Return to Narnia (2025) Movie Script

SUSAN: We are going away
deep into the countryside
where we'll be safe.
EDMUND: Yes. And you know
why we'll be safe?
Because in the country,
nothing ever happens.
PROFESSOR: Welcome to my home,
which you must feel
is your home
as long as you stay here
with me.
MR TUMNUS:
How did you get into Narnia?
LUCY: Narnia? What's that?
MR TUMNUS:
Why, it's where we are.
This is the land of Narnia.
WHITE WITCH:
And what, pray...are you?
EDMUND:
Um...m-my name's Edmund.
WHITE WITCH: Is that
how you address a Queen?!
ASLAN: Once a King or Queen
in Narnia,
always a King or Queen.
Bear it well, Sons of Adam.
Bear it well,
Daughters of Eve.
- Oh, wow.
- Look at that.
- Oh, my gosh.
- That's beautiful.
- The last steps.
- Oh, my gosh,
it sounds the same -
on the feet!
Oh, my...
- 40 years. Can you believe it?
- It's crazy, isn't it?
- 40 years...
- And It doesn't feel
- any different!
- Gosh,
I'm very keen to get in there.
- Let's have a look.
- Shall we have a look round?
Who's up for a game
of hide-and-seek?
RICHARD: Yes!
(LAUGHTER)
(BIRDSONG)
The story began for me in 1985
because I joined the BBC
as secretary to the manager
of children's programmes,
and one of my first jobs
was dealing with the contracts
for Narnia.
And this was an amazing
thing for them, because it had
gone on such a long time.
It was real tenterhooks whether
it was even going to happen.
The rights
were incredibly complicated.
I know, as a new secretary,
I almost wasn't allowed
anywhere near it.
(THEME MUSIC:
THE BOX OF DELIGHTS)
Box Of Delights had been
a real hit for the BBC,
and clearly that was the thing
that was kind of pushing
the whole Narnia thing forward
and clearly gave
both the BBC confidence
but also the rights holders
that we could actually do this.
WOMAN: What's the matter?
Did you have a bad dream?
Oh, no. A wonderful one.
Merry Christmas!
(TRAIN WHISTLE)
With The Box Of Delights,
budget was about 1 million,
and when we came on
to Lion And The Witch,
it was 3 million.
The director on Box Of Delights
was Renny Rye,
and Paul Stone, the producer,
was trying to get Renny
to come and do
the Narnia Chronicles,
but by this time
Renny had already got
other projects going on.
And Marilyn Fox was free
to direct the first
Lion And The Witch.
It's starting to really come...
come strong now,
and we think it's worth keeping
the...keeping it going.
Marilyn's background
was basically
as a children's director,
doing everything
from Jackanory
right the way through
to dramas. So this was
a big project
for her to grasp.
Now, the servants
will take these.
That is their function.
(CHUCKLING)
Oh, wow.
- Oh, my goodness me!
- It's amazing.
JONATHAN: Look at the ceiling.
RICHARD: It feels lower.
So this is where the servants
brought us, isn't it?
Yes. Did they come through
that way or that way?
RICHARD: I think they did
come through that way.
They came from that way
and then the Professor arrived.
He appeared here, didn't he?
Michael Aldridge
with his stick.
Oh!
Children?
Good afternoon.
CHILDREN: Good afternoon, sir.
And was that the first time
we'd done a scene with him?
I think that's the first time.
- I think it was.
- I think it was.
- Name?
- Peter, sir.
Susan, sir.
I'm Lucy.
You have a name, too, I trust?
Edmund.
"Sir"!
Sir.
Do you remember when
he came in with a stick,
he had kind of like
a twinkle in his eye
that sort of told the wealth of
the story of that character...
- He did.
- ...and his history?
How nice!
Right. The first thing
we're going to do
is warm up a bit, because I'm
sure you're all sitting there
feeling very anxious
and nervous and worried
and butterflies in the tummy.
RICHARD: When I first went up
for Peter,
I must have just turned 14.
We were greeted by Marilyn Fox,
and she led this workshop
that involved us
all playing
lots of different characters,
not necessarily
the characters we were up for.
And I remember, she said,
"Who would like to play
the Professor?"
And literally everybody
put their hand up,
boys and girls. And I didn't.
And she suddenly... I caught
her eye and she went,
"OK, I think
you should play it."
I remember having a connection
with her.
SOPHIE WILCOX: I was not
your typical Lucy.
If you look at all the original
illustrations, she is skinny...
