Opening The Box of Delights [new edition]

A substantial new edition of the popular Opening the Box of Delights by Philip W. Errington, released for Christmas 2024 to mark the 40th anniversary of first broadcast of the BBC’s children’s television adventure!

32 additional pages of brand new material, including:

* First ever reproduction of the rehearsal script of Episode One of the 1984 BBC TV serial

* Full-colour illustrated spreads providing detailed accounts of

- John Masefield’s visit to Australia in 1934 that inspired many plot points in The Box of Delights

- The first proof copy of The Box of Delights

- The 1962 ITV Story Box adaptation of The Box of Delights

- The abandoned feature film

- The Box of Delights podcast

- The 2021 Big Finish audio dramatization starring Derek Jacobi

- The RSC stage production of The Box of Delights from winter 2023

- The forthcoming role-playing game

* Specially-commissioned new wraparound cover artwork by acclaimed telefantasy artist Andrew Skilleter

John Masefield’s fantasy novel The Box of Delights is an enduring Christmas classic. It has a unique place in children’s literature and continues to inspire and engage modern readers with its timeless adventure of ancient magic, good vanquishing evil, and Christmas miracles. For many, watching the 1984 BBC TV adaptation is a Christmas tradition and ‘The Box of Delights Appreciation Society’ has over 2,000 members on Facebook! This visual celebration of The Box of Delights is written by a world expert on the text and showcases fascinating illustrations, photographs, letters, manuscripts and designs from Masefield’s life and across all of the story’s many manifestations – through the different editions of the book (whose illustrators included Quentin Blake), and adaptations on television, radio and stage. With a foreword by award-winning children’s author Piers Torday.