is returning from boarding school when he finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box. It allows the owner to shrink in size, to fly swiftly, to go into the past and to experience the magical wonders contained within the box. The current owner of the box is an old Punch and Judy man called Cole Hawlings whom Kay meets at the railway station. They develop an instant rapport, which leads Cole to confide that he is being chased by a magician called Abner Brown and his gang, which includes Kay's former governess. For safety, Cole entrusts the box to Kay. The schoolboy then goes on to have many adventures as he protects the box from those who wish to use it for bad deeds.
Adaptations
BBC radio
There have been several radio adaptations of The Box of Delights.
''Children's Hour''
This six-part adaptation, with a script by Robert Holland and John Keir Cross, was produced three times by the BBC as part of its Children's Hour, in 1943, 1948 and 1955. It used as incidental music the "Carol Symphony" by Victor Hely-Hutchinson
This was a one-off drama, with a script by John Keir Cross, broadcast in 1966, and repeated in 1968 and 1969. It was then remade with a new cast in 1977.
A BBC TV adaptation of The Box of Delights was broadcast in six parts between 21 November and 24 December in 1984. It starred Devin Stanfield, Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens as Kay Harker, Cole Hawlings and Abner Brown respectively and adapted for television by Alan Seymour, directed by Renny Rye and produced by Paul Stone. It featured an innovative mixture of live action and animation, in particular Quantel Paintbox and chroma key effects. The series cost £1-million to make in 1984, the most expensive children's series the BBC had made to that date, but it was widely acclaimed and won a number of BAFTA and RTS awards, in particular for its special effects. The opening and closing title music features an orchestral arrangement of "The First Nowell" extracted from the third movement of the Carol Symphony by Victor Hely-Hutchinson. It had been used for earlier radio adaptations and has become synonymous with the story.
Opera
adapted an opera libretto from his book, also incorporating elements of The Midnight Folk, which was eventually set to music in the late 1980s by the British composer Robert Steadman.
Theatre
presented an adaptation by Piers Torday between 1 December 2017 and 6 January 2018. Billed as a world stage premiere, the production was directed by Justin Audibert and designed by Tom Piper. The production was reprised, with a new cast, between 30 November 2018 and 5 January 2019.
