- 4 weeks ago
Ep 3: The Luck Child. Seeking to avert a prophecy which foretells of a seventh son of a seventh son someday supplanting the current king, the unscrupulous monarch seeks out this luck child and attempts to do away with him. But those blessed with luck cannot be undone...
Starring John Hurt as the storyteller, this tale features Steven Mackintosh, Philip Jackson, Cathryn Bradshaw, Pauline Moran, Paul Brooke, Colin Farrell (no, not that one) Merelina Kendall, Anthony O'Donnel, Robert Eddison, Timothy Kightley, Diana Payan, Ross Boatman and Alistair Fullarton. And it's a great tale too, featuring a host of familiar faces such as Steven Mackintosh, Cathryn Bradshaw (Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit), while if the Ferryman looks familiar you've probably seen him as the knight who guards the chalice in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. But this episode is also notable for featuring both Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran just two years before they would appear together in Agatha Christie's Poirot in 1989.
Starring John Hurt as the storyteller, this tale features Steven Mackintosh, Philip Jackson, Cathryn Bradshaw, Pauline Moran, Paul Brooke, Colin Farrell (no, not that one) Merelina Kendall, Anthony O'Donnel, Robert Eddison, Timothy Kightley, Diana Payan, Ross Boatman and Alistair Fullarton. And it's a great tale too, featuring a host of familiar faces such as Steven Mackintosh, Cathryn Bradshaw (Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit), while if the Ferryman looks familiar you've probably seen him as the knight who guards the chalice in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. But this episode is also notable for featuring both Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran just two years before they would appear together in Agatha Christie's Poirot in 1989.
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TVTranscript
00:00When people told themselves their past with stories,
00:13explained their present with stories,
00:16foretold the future with stories,
00:19the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller.
00:30Sometimes people are born lucky.
00:45You imagine if they opened their hands,
00:47there'd be a little piece of sunshine.
00:51A personal piece.
00:53It lights them up.
00:55Everyone loves these people.
00:57They're lit up.
00:58Well, cats sit on their laps.
01:01What?
01:02It's luck. It's a gift. It's a blessing.
01:05And therefore can't be undone.
01:08This is also true of prophecies.
01:11So when one night a boy is born blessed with luck
01:16and it is foretold he will one day be king,
01:20well, no matter how poor the child,
01:23no matter how wicked the king in power,
01:27no matter how monstrous the monster...
01:29not so long ago in the deep north,
01:44where it is so cold that just very cold is considered quite warm,
01:50two cold hearts rule the land.
01:51The one beat cold in a cruel king,
01:53the other in a terrible beast, the griffin.
01:57And it happened in a week with two Fridays
01:58that the cruel king heard of a prophecy.
02:00A child had been born reported his spies.
02:03A luck child, poor as penance, rich as snow,
02:05the seventh son of a seventh son.
02:07Wise men prophesied this child would one day be king.
02:13Superstition, majesty! Folklore said his evil chancellor.
02:17Old wives' tales, rubbish.
02:18How could a peasant's child not worth a spit?
02:22How could a brat become king?
02:25But the cruel king choked on the news...
02:27felt it sharpen and pierce his heart.
