let's lay this ghost to rest
A Twist in the Tale..
The series was filmed in New Zealand in 97/98 and was released to 114 countries or something. It screened in NZ on Sky 1, so I had a video tape of it up until now. Other work of mine like Revelations, I have never seen.
It's not at all scary, it's a kid's show. Creepy and weird at times, but not really scary. Some pretty bad acting.
I can give you a rundown but I don't think it'll be very brief. ;)
Basically I am two people in it: Cindy in modern times, sitting on a couch listening to William Shatner tell the story (pics 3, 4, 5), and Cindy in the story.
In my episode, Cindy is a 13 year old who lives with her father and little brother in a fishing village (6, 7, 8). Though she doesn't live with us, our Aunt Moya is always around, cooking and cleaning for us.
One day my father comes back from the sea with a merman. He gets it preserved and it is displayed in the house (9). My brother and I go down to the beach to explore and find round pieces of paua/abalone shell which I insist (dreamily ;) are "mermaid coins" (11).
Dad realises he can't really afford to pay the bills as there's just no fish, so he decides to open a guest house/Merman attraction (12, 13). That night Moya and Dad discuss putting an ad in the paper, looking for a new wife for Dad. I eavesdrop (15) and get weird vibes from the merman jar (16). I also don't like the ad idea very much (17).
The ad gets tons of responses. I'm not very happy with my Dad about it and run off to be alone (see sulk pictures 18, 19). When I get there I hear a voice calling my name so I run to the top of the hill where there is a small house/shack. A woman in a large hooded cloak beckons me inside (20, 21, 22), telling me she is Judith, the Anchoress of Blari hill. She tells me a story of a man who fell in love with a mermaid and had 2 children (Cindy and another boy). One of the children was taken in the night. A few years later, their 3rd child was born (my brother) I realise as she's telling the story that she's talking about my parents and I must have had another baby brother that disappeared. I think she's telling me this to wind me up, so I run from her (24 - I like running).
Back at the house, I'm still sulking (25, 26). My father tells me that one of the ladies who wrote is coming to stay so that we can check her out/she can "check us over". I talk to Moya about what the Anchoress said about my mother and a missing baby brother. She goes nuts, telling me never to speak of that again.
So I decide to ask some of the villagers (27), but no one will talk to me. Jonathan and I go up to where her shack was, and find only a large stone seat with engravings on it - dedicating it to the holy woman of the Blari hills (28). Jonathan reads the other side and says that it was dedicated to her in 1776 - I tell him that I definitely met her and that her name was Judith - we uncover some moss to read her name (29, 30).
The first visiting hopeful "wife" is horrible. I give her the evils (31). She tells Dad to sell his boat, the Mary Jean, which we listen in on and protest (32).
That night I can't sleep (33), so I go to get some water. Then I notice something out the window (34) and go to look - my father is chasing the Anchoress down the beach, to the wharf (35). I run out there, but there's no one there (36). The next day I ask my father if he was out on the beach last night (37), which he denies. The horrible woman is sent away, and as I wave to her getting on the bus, I think I see the Anchoress again across the road (38), so I chase her (39) in the church. She isn't there.
The next prospective wife eats everything in the house. She eats all the dessert (hence the looks in 40).
As Moya, Jonathan and I are coming home from the shops, I think I see Judith again (41). But yet again, she has disappeared. Jonathan and I go up to the hill in search of Judith and she tells us another story - one of a fisherman (our father) who goes missing, searching for his lost love and was never seen again (44, 45).
Back at the house we are cleaning up and I find a photo of our parents (48). Moya tells us about our mother (49): how she was an outsider, etc. When I ask my father about her (50), he yells at me and I run to the hill again with Jonathan (51). We go up to ask Judith for a miracle; for Dad to have a new wife... and she's not there. But we see 2 doves and decide that it is a sign. On the way back there is a thunderstorm and we get soaked. When we get home, Aunty Moya won't tell us what's going on (52), but I demand that she does (53) - our father has gone out to sea and Moya can't reach him. I think that Judith has sent him to live at the bottom of the sea with our mother, so I yell out into the storm (54). Moya comforts me (55).
After a few days we have a memorial for Dad (56). Then when we get home, another letter has arrived - a young woman with a baby would like to visit Dad. Moya decides to write and tell her not to come (57), but Jonathan comes in with mermaid coins he has found. We insist to Aunty Moya that our father is alive, and ask her to write to the woman, asking her to come (58).
[Boy, for a 52 minute show, this recap sure is long].
When I go to check the mail, she has written back, saying she will come. Then I hear the horn of my father's boat (59), we run to meet him (60). He explains that he got lost at sea returning the merman, but when the storm calmed down he realised he was in a whole new fishing ground, and caught a lot of fish (61). We tell him about the letter.
Then at the wharf, we are waiting on the boat that will bring the new lady for Dad (62). Then suddenly the Anchoress appears on the wharf (63, 64) and lifts her hood - it is our mother. She points to the boat and at that moment, a woman identical to our mother walks off of the boat, carrying a baby in her arms. Moya and Dad are shocked, but accept that this is a new woman in their lives. We walk off of the wharf together (65). The last screencap is my credit with my cute old name.
My cough is worse this morning - yesterday I was a bit rattly, but today I'm coughing, etc. Damnit, I need to record tonight.