And she's kind of
just a sort of...
...a younger version of Susan,
I suppose.
There was no chance that
I was going to get the part.
JONATHAN: I met Sophie Wilcox,
who played Lucy,
quite early on, and she had...
...and still has the most
amazing energy. And so
it was very useful for me.
I bounced off her quite a lot.
And one of the reasons
I probably got the part
is because of the energy
that Sophie was providing.
SOPHIE COOK: I think there were
probably around 20 of us
in a sort of waiting
greenroom.
And they would keep putting us
in different combinations.
But very quickly
the four of us
were established.
JONATHAN: I remember
it coming down, I think,
to the two families,
the one sort of archetypal
Pevensie family from the books
and then us, us lot -
sort of a little collection
of reprobates
who also might make
a good family.
SOPHIE WILCOX:
I can totally remember
coming out of where
we'd had the auditions and...
...really confidently
turning round to Richard
and saying, "We've got it."
RICHARD: I got a phone call
saying,
"Congratulations,
you've got the part."
And I told my mum,
and my mum...
I remember her physically
jumping up and down -
we both did - because we knew
this was going to be
something really special.
JONATHAN: I remember
just thinking, "Great.
"This is me out of school,"
for I didn't know how long!
It's every child's dream!
(LAUGHTER)
Can't get the door open!
Oh! Is this...? We had...
We did a hide-and-seek.
- We did.
- I remember these stairs.
We... This is where we had
to do like a running shot
- for the hide-and-seek thing.
- You could get lost for days.
Wow.
- Yes.
- Oh, my goodness!
I think this goes up
to the attic.
Oh, my goodness!
(DOOR SQUEAKS)
Oh, my goodness.
Look. There's a wardrobe!
Look. That's appropriate.
I don't think we're going
to fit in there.
- Oh, my goodness.
- Oh, the books!
But we never actually...
We never actually
made it up here, did we?
This was in the studio.
And at the time it was unsafe.
But they had obviously
come up here...
- They based it on here.
- They must have done
a sort of location scout,
and then they recreated this
in the studio.
I'm back!
I'm back! I've come back!
It's all right. I'm back.
Back?
What are you talking about?
Haven't you all been wondering
where I was?
Have you been hiding?
Poor old Lu,
hiding and no-one even noticed.
(BOYS LAUGH)
I've been away hours!
Batty. Quite batty.
- Ah!
- Nothing.
- Christmas decorations!
- (LAUGHTER)
- I did go there, I did!
- (LAUGHTER)
Come on.
What did you do
when you were there, then?
We looked at the wardrobe
that actually CS Lewis...
...or CS Lewis's family
still own.
And that was our inspiration
for the wardrobe.
We altered it a bit,
and obviously it didn't have
any back to it,
and it was deeper than
a real wardrobe would be.
In the studio,
we pushed through
the fur coats
into fir trees...
How funny.
...which were then matched
on location.
SOPHIE WILCOX: The first thing
that I ever filmed
as Lucy was stepping
into Narnia in Scotland.
I can always
get back there if...
And they were so clever,
because I had
not really seen the lamppost.
I'd not really seen the set.
I'd not really seen the snow.
They'd kind of isolated me
on that location
as much as they could.
So my first scene
was walking into Narnia.
I was acting,
but I was also like,
"Holy shit."
"Look, I'm in Narnia."
In the middle of a wood?
She sees the lampposts
and she meets Mr Tumnus,
that was played
by Jeffrey Perry.
Excuse me.
Goodness gracious me!
Are you a Faun?
Yes.
Yes, I suppose I am.
Jeffrey did a phenomenal job
of Mr Tumnus,
which was quite hard,
because he had little hoofs.
You've come from
the wild woods of the west.
No!
I got in through the wardrobe,
in the spare room.
(QUIETLY) War Drobe...
Spare Oom...
Oh, dear. If only I'd worked
harder at geography
when I was a little Faun
at school.
The sort of tenderness that
Jeffrey put into Mr Tumnus
was great, because I think
it removed anything
that could be viewed
as slightly...
Because, you know, you don't
really want a young girl
going off with a man
with no shirt on, do you...
...for tea?
- Oh, look, it's the pond.
- It's beautiful. Look at it.
- How gorgeous.
- And it's a nice sunny day,
cos it was sunny
when we did it, wasn't it?
- Lily pads.
- And I was grumpy.
- And you were mean.
- I was really horrible to you.
You were really horrible.
It would be the easiest thing
in the world
to say I'd made it all up,
but I didn't!
