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The Vine: December 12, 2014

Submitted by on December 12, 2014 – 10:57 AM3 Comments

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Two queries that readers might possibly be able to help with. I’ve been trying to remember the name of or anything more about a children’s TV series I watched in the very late ’70s/early ’80s.

It was a BBC series and it screened in Australia somewhere around ’79-’82, so I don’t think it would have been made earlier than about 1977. The opening episode had a mother and daughter driving along a country lane in the UK (I have a vague recollection of drystone walls?) when a truck (or lorry, being British) carrying those big metal milk cannisters came around a corner too fast, and the load toppled on to their car. The mother was badly injured and the daughter had to stay somewhere (I think on a farm). The rest of the series was about a mystery the daughter was involved in while her mother recovered. The main image that stayed with me was obviously the milk cannisters falling, but I’d kind of like to know what the rest of the series was actually about!

The second one is a sci-fi novel I read during the mid-late ’80s. I’m pretty sure it was a recently published teen sci-fi one, and the only thing I can remember is that a teenager (must have been late teens) was sent undercover to infiltrate a rebellion and ended up swapping sides and (I think) being killed fighting for them. I’m reasonably sure it’s not Futuretrack 5, which I know I read in the same period, but I honestly can’t remember anything else other than the lead character’s mother crying that her son was too young, that of course he would be brainwashed into believing the other side’s cause. Pretty sure the rebellion was fighting for justice and equality against a ruling upper class (aren’t they all though!).

Tried Googling both of them, unfortunately I haven’t really come up with anything that’s ringing any bells. Hoping someone else will have an idea!

Alison

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3 Comments »

  • Nanc in Ashland says:

    I remember the mini-series but not the name. In fact, I think it was based on a book, which I can’t recall either. Hopefully someone will come up with the title.

  • Maria says:

    Could the program have been the Lizzie Dripping series? It was filmed in the mid 70s and was about a girl who was a dreamer who had various adventures.

  • Alison says:

    Maria – looking at the wikipedia entry for it I don’t think it’s Lizzie Dripping, it’s not ringing any bells and I feel like the milk cannister one was a roughly 6 part series.

    Nanc in Ashland – ooh, thank you for that! I don’t think I knew there was a book, that might give me some more options for finding it.

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