Work is slow and I'm exhausted. Better get some things done.
The series was filmed in New Zealand in 97/98 and was released to 114 countries or something. It screened in NZ on Sky 1, so I had a video tape of it up until now. Other work of mine like Revelations, I have never seen.
It's not at all scary, it's a kid's show. Creepy and weird at times, but not really scary. Some pretty bad acting.
I can give you a rundown but I don't think it'll be very brief. ;)
Basically I am two people in it: Cindy in modern times, sitting on a couch listening to William Shatner tell the story (pics 3, 4, 5), and Cindy in the story.
In my episode, Cindy is a 13 year old who lives with her father and little brother in a fishing village (6, 7, 8). Though she doesn't live with us, our Aunt Moya is always around, cooking and cleaning for us.
One day my father comes back from the sea with a merman. He gets it preserved and it is displayed in the house (9). My brother and I go down to the beach to explore and find round pieces of paua/abalone shell which I insist (dreamily ;) are "mermaid coins" (11).
Dad realises he can't really afford to pay the bills as there's just no fish, so he decides to open a guest house/Merman attraction (12, 13). That night Moya and Dad discuss putting an ad in the paper, looking for a new wife for Dad. I eavesdrop (15) and get weird vibes from the merman jar (16). I also don't like the ad idea very much (17).
The ad gets tons of responses. I'm not very happy with my Dad about it and run off to be alone (see sulk pictures 18, 19). When I get there I hear a voice calling my name so I run to the top of the hill where there is a small house/shack. A woman in a large hooded cloak beckons me inside (20, 21, 22), telling me she is Judith, the Anchoress of Blari hill. She tells me a story of a man who fell in love with a mermaid and had 2 children (Cindy and another boy). One of the children was taken in the night. A few years later, their 3rd child was born (my brother) I realise as she's telling the story that she's talking about my parents and I must have had another baby brother that disappeared. I think she's telling me this to wind me up, so I run from her (24 - I like running).
Back at the house, I'm still sulking (25, 26). My father tells me that one of the ladies who wrote is coming to stay so that we can check her out/she can "check us over". I talk to Moya about what the Anchoress said about my mother and a missing baby brother. She goes nuts, telling me never to speak of that again.
So I decide to ask some of the villagers (27), but no one will talk to me. Jonathan and I go up to where her shack was, and find only a large stone seat with engravings on it - dedicating it to the holy woman of the Blari hills (28). Jonathan reads the other side and says that it was dedicated to her in 1776 - I tell him that I definitely met her and that her name was Judith - we uncover some moss to read her name (29, 30).
The first visiting hopeful "wife" is horrible. I give her the evils (31). She tells Dad to sell his boat, the Mary Jean, which we listen in on and protest (32).
That night I can't sleep (33), so I go to get some water. Then I notice something out the window (34) and go to look - my father is chasing the Anchoress down the beach, to the wharf (35). I run out there, but there's no one there (36). The next day I ask my father if he was out on the beach last night (37), which he denies. The horrible woman is sent away, and as I wave to her getting on the bus, I think I see the Anchoress again across the road (38), so I chase her (39) in the church. She isn't there.
The next prospective wife eats everything in the house. She eats all the dessert (hence the looks in 40).
As Moya, Jonathan and I are coming home from the shops, I think I see Judith again (41). But yet again, she has disappeared. Jonathan and I go up to the hill in search of Judith and she tells us another story - one of a fisherman (our father) who goes missing, searching for his lost love and was never seen again (44, 45).
Back at the house we are cleaning up and I find a photo of our parents (48). Moya tells us about our mother (49): how she was an outsider, etc. When I ask my father about her (50), he yells at me and I run to the hill again with Jonathan (51). We go up to ask Judith for a miracle; for Dad to have a new wife... and she's not there. But we see 2 doves and decide that it is a sign. On the way back there is a thunderstorm and we get soaked. When we get home, Aunty Moya won't tell us what's going on (52), but I demand that she does (53) - our father has gone out to sea and Moya can't reach him. I think that Judith has sent him to live at the bottom of the sea with our mother, so I yell out into the storm (54). Moya comforts me (55).
After a few days we have a memorial for Dad (56). Then when we get home, another letter has arrived - a young woman with a baby would like to visit Dad. Moya decides to write and tell her not to come (57), but Jonathan comes in with mermaid coins he has found. We insist to Aunty Moya that our father is alive, and ask her to write to the woman, asking her to come (58).
[Boy, for a 52 minute show, this recap sure is long].
When I go to check the mail, she has written back, saying she will come. Then I hear the horn of my father's boat (59), we run to meet him (60). He explains that he got lost at sea returning the merman, but when the storm calmed down he realised he was in a whole new fishing ground, and caught a lot of fish (61). We tell him about the letter.
Then at the wharf, we are waiting on the boat that will bring the new lady for Dad (62). Then suddenly the Anchoress appears on the wharf (63, 64) and lifts her hood - it is our mother. She points to the boat and at that moment, a woman identical to our mother walks off of the boat, carrying a baby in her arms. Moya and Dad are shocked, but accept that this is a new woman in their lives. We walk off of the wharf together (65). The last screencap is my credit with my cute old name.
My cough is worse this morning - yesterday I was a bit rattly, but today I'm coughing, etc. Damnit, I need to record tonight.
Work is slow and I'm exhausted. Better get some things done.