The lowdown: 'The Silver Chair' is the sixth book in the classic Chronicles of Narnia series of children's novels by C.S.
Lewis, and was made into a six-part TV serial by the BBC in 1990. It was the fourth BBC adaptation of the novels, with
the previous three series being broadcast in 1988 and 1989. 'The Silver Chair' stars David Thwaites as Eustace Scrubb
and Camilla Power as Jill Pole, two schoolchildren who are transported to the world of Narnia to escape bullies at their 
school. Scrubb appeared in the previous series, and is the only one of his friends from the previous novels who can 
return to Narnia (due to their age). The two children are sent on a mission by the wise lion Aslan to find King Caspian's
only son and heir, Prince Rillian, who has been missing for many years. Scrubb and Pole are aided by a number of 
people and creatures in their quest, including Glimfeather the owl and Puddleglum the marshwiggle (Tom Baker), who 
acts as their guide in their search for Rillian.

'The verdict: 'The Silver Chair' is an entertaining adaptation of the classic novel, and it clearly had a reasonable budget
(as far as children's shows of the time had good budgets). The special effects may not seem very special now (the dragon
in episode two in particular looks very low-tech today, and it would not look out of place in many episodes of the original
series of 'Doctor Who') but given that it was made 17 years ago it has held up quite well. The computer animated Aslan
is very well done, and the giants throwing rocks at the end of episode two is a highlight in terms of CGI effects, although
one wonders how good this scene would be if it was remade using modern CGI technology (something we may see in
the next several years). The two children are excellent (Thwaites went on to become a film producer, and Power continued
with her acting career), but of course Tom Baker steals the show as the ever-gloomy Puddleglum, as he tends to do in
most things in which he appears. 'The Silver Chair' is now available on DVD, and will particularly appeal to people who 
remember watching this show when they were young, and anybody who still loves the original novels.

Trivia: The second film in Walt Disney Pictures' Chronicles of Narnia series, 'Prince Caspian', will be released in 2008.

 
The Silver Chair
The complete series
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