So I shan't.
(MOCKING)
Found any new countries
in the cupboard lately?
I'm not going to apologise.
(LAUGHTER)
There's a little bit of Edmund
in me who enjoyed it.
We'll throw you in, Jonathan.
Love you. Come on, I'll try...
I know.
- That'd be really mean.
- Be careful!
- So, I've got some photos.
- Come on, then.
Shall we have a look?
ALL: Aw!
- That is a classic.
- That's a classic.
- And actually you're smiling!
- Quite chipper.
I always think that Peter looks
a bit like Edmund there,
- because he's sort of...
- Yes!
Most of the snow sequences
were shot up in Aviemore
in January,
when it was pretty guaranteed
that we would
get a certain amount of snow.
But at first we didn't get
the snow. We arrived
and the snow wasn't there,
so they were a bit worried
about it.
And then the next morning
we woke up
and it was like
a Christmas card.
The trouble is,
snow's going down the lens,
and it's a bit difficult to...
...to get anything in this wind
because it's swirling.
ALAN: We got a fair bit
of snow,
sometimes
actually more than we needed
and we couldn't get
to the locations.
Well, what's the verdict,
Cliff?
Well, it's wet and there's not
much snow down there,
but we think a lot of foam
and a lot of angles,
we can probably make it work.
When the snow wasn't as thick
as we'd hoped,
we kind of supplemented it
using foam snow.
Are we going the right way?
Shouldn't we be bearing
a little more that way
if we're heading
for the lamp...post?
SOPHIE COOK:
The fur coats were incredible.
And we thoroughly enjoyed
wearing them,
particularly
when it was very cold.
RICHARD: These are
skin-coloured tights,
and when you see them
on the screen,
they look like my real legs.
But when they've got close-ups,
we've got to take our thermals
off and our tights off,
- see our bare legs.
- And wear our sandals!
We've got these as well.
They're like teabags.
You put them in your pocket
and they warm up.
- ALL: Ah!
- There she is.
- The diva herself.
- Barbara Kellerman,
the White Witch.
(SLEIGH BELLS RINGING)
JONATHAN:
That shot that you see
when the sledge
comes round the corner,
that's what I saw. I mean,
thundering towards me was
a sledge with two horses
and Barbara looking
terribly haughty and austere
in the back.
I'm Barbara Kellerman,
and I played the White Witch
in The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe.
I read it, The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe, as a child,
and I had a very, very strong
emotional memory of her because
I found her absolutely awful
and frightening. And so
that is what I recalled.
And what, pray...are you?
And what, pray...are you?
What came to mind was the fact
that we were living
in the Thatcher period.
I despised that woman
politically
and I think the way she was,
because I didn't see
any compassion in her.
And there is no compassion
in the Witch.
And so therefore
I could draw on that.
Is that how you address
a Queen?!
I beg your pardon.
I didn't know.
I also drew on, because
she does have a foul temper,
um, my father, I'm afraid,
who had a foul temper.
He was a lovely man,
but he had a foul temper.
(GRUFFLY) So, suddenly
he would talk like this
and was really rude to us!
And so therefore,
I used bits of that.
Well! Answer my question.
What are you?
Please, Your Majesty,
I-I don't know what you mean.
JONATHAN: She was terrifying,
absolutely terrifying.
But then would stop
being the Queen
and have this amazing skill
of just going back
to being a fabulous person
with a cheeky smile
and the most amazing eyes.
I remember her eyes,
being terrified of her,
but feeling very comfortable
with her at the same time.
Are you a great overgrown dwarf
that has cut off its beard?
Oh, no, Your Majesty.
I've never had a beard.
Jonathan was a gem.
Everything he was asked to do,
he did with
enormous commitment.
What would you like to eat best
in all the world?
Turkish delight.
Turkish delight...it shall be!
I do remember, though,
he hated Turkish delight.
Did he tell you that?
JONATHAN: Not a great fan
of Turkish delight,
particularly Turkish delight
when it's sort of semi-frozen
as well, which I do remember...
I think it was Marilyn...
...certainly someone
sitting behind the camera
indicating that
I should shovel more in.
Delicious?
Mmm!
Good.
They asked him if he'd eat
mint Turkish delight instead,
so... That's fair enough
because also it was the colour
of... Her colour as well.
So that worked out
very, very well.
JUDY PEPPERDINE: This is
my portfolio of designs
for Narnia.
These are Barbara
Kellerman's costumes.
We had four attempts
at the colour.