02:31So he set out with his evil chancellor
02:34healing the Lior Breed лиш allies were
02:43to find this luck child and do him in let the night protect us
02:56he's come in search of the luck child is he here well yes or no have we come to the wrong hut
03:03he's called the luck child sir but what luck can he have born with nothing oh oh dear me my friend
03:11here a holy man brings seven pieces like this he seeks a child to patron and to care for as if he
03:18were my own son oh yes a luck child indeed it's a bargain i take it yes or no he's my little boy
03:26sir you have six others mother and now they'll be plump as pigs he's my little lover well of course
03:34you need more gold to comfort yourself it's not more gold my missus once you can't put gold to
03:41your breast you can't hear its heart beat please yourself you've had your chance
03:48i'll send in men on the morrow we'll turn the snow bloody
03:53we'll hand over our little boy to your safe keeping
03:57good take care of him yeah because he's a little precious
04:05he's the seventh son of the seventh son he's a luck child oh yes terribly lucky
04:10and that was it they couldn't speak they couldn't believe it their baby was gone
04:27right it's a nice smile i'd smile given your kingdom given your gold given all that is rightfully yours
04:46that's right would you i would he would i speak of him
04:53a dreadful drop as luck would have it if all will finish him or the icy waves the shock will do him
05:03in i can't look how far down is it
05:09you go too sir good night no one shall wear my crown terrible that's a terrible story
05:19what the baby died what do you mean what who said the baby died i didn't
05:28this is a luck child oh no no the baby fell plummeting down dropping into the blackness the
05:36rocks beckoning oh yes plunge downwards but the binding catches on a jutting branch and winds
05:43round pulling the baby up short before letting him down gently onto the shore with a plop sand soft safe
05:54the evil chancellor fared less well the sea had him then the next morning the griffin had a feast
06:03as for the cold king from time to time he felt a little bad a fleeting bad but soon he quite forgot
06:10what he'd done out of fear of a prophecy besides it's not long and he's got a baby of his own a little
06:18girl she seeks out the one soft part in his heart and touches it how he loves his little darling
06:28and years go by 10 12 15 16 the daughter turns out a lovely a princess talked of longed for and the
06:39offers hundreds but the king doesn't want her married oh dear me no he's not going to lose her in a hurry
06:47hands off is what the king thinks hands off all my lovelies
06:52and that's four for nicholas right or for you then nick all name for his majesty the king
07:12your majesty i'm in your region inspecting harvests how goes it fair tire good and the records show his
07:20majesty the book son all entered sir your people sweat for each year of wheat and each cob of corn
07:28and your majesty also needs his tithes of course of course otherwise would all be lords and no king
07:34and then what exactly then what indeed
07:41how come the boy is fair when you two are dark oh well i'm foundling sire he was a gift from god sire
07:46we had no child of our own found when found where by the black cliff sire 17 years since washed up
07:54without a scrap on his little body i see you're a lucky one then but that's what we call him sire
08:01lucky lucky a boy like you would do well at court well i'm needed here sire then you'll be missed
08:08paper and pen i'll take the boy see i'll write him a royal warrant you take this letter to the queen
08:16she will welcome you into our royal care this boy will want for nothing from this day forth
08:22happy day indeed the king can hardly breathe for his thumping heart for this bright spark must be the
08:38boy born to claim his throne the luck child kill him thumps his heart kill him kill him kill him
08:48him now between the mill and the palace is a forest a man on foot cannot fathom it folk go in few come
08:58out foul things live there and lucky has no map he's lost he's been lost for hours and it's dark and he
09:06can't see a thing not even the hole he's walking towards where am i oh dear oh dear you've fallen in
09:23among thieves i'm afraid this is a robber's cave a terrible place well then i must get out
09:29i'm on royal business see you have a letter from the king see oh dear but the problem is when my
09:40sisters get back they're wild very violent oh dear now are you hungry can i climb out dear me no
09:48you'd better eat something while i think of what to do with you i'm a cook well the cook that's my uh
09:55well it's goulash oh thank you oh dear me no you can't leave now
10:07i'm supposed to be lucky oh that's my name lucky oh this is very good thank you
10:13um marvelous that's it i'm the cook also the poisoner also the nastiest now let's see what's in your
10:28pockets lucky boy yeah not a sausage a letter from the king eh well this will never reach the palace
10:37oh no your luck's run out oh dear me yes but listen the little man can't believe his eyes
