Children of the Stones (1977–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Serpent in the Circle - full transcript

CHILDREN OF THE STONES

Dai! Dai!

Matt? Matt?
Matt!

- Hello, Matt!
- Dad!

Now what happened?
Have you got any idea of what happened?

Matt, it's important. Do you remember
how you came to be outside?

Dad...

Matt, this is doctor Lyle,
he helped me carry you in.

Now it's very important that
you tell him what happened.

Watch this, will you, Matt.
Follow it all the way.

You see.
Now all the way back again.



Good. I don't think there's anything
permanently wrong with you, young man.

But I'll look back in the
morning just to be sure.

Thank you doctor.

Dad, what happened?

That's what I want to know, old boy.

And what were you doing down here,
you were supposed to've been in bed.

- It was Dai...
- Go on...

He...
I came down...

...and I heard this...
chanting sound...

Yes, but go on, Matt

Then...
I don't know...

I was flung against the stone...

and as I touched it...
I felt this terrible pain.

- Like an electric shock?
- Yes.



What then?

I don't rememer.
I really don't.

It's important he gets
a good night's sleep.

- See that he takes these.
- Right.

Matthew...
Your father found you on the doorstep.

Did you fall, do you remember?

That's a nasty bump you've
got on your head there.

You really ought to try and
find out how you came by it.

- I'm afraid I can't help.
- Now, but relax.

But if you'll take my
advice, Matthew,

you won't go rushing around in
the middle of the night again.

Next time it might be something
worse than concussion.

Thank you for your help, doctor.

I am only too glad for the exercise.

These villagers, they're
all so damned healthy.

I never get a call.

I came here for semi-retirement
after a heart attack,

but I didn't expect to be totally ignored.

Well, we'll keep you busy
for a couple of days.

Goodbye.

Good night, doctor.

Thank you, Mrs. Crabtree.
That smells delicious.

Yes?
- The boy, who is he?

- He is going to be alright.
- Good.

Hey, wait a minute!

Oh, morning Matt, how do you feel?
- It was Dai.

- Some man wanted to know how you were.
- Yes, it was Dai.

- Well, who is Dai?
- He said he was a friend.

Sit.

Now, do you want to eat?
- Yes.

Was he the man that tied the
handkerchief around your head?

Could have been, dad.
Told you.

The last thing I remember is
of people standing in a circle.

- Mrs. Crabtree?
- Yes sir?

One invalid breakfast, please.

Poor dear,
how do you feel this morning?

Matt, Mrs. Crabtree
asked you how you felt.

Alright, bit of the head.

I'm not surprised.
It's hard stuff, stone.

- Which stone?
- The doorstep.

That's where you fell, wasn't it?
- Was it?

Well... what would you like then,
some nice scrambled egg?

Yes, anything.

That wasn't very polite.

She was there, dad.
Part of the circle.

You sure?
You shouldn't dream it?

You found me on the doorstep,
did you dream that?

You could have been sleepwalking.

You don't understand.
It happened, just as I said.

The painting coming to life,
did that happen too?

- Yes!
- Right. Now don't get upset.

What you saw is probably some
traditional local ceremony.

Lots of villages around here have ancient
rites and rituals that they perpetuate,

even though their
origins are totally lost.

You don't understand, dad.

It wasn't just a Morris dance
or a village sing-song.

The people in the circle were...
I don't know...

...possessed.

Hi.
I want to ask you something.

- Happy day.
- Not here.

What's that all about?

New people having to stick together.

What do you mean?

You said that when we first met.

- Well, we do.
- Okay, why?

- For protection.
- Protection? Protection against what?

I don't know, really.

You told Kevin I must be human,
because I had only just arrived.

That's right.

So after people have been here for a while,

they aren't human anymore,
like those children in there.

Yes. Something seems to happen to them.

I don't know what it is,
but something seems to happen.

- They change?
- Oh, you must have noticed.

Some of us is normal, and
the rest are "happy ones".

- Yes.
- But they don't seem happy.

Oh, I know, they always behave well,

never loose their tempers,
always shine in class,

but they're like...
- ...zombies.

Yes. Robots, puppets.

Come on, we'd better go.

There's a man called Dai, do you know him?

The poacher?
He's potty, I think.

Always trying to warn me,
telling me to be careful.

He told me, if I ever needed sanctuary,
I could go to him for help.

No! If we ever need help,
we should go to the sanctuary.

The sanctuary, of course.

Linnet Barrow.
Dai lives there.

- How far is it?
- At the end of the avenue.

Outside the circle?

Well, it's outside the village, I suppose.

But it's still... well it's
still within the stones,

though it's not really inside the circle.

It's like some terrible nightmare.

It's having a traumatic effect on Matt.

Could it be Milbury as it was?