We started off with
snowy white, you know,
because she was the Snow Queen.
And, um, it was too white...
against the snow.
So we dyed it twice
to a sort of
pond...dirty-ice colour,
like a greeny-grey.
So she had a basic dress
and a cloak and a crown.
And then she did have
a huge fur -
which wasn't real fur,
It was nylon -
kind of wolf-looking
spiky coat.
These were meant
to be icicles
hanging off her arms.
It's kind of spiky
and terrifying, really,
as she was.
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
- Oh, wow!
Oh, my gosh,
I completely forgot!
- I have no memory of that.
- I don't even remember that.
- Didn't she look gorgeous?
- I don't remember that at all.
- Definitely the '80s!
- Serious stripes going on!
- All stripes.
- But also
- look how happy we look.
- Yeah.
- I mean, that's not...
- It's a publicity shot.
No, no, but I don't think...
It doesn't look like
sort of four children
- that have been told to smile.
- No.
- See what I mean?
- She was funny, wasn't she?
She could be really funny.
Oh, she was so funny.
Beautiful lady.
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
- The beavers!
- Kerry and Lesley.
- Look at them.
Legends that they are.
I'm Kerry Shale
and I played Mr Beaver.
Are you the Sons of Adam
and the Daughters of Eve?
Well, we're some of them.
Sh! Not so loud, please.
We're not safe even here.
I've kept a little something
from those years.
I asked for it,
and they gave it to me.
And this is Mr Beaver's snout.
The moment where you ceased
to become a human being
and became a beaver
was when the snout went on.
They say Aslan is on the move.
The other thing which,
you know, which made Mr Beaver,
which is my beaver teeth.
I mean, I had the voice
and I had the accent,
but there was something
about the teeth...
(PUTS ON A WEST COUNTRY ACCENT)
When you had them in,
you sort of...
You spoke sort of differently.
Mrs Beaver, I've found them.
I've found them!
Here are the Sons of Adam
and the Daughters of Eve.
So you've come at last!
At last!
My name is Lesley Nicol,
and I played Mrs Beaver.
To think that I should live
to see this day!
The potatoes are boiling
and the kettle's singing.
Do you know,
the thing I remember
about having that mask on...
What happened was you'd get
your dinner stuck up it!
About three o'clock,
you'd think,
"Well, that tastes
a bit like my lunch."
And it was wedged
up there somewhere.
KERRY: The snout was held on
by very strong glue.
The make-up people
said it was designed
to hold colostomy bags on.
So it was very strong.
But it meant that the area
around here, which was always
covered with glue,
got very, uh, rough
and kind of raw.
LESLEY: Once I had the mask
glued to my face,
it was like a furry head thing
over the top,
so it was like
putting a hat on.
But before you put the hat on,
you had to get into the body.
And the body was literally like
a rubber boiled egg
with a hollow centre.
And then the booties...
We had proper webbed feet.
But the problem - they hadn't
quite thought it through...
The bottom of these booties
were made of leather.
And in Scotland
we were on snow,
and we were all the time
slipping or flat on our faces.
- Cut.
- Stop recording.
RICHARD: It was very,
very funny when they fell
because they couldn't get up.
That was the thing.
Can you run up to record,
please, George?
Beaver retrievers - stand by.
One of us would go
and the first AD would say,
"Beaver down! Bring in
the Beaver retrievers."
And these were two boys
on the crew.
(YELLS)
- You all right, Kerry?
- Yeah.
LESLEY: Literally,
their job was to come
and hoick us back up again.
And I remember that happened
in Scotland a lot.
And the boys got
their own T-shirts printed
when we came back
in the summer,
so they had their own official
Beaver Retriever T-shirts.
SUSAN: What a lovely dam!
BEAVER: Oh... (CHUCKLES)
...merely a trifle.
Merely a trifle.
JONATHAN: The beavers' dam -
one of those Narnia moments
where you don't have to try.
You walk around the corner
and there it is.
There's no sort of acting
about amazement and awe,
because it is just spectacular.
SOPHIE COOK: They had smoke
coming out of
the little chimney,
so as we were walking up
the first time to film,
it was just incredible.
ALAN: It was an actual dam
damming up a lake,
so we then clad that dam
with logs
and we built
the actual beavers' lodge.
And then,
when you went into the studio,
they cut it into pieces so that
they could take a chunk out
and get a camera in.
It's actually a very nice set
to shoot.
The set's very disorienting.
Once you've taken
one section of it out,
it's very difficult to work out
where everything was
before you took it out.
