A mysterious alien boy with strange solid blue eyes, the eponymous Sky, finds himself on Earth. He uses his psychic powers for achieve his goal of ensuring a way back home. Sky finds the very world soul of Earth in the form of nature, only to reject him the way an immune system might an infection. In his quest to return home, he joins his destiny with that of three human children. The serial was written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, also known for their scripts for Doctor Who and a fantasy television series for children, Into the Labyrinth. Although the series was kept on 2" videotape into the 1990s, during a transfer to film stock episodes 3 and 7 were damaged beyond repair. The series was finally released by Network DVD in May 2009, with the damaged segments replaced by inferior, but watchable, VHS copies of the episodes.

7.4/10

This is the inspiring, epic journey of a noble warrior's quest to prove his worth, his might, and his destined fate to become the next ruler of Britain.

6.1/10

A psychiatrist plots to murder his wife so he can be with his mistress, but his wife mysteriously disappears before he can carry out his plan.

6.4/10

The ghost of Sir Simon Canterville has been roaming his castle searching in vain for a descendant who will release him from the Canterville curse by performing a brave deed. An American family moves in and finds the ghost amusing, but a young girl in the family can release him - if she dares.

7.3/10

This series strips away the elaborate medieval view of Camelot, and presents Arthur as the chief of a small Celt tribe in Dark-Ages Britain, a century or two after the withdrawal of Rome. Arthur struggles to weave the scattered tribes of Celts, Jutes, etc. into a union that can effectively oppose the Saxon invaders who are arriving in Britain in growing numbers. He is aided by his adoptive father, Llud, and his foster brother, Kai, who is himself a Saxon foundling.

7.9/10

A Class by Himself was a British sitcom, which aired from 1971 to 1972. The half-hour series was made by Harlech Television and starred John Le Mesurier of Dad's Army fame as Lord Bleasham.

Alice is determined to buy a flash new hat despite her husband not giving her the money.

Two young journalists simulate a murder, but the scheme backfires when the mock victim disappears.

6.5/10