Why not? There's certainly
an uncanny resemblance.

The stones, the hill...
Yes...

There are less stones
in the picture of course.

The incomplete circle.

But there's the avenue,
leading to the sanctuary,

the head of the solar serpent.

Certainly could be Milbury.

So if the subject is real,

it's likely the story it tells
has some real significance.

- It's a reasonable assumption.
- The question is what?

A brilliant source of light

that appears to have the power
to turn people to stone,

and a man and a boy escaping
towards the sanctuary.

Some pagan superstition, perhaps.

The beginning is a ritual,

and the ending is... terrifying.

We're lucky we live in this century.

Oh, I don't know.
there's a lot we don't understand.

Matthew said he saw a ring
of people holding hands.

That echoes the painting again.

I suppose he could have dreamt it,
but he seemd very sure.

A ring of people, holding hands?

I didn't know they did that here.
- Did what?

Well, it's known as
"clipping the church".

The parisioners clasp hands and walk
around it in a clockwise direction,

with the sun, and then advance
and retreat three times.

It's an old custom,
it's something to do with

renewing one's faith by binding
minds and souls together.

But it doesn't make sense here.
- Why not here?

Well the church is deconsecrated,

it's in the gift of the marrow,
it hasn't had an incumbent for years.

Yes, but according to Matthew, those
people were nowhere near the church.

Now you're all new to Milbury,
and to the school.

and it may be some time before you're able
to move to the high table with the others.

In the meantime, I thought a little
extra work would do you no harm.

Although I'm as sorry as you are
that it will cut into the weekend.

That's why I was dropped from
the football, it's her fault.

This, for instance, is the standard
you will eventually take.

This is the weekend prep
for the rest of the class.

No good asking if any of you
could attempt to prove it.

- Please, miss.
- Yes, Jimmer?

That'd be a special case of
the Hilbert transform, miss?

Splendid!

Now... Would you like
to show us your proof?

Bravo!

We're going to have to make room
for you on the table, aren't we.

It seems you finally made
the breakthrough at last.

Extraordinary!

Extraordinary good, or extraordinary bad?

Hang on a minute.
Careful.

Stone acting as a magnet!
Well it's not possible!

How much do you know
about magnetic fields?

Teach me, professor.
I know the Earth has one.

So do rocks.
Normally the Earth's magnetic field

is in aligment with that of the rocks,

at the time the stratum was formed.

And there aren't?

No, these are in alignment with
the Earth's present magnetic field.

Which means...?

Which means there's
only one possible solution.

Some tremendous energy has passed
through these stones. Very recently.

I don't get it.

Yesterday a dumdum, today he's
doing tricks on the blackboard.

What happened in between?

The same that happened
to the rest of them.

And what's that?

Whatever it is, I don't
want it to happen to me.

What about bright boy here?

You think that's a treatment will look
Einstein look like a no-no, won't you?

Treatment? Is that what you think
Jimmo got, some kind of treatment?

Don't ask.

If it is a treatment,
who gives it, and why?

We'll just have to wait and see.

- What do you mean?
- It's obvious.

There's only us three left.
It's just a question of who'se next.

Then we must stick together,
and pair notes whenever we can.

Then no-one can take us by surprise.
- Right.

- Dai!
- It had to be done!

- What?
- The shock treatment.

I had to get you away from there.

Didn't you see?
Didn't you realize what it was?

- So it was you.
- Your saviour I am.

- Saved me from what?
- The past.

That past, that's what it was.
My past.

And your future.
- I don't understand.

I let you in a secret, boy, and I know I...

Dai?
You do understand.

You understand something,
which is more than we do.

I've got feelings, which is quite
different from understanding.

- What do you feel?
- What do I feel?

I feel...
death.

No, no, no...
ghosts and that.

Something...

happened here in the past,
and it's happening again today.

Any idea what?

- Everyone turned to stone.
- Go on!

Go on, boy, explain yourself.

I have a picture, a very old
painting, it's of Milbury.

It shows people turn into stone.

You mean all those stones
out there might be people?

- Petrified...!
- It's more complicated than that.

Bigger...
like a maze, it is...

And at the centre... treasure!
- Treasure...

- But there's this danger too...
- What kind of danger?

If I knew that, we could avoid it,
couldn't we, but we can't.

You say there's treasure here.
What treasure?

The most priceless treasure of all...

Knowledge.
- Knowledge?

- What do you make of that?
- What is it? Where did you get it?

It's mine. I found it.

It... came to me...

Your father would be interested in that.

Dad?
It's more in your mum's line, isn't it?

Yes! Shall I show it to her?
To my mother?

It's mine. I found it.
It came to me.

Dai, we won't take it.

We make a tracing.
- Yes.

That's what we'll do. We'll copy it.