10:46terrible what a terrible letter this is terrible wife it says when you read this letter order the
10:55bearer of it a youth named lucky to be chopped into a thousand pieces do this without delay king
11:02that is disgusting poor little fellow we'll soon see about this now he's also a forger this little
11:14man and full of fair play sits down to write a new letter before his sisters wild women get home and slit
11:21the throat of their sleeping guest and so it was the next morning the luck child wakes refreshed and
11:28restored with the castle straight ahead of him very odd he thinks but off he sets without more ado
11:35i have a letter from his majesty he cries at the drawbridge a letter from his majesty at the
11:39entrance to the court in he goes to find the queen sitting with her daughter
11:49and a thing happens straight off boom the princess looks lucky and lucky looks at the princess and boom that's
11:57it love the queen meanwhile astonished reads and rereads the letter well gracious me
12:08a boo to the king boo and a hiss hiss picture him on his journey home he gloats a sneer thins his lips
12:19he's savoring his cruel deed the luck child in a thousand pieces his letter ordered by now it would be
12:26done he's cheated fate he's cheated the prophecy a mile from the palace he hears bells and more bells
12:34and then looking up to the battlements the wicked king sees something he can't believe it how
12:39how
12:43he howled but no one could hear him how you ordered it marriage your letter said on pain of death i ordered
12:54him to be chopped into a thousand pieces i have the letter one thousand pieces it said i have savored them
13:00the long journey home he seems a lovely boy look they're so happy i thought you'd been to a fortune teller
13:13the luck child will one day be king father we're so happy thank you your majesty
13:24forgive me i thought you were cruel tyrant a blight on the poor but now you make me the humble peasant
13:33your son and heir and the happiest husband there ever was
13:39and the golden feather oh pardon the golden feather from the griffin do you have it no sir
13:47then you must fetch it was it not understood that my daughter could not marry without it
13:51father that's impossible why because the griffin is a monster it eats people
13:58yes it won't be easy but then not every man is fit to marry my daughter
14:03very well no don't worry i'll come back no no one has ever come back she's right i'm afraid
14:13we'll see and so he sets off the luck child to the griffin he tells himself to the griffin it
14:20becomes a direction when he has none a distance when he knows none he strides on with each mile the
14:27land gets poorer green gives way to dust the black deserts of the griffin on and on he trudges until
14:35one day he comes to a lake in which no fish swim hey ferryman will you take me across
14:43i go across forward and back ceaselessly with you or without you then i'll join you as you like
14:52i seek the griffin yes am i near over there all those lights on the shore jewels riches no one brings them back
15:15i shall i shall i shall come back
15:20if you do perhaps you may discover why i must continue this weary way back and forth without
15:26ending i'm weary and sick to the soul i remember each one who came the same tale the griffin please for
15:39love for justice for fame for fortune but always in the end for the griffin supper always in the end
15:48terrible cries splintering bones the suck suck suck of juices
15:55oh dear oh dear what are you doing here what about your sisters oh they're here too yeah where
16:09hard to be absolutely certain what happened but the griffin flew by the cave he was hungry
16:15well luckily my cooking saved me but listen you must hide dear boy he'll be here i need a feather from his
16:20back the golden one this gold feather thank god if you walk out of here in a single pause and forget
16:25the gold feather but i made a solemn promise to me wife you did oh dear oh dear oh dear and i must also
16:31find out when the ferryman can cease his ceaseless crossing well hide under the table and i'll do what i
16:36i'll do what i can dear dear friend well quick quick
16:48of course you could smell a man that's me no snuffle snoot other are you hungry
17:02of course you could
17:07Now, are you hungry?
17:08I could eat a house!
17:10Of course you could.
17:12Stop, yap, yap!
17:15Stink, stench, stank of mad bits.
17:19Why not lie?
17:23Okay, food now.
17:29From underneath the griffin's table, the boy listens,
17:34trying to smell of nothing but bone,
17:36of things rotted.
17:38Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
17:42Oh, God!
17:44Cheers!
17:48Finished!
17:49Good, good.
17:51And now a little scratch?
17:52Straight hitch scratch.
18:03That was which one?
18:05I know.
18:07Clumsy, I'm clumsy.
18:08I'll scratch too hard.
18:09I should stop.
18:11It's screech scratch.
18:13Right.
18:22I'm sorry.
18:23Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear.
18:25I'll be more careful.
18:26I'll be, you know, really careful.
18:27Oh, dear, dear, dear.
18:29My not-like thing's pulled.
18:32Well, that's right.
18:32You're a sensitive monster.
18:34Huh?
