The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to The Midnight Folk, and was first published in 1935. It is also known as When The Wolves Were Running.
Contents
Plot
Kay Harker 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 Harker meets at the railway station. They develop an instant rapport, which leads Hawlings to confide that he is being chased by a magician called Abner Brown and his gang, which includes Harker's former governess. For safety, Hawlings (who turns out to be the medieval philosopher and alleged magician Ramon Llull) entrusts the box to Harker. 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 multiple radio adaptations of The Box of Delights.
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.
Kay Harker: John Gilpin
Abner Brown: Robert Farquharson
Cole Hawlings: Hay Petrie
Rat: Philip Wade
Mouse: Charles Hawtrey
Narrator: Norman Shelley
Peter Jones: Peter Mullins
Jemima Jones: Sheila Potts
Maria Jones: Dorothy Gordon
Caroline Louisa: Joan Carol
Foxy man: Malcolm Graeme and Gibb McLaughlin
Chubby man: Wilfred Babbage
Sylvia Pouncer: Joan Young
Inspector: Dick Francis
Rogers: Malcolm Graeme
The Head: Arthur Bush
Kay Harker: David Page
Cole Hawlings: Harcourt Williams
Caroline Louisa: Rosemary Davis
Foxy Man: Carleton Hobbs
BBC Television 1984
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.
Eclipse Performing Arts 2011
Eclipse Performing Arts, a theatre company in Corby, Northamptonshire, were given rights to adapt the book into 6 radio episodes to be broadcast on Corby Radio on the 6 Saturdays leading up to Christmas Eve. Jim Byrne and Gavin Mills adapted and produced the series and behind-the-scenes podcast (BODcast) called Opening the Box in which they discussed how each episode was created including interviews with the cast.
The cast included local amateur performers from around Northamptonshire and was recorded in and around the local Corby area.
Original Corby Radio broadcast dates:
Episode One - Saturday 19 November 2011
When The Wolves Were Running
Broadcast: Corby Radio – Saturday 19 November 2011 at 8pm – 16 Minutes
Cast:
Iona Smith – Kay Harker
Kevin Sheen – Cole Hawlings
Joe O’Neill – Charles
Robert Campbell – Joe
Lisa Neave – Caroline Louisa, The Old Lady
Daniel O’Neill – Peter
Leigh Connelly – Maria
Beth Carey – Susan, Jemima
Jim Byrne – Railway Porter, Jim the Driver, Herne the Hunter, Cockfarthings, Poppyhead
Gavin Mills – The Bishop Of Tatchester
Tatchester Choir – George Ogilvie, Anna Cunnington, Lois Crossen, Andrew Grey, Vicky Coppard, Luke Monahan, Laurence Voirin, Robert Campbell, Hannah Sibbald
Big Finish 2021
Big Finish Productions produced an audio play of The Box of Delights, which was released on CD and download in June 2021, starring Derek Jacobi, Mark Gatiss and David Warner. The script was adapted by Christopher William Hill.
Opera
John Masefield 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
Wilton's Music Hall 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.
The Royal Shakespeare Company presented the production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between 31 October 2023 and 7 January 2024.
The Company of Ten produced the play at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans from 19 December 2025 – 28 December 2025.