Yes, like a brass rubbing.
I'll get the stuff.

It's a... key...

Yes,
that's what it is...

My key...

The original is made of clay, you say?

Either that or some kind of stone.

It looked very old.
- Yes.

- A snake...
- A serpent.

Or cobra, what's the difference?

They all give me the shudders.

A serpent's bigger and more powerful.

It's also a symbol.
- A symbol of what?

Well, it was originally the guardian
of knowledge, but later,

serpents were supposed to
protect sacred hills and mazes.

Dai knew that.
He said something about the village

being like a maze,
with treasure at the centre.

And the treasure was knowledge.

Dai? Well how did he know?

He didn't know, mum, he just felt it.

And the danger in the maze may
have been this shucky snake thing.

Ah yes, of course.
Dai's feelings are remarkably accurate.

This symbol has a special
significance here.

The church! There's a carving
of a serpent on the font!

- It's biting the foot of a bishop.
- I told you what that meant, remember?

It represents the battle
between pagan and christian.

Yes, that's right.
You see, After the battle was ovened,

the christians built their churches
on the sites of pagan temples.

Within ground that was already sacred.

But they couldn't
be absolutely sure

that the ancient religion had
been completely stamped out.

So the carving on the font was
probably intended as a warning.

- A warning?
- Yes, to be constantly on their guard.

- Against the power of the serpent!
- That's right.

Then this thing of Dai's, whatever it is, is pagan.

There's no doubt about that.

Some sort of amulet, to keep
the owner from harm, perhaps.

I'd love to see the original.
Could you get it for me?

- Adam?
- Mr. Hendrick?

- I've been looking for you.
- Oh, what have I done?

First things first.
What will you have?

No no, let me please.
Two large whiskeys, would you.

- I was told there was a telegram for you.
- Oh?

- I promised to deliver it.
- Thank you.

Will you excuse me...

Not bad news, I hope.

No, no, it's from California.
Mount Palomar observatory.

They're doing some research for me,
it's in reply to a telegram of my own.

- Research about Milbury?
- Yes.

Well I wondered what the stones of the
circle were all pointing at up there.

As far as I could work out, they form
no alignment with the sun nor the moon

or any of the other major planets or stars.
Just didn't seem to make sense.

- But now it does.
- In a way, yes.

According to this, it's aligned
to a supernova which exploded

centuries before christ,
about the start of our existance.

There's nothing there now
but a black hole.

That's a huge mass of imploding energy.

- I could have told you that.
- Let's go and sit down.

What do you know about the supernova?

It's unfair. I should've introduced
myself properly when we first met.

Of course...
Hendrick's supernova.

You discovered ithe black hole.
Rafael Hendrick, the astronomer.

Ex-astronomer. I resigned my
chair in Cambridge five years ago.

Yes, I always wondered why.

Because of some papers, I suppose.

May I ask what papers?

They were given to me by a colleague...
Written in dog latin,

the style earlier than Bede's.
About sixth century.

A mishmash of fact and fiction
about megalithic Britain.

Legends and stories
handed down through the centuries,

which the author had picked up.
No-one had ever paid much account to it.

Like so much of that
stuff at the Ashmolean.

None of the stories
were authenticated, but...

there was one event which because
of my discovery of the black hole,

made me sit up and take notice.
- What was that?

Someone in the village,
"Weal Weka" as it was then called,

was reported by bardic tradition
as having seen a star explode.

So that's why you settled in
Milbury, because somebody

had actually witnessed the
beginning of the black hole?

It was my coming home.

- Even though there's nothing there?
- The black hole's there.

Gravitational forces so powerful
they're beyond our comprehension.

I meant nothing we can see.

Well that's what's so intriguing,
don't you think?

To know it's there,
and yet not be able to see it.

I'm afraid at the moment my
interests are more earthbound.

You know which
constellation it's in?

- Ursula Major.
- The great bear.

And you know, for early man the
bear was an object of veneration.

The bear cult is probably
as old as any other religion.

Are you suggesting it was started

by the primitive cave dweller
who saw your supernova explode?

Primitive cave dweller?
I think you do him an injustice.

According to legend, he was a visionary.

A spiritual leader.
A man of destiny.

I beg his pardon.

I think you might be
well advised to do so.

It's not all that serious, is it?

You see that man there?
The one with the white hair?

- Yes.
- That's Tom Browning.

The farmer who invited
doctor Lyle and me for supper

the night we were all
newcomers, remember?

- I remember.
- I know Mr. Browning, he's Jimmo's father.

It's the first time he's taken
part in one of these occasions.

- So unlike him?
- He was so contemptuous of them.

He said they were an anachronism,
a complete waste of time.

He's obviously changed his mind,
he's having the time of his life!

Happy day!

- Look...
- It's Jimmo!