273 The Phoenix and the Carpet

First  watched  : 29  December  1976

I'd  have  put  this  one  as  being  broadcast   during   my   primary  school  days  but  obviously  not.  
The  Phoenix  and  The  Carpet  was  an  eight  part  adaptation  of  a  children's  novel  by  Edwardian  writer  E  Nesbit  (  most  famous  for  The  Railway  Children )   and  concerned  four  children  whose  mother  buys  an  old  carpet  which  is  found  to  contain  a  china  egg. They  accidentally  hatch  it  and  encounter  a  conceited  2.000  year  old  bird  who  instructs  them  on  how  to  make  the  carpet  fly  to  interesting  places . The  tone  of  the  series  was  lightly  comic  as  it  probably  needed  to  be  with  the  rudimentary  special  effects;  the  phoenix  looked  like  it  had   flown  in  from  the  set  of  Bagpuss.  I  remember  it  as  being  quite  enjoyable.

None  of  the  four  actors  were  or  became  household  names. Gary  Russell  has  made  a  living  on  the  fringes  of  the  Dr  Who  scene  with  some  factual  books  on  the  series  and  comic  strips  for  magazines  but   hasn't  done  any  acting  since  1997.