Imagine that you're out
in the wilds of Scotland,
and everybody else is freezing
and complaining about the cold,
and you are toasty and warm.
Now imagine
that you're in a film studio.
Mrs Beaver, I've found them.
It was really hot.
I lost a lot of weight
doing that.
Well, it's sort of like sitting
in a warm bath, really.
- Thank you.
- It's sort of wet and warm
and, you know, I feel like
I'm sort of doing
the beaver paddle.
It's very hot.
It was a very, very happy job,
and somewhat an element
of discomfort
because of the costume,
but it was a lovely group
of people,
so we had a good time. Yeah.
Oh! Where's Edmund?!
- He's gone!
- Who saw him last?
How long has he been missing?
Did you notice?
- No! Did you?
- His coat's not here!
- Perhaps he's outside!
- I'll look!
JONATHAN: Edmund skulks off
from the beavers' house
and makes a beeline
for the Witch's castle with the
lure of more Turkish delight.
Most of the Witch's castle
scene was filmed at a place
called Manorbier Castle
in Wales.
And all sorts of amazing
pieces of structure were added
to the castle.
So there's a wall,
huge wall that ran across
the middle of the courtyard,
and added turrets
here and there.
And then
in the middle of sunny Wales,
huge quantities of snow,
foam snow, to make it look like
we were still
in the winter of Narnia.
I could see them
when they were building,
and Alan was so enwrapped
in the whole procedure
that he seemed to go into
sort of hyperspeed.
Tch-tch-tch-tch!
Here, there, everywhere.
"Put this there. Put this
there. Put the other..."
And it did feel like
my home.
JONATHAN: I think the studio
sets for the Witch's castle
was one of the most memorable
pieces of filming
The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe.
And it was very dark
and very malevolent.
It sort of suited Edmund,
at that point,
down to the ground, really.
If I find you have lied
to me...
Please, Your Majesty,
I'm only repeating
what they said.
Aslan...!
(LOUDER) Aslan!
ALAN: The White Witch's studio
set, it was taken from a lot
of Scandinavian
medieval churches
with the elaborate carved wood,
and then a lot of paintings
of dragons and demons
and kind of creatures
from hell.
BARBARA:
It was Gothic, wasn't it?
Really very, very Gothic
architecture,
Frankenstein-y sort of stuff,
wasn't it, really?
Didn't I tell you that
she'd made it always winter
and never Christmas?
Well...
Who...
...is...
...this?
That brilliant scene
where Bert Parnaby,
who played Father Christmas...
And now...
...for your presents!
You know, it's like us
being given our characters.
These are your presents.
Looks like it's got something.
- Oh, my goodness me.
- How exciting.
Look, The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe.
- Andrew Clark... He was...
- Oh!
...the prop buyer.
Remember Andrew?
- It's a Narnian box.
- Oh, my goodness.
- Shall I open it?
- Yes!
- Ready?
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
Oh, my goodness!
I remember this.
- Wow. Look at that.
- Your sword.
- My sword and my shield.
- Oh!
- Do I take the sword out?
- Yeah.
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
- Oh, my goodness.
- It's a bit stiff.
- (LAUGHTER)
(RICHARD GRUNTS)
- It's been a long time.
- Wow.
- Oh, my goodness...
- Do you remember...?
(LAUGHTER)
We... Jonathan and I
were taught
very specific moves.
- That's all we learned...
- It's come back immediately.
...was like that, that...
- Oh!
- ...that...
- Oh!
- ...that and that.
- And what was the defence?
- Um...
- I'm just...
- It's the same response.
- That, that, that.
- And something like that.
And that! Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
- It feels amazing.
- Amazing.
These are for you.
Oh...
(ALL GASP)
Ah!
- It's my present!
- The horn!
Yes! My horn!
- Susan's horn.
- Oh, my gosh.
Oh, look at the bow and arrow,
though. Look at those.
- It's beautiful.
- Oh, look.
And look at the detail here
on the...
- Amazing. Yeah.
- I don't remember that.
Yeah, these were Indiana Jones
And The Temple of Doom...
- I think they used these.
- Wow.
Yeah,
from their prop department.
- Oh, my gosh.
- Yes.
- Can you take that out?
- They have history.
I don't know.
I fired one with that.
Yeah. Let's see.
- Oh, my gosh!
- There it is.
- Oh, yeah, I've still got it.
- You have.
Yeah.
And the horn.
- The horn!
- Oh, wow.
- It's really lovely, isn't it?
- Beautiful.
So pretty.
There you go, just in case
we need it later.
- Yes!
- OK.
In this bottle is a cordial
made from the juice
of fire-flowers that grow
on the mountains of the sun.
- Oh, yay!
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
Oh, they're sweet.
Oh, look. Oh, my gosh.
RICHARD: I remember that
like it was yesterday.
Oh, my gosh.
And look, the top comes off.
- Ah.
- Aw...
Look at that.
Oh, my God, that's just crazy.
- That's not...
- Oh, look.
Do you know what, though?
I never got to stab anybody.
Don't look at me!
The revenge of Edmund!
- Jonathan...
- You never...
Well, I didn't get a present
from Father Christmas.
There's something there.
So, yes, I wonder
what's going to be in here.
I was off gallivanting
with the Witch.
(ALL EXCLAIM)
- I get the booby prize.
- Or not.
- Would you like my dagger?
- Yeah, I do. I'll swap you.
I've upgraded.
That's fantastic.
CLARE: We were at a place
called Talybont in Wales.
We were on a hill
above a reservoir somewhere,
and unfortunately,
some of the foam from the snow
got into one of these
little mini-waterfalls.
And it's like putting
bubble bath into a bath.
The waterfall
made this foam just grow
and grow and grow
till it was as tall as a man.
And...poor Marilyn,
I remember seeing her
crouched over her monitor
with her head in her hands,
thinking she was going to
poison the whole of Wales
because the water was going
to go down to the reservoir.
She had somebody on the phone
to the environmental people
to check that we weren't...
It's effectively like
washing-up liquid. It was fine.
RICHARD: I think that probably
wasn't her best day.
But, you know, Marilyn was just
the most nurturing,
brilliant director
and I believe the heart
of the whole of The Lion,
The Witch And The Wardrobe.
CLARE: I think she felt
the burden
of this 3 million budget
and the rights
and everything like that,
and it was all focused on her.
KERRY: She explained to me...
You know, we'd chat
about things and she said,
"This story almost means
too much to me.
"I'm so connected to it.
I so want it to work."
I know sometimes
she got rather quiet,
not that she was
a noisy person,
but she got more thoughtful,
perhaps,
and sort of went inside herself
perhaps a bit.
But most of the time
she knew what she wanted.
Because she knew
what she wanted,
she was great to work with.
I don't like Turkish delight,
so here we go, guys!
- I love it, I love it.
- I'm going to distribute...
- And I'd like some, please.
- Lemon or rose?
- Oh, rose, please.
- You're a rosy kind of guy.
- Sophie, my darling?
- No, thank you.
- Are you sure?
- I am absolutely 100% sure.
- You've got to have some now.
- No. I'm with you.
You can't do that!
These two guys
can have the rest.
What's not to like?
It's lovely.
More photos? I've got
some photos. Are you ready?
(ALL EXCLAIM)
Aslan!
(GROWLS GENTLY)
Aslan!
(GROWLS GENTLY)
My name's Vin Burnham,
and I'm a sort of costume
and creature designer.
This is my friend Aslan,
who is one of the creatures
that me and my wonderful team
brought to life
a very long time ago.
And as the most important
character in the story,
Aslan had to look really
convincing and lion-like.
And the reason he looks so good
is because his designer,
Vin Burnham,
has done such a great job
in creating him.
- Congratulations, Vin.
- Thank you.
He really is so realistic.
And I've seen animals, model
animals, on pantomimes,
like Daisy the Cow and things,
but this is amazing.
I was worried about showing him
because we've both aged
quite a lot,
and I thought he might
not be looking his best,
but actually, from here,
he looks
the same old Aslan
and he is the same old Aslan.
And I love him.
I still love him.
Was it difficult to get him
so realistic?
Well, it was difficult
and it took several months of,
um, quite a lot of us working,
you know,
to get it so that it didn't
look like a pantomime animal.
I think I've scored, don't you?
There was a bit of a plan
to go towards realism,
knowing that
it wouldn't be realism.
So we didn't want to do
a sort of taxidermy lion,
but at the same time,
we didn't want
to do a kind of designed lion.
It needed
to have that animal quality.
Action.
Aslan!
Aslan!
- Aslan!
- Aslan!
It was beautiful.
I want to use the word lush.
I don't know
if that's the right word,
but he was a very lush lion.
Aslan's mane obviously
was a very important part
of the whole creature.
One of the things I didn't want
was to have anything quaffed.
And it