18:34Huh?
18:35My not-monster.
18:36I mean a nice, misunderstood and brilliant beastie.
18:41My bird!
18:48My misunderstood bird!
18:51My not-beastie!
18:53Of course you are.
18:54A bird.
18:55A very nice bird.
18:57Well, I should go back to where I came from,
18:59to that dark, horrid cave.
19:00Serve me right.
19:01No!
19:02Don't try and stop me.
19:03I'll tell that old ferryman to row me across.
19:05Yeah, she's outside now.
19:06Expect waiting for a passenger.
19:08Poor old fella.
19:09I wonder why he's always there.
19:10Why can't he leave?
19:12His curse of the worst and stay the same.
19:14Less someone take pole,
19:17then someone curse of the same way as him.
19:20Simple.
19:21So if someone took his pole,
19:23they'd have to row and he'd be free?
19:25Oh, so simple.
19:27I should go and tell the poor fella.
19:29I should take over.
19:30Really, I should go now and take over.
19:33Now, my like goulash and each street scratch-scratch.
19:38Oh, then you go to sleep now.
19:42Busy day ahead,
19:44eating people and wreaking havoc.
19:48Snoozy-woosie now.
19:51That's it.
19:52Snoozy-woosie.
19:54And off the luck child scurries,
20:04clutching the golden feathers,
20:06scooping up jewels,
20:07straight home he wants to go,
20:09straight home to happiness.
20:11I dare not think it possible you found the answer.
20:15But then you did come back.
20:17No one has ever come back.
20:19Well, I have come back.
20:21And I have the answer.
20:23The next passenger you have,
20:25give him your oar.
20:26Then your luck will be his.
20:28Is freedom yours?
20:30So simple.
20:37So simple.
20:39And for the first time in years,
20:43centuries,
20:44hope fires the ferryman.
20:46A smile is forming in his mind.
20:49A tiny smile growing,
20:51getting ready to be born.
20:52He's back!
21:02And he's got the golden feather!
21:07I've come back.
21:11And I've got the golden feather.
21:14I have done as you bid, he says.
21:16And the king can do nothing but agree
21:18and give his blessing.
21:19Then you have my blessing.
21:20Though it cost him in his bitter heart.
21:23Then out comes the treasure.
21:25Out pop the king's eyes.
21:27Gold, jewels.
21:29Oh, where are they from?
21:31And the boy answered him.
21:33I took a ferry across the lake
21:34to where the griffon lives.
21:36And on the other shore,
21:37gold lies where pebbles should.
21:39Emeralds wear sand.
21:41And where the sea breaks,
21:42diamonds fall.
21:44Is that so?
21:46So lucky.
21:47And saying this,
21:49the poison swilling his eyes,
21:52souring his mouth,
21:53the king vowed to go himself.
21:56And that very night,
21:57he slipped away alone
21:58and set off in search of this magic shore
22:01across the lake.
22:03Come on, come on, come on.
22:06Can't we go any faster?
22:07Oh, yes, sir.
22:09There is a way.
22:12Take it, he says.
22:15Take it.
22:16Take it.
22:17So if you come one day to a lake
22:21and there's an island
22:22and a ferry goes back and forth
22:24rowed by an old sad man,
22:27turn around.
22:29Griffins live there.
22:30You may never get off the boat.
22:34For the ferryman was once a wicked king
22:36who ignored a prophecy
22:37whose heart was cruel.
22:40And nature, my dears,
22:42is a wise woman
22:44who pays us back
22:45tit for tat.
22:49Hey.
22:51Hmm?
22:51The boy and the girl,
22:53did they live happily ever after?
22:56Oh, yes, yes.
22:57Wonderful.
22:58Very, very happy.
23:00But the boy, you see,
23:03was a loved child.
23:04Oh, yes, yes, yes.
23:34Come one day.
23:36Come one day.
23:45Okay.
23:49Okay.
23:59Bye.
24:00Bye.
24:01Bye.
24:01Bye.
24:02Bye.
24:02Bye.
24:03Bye.
24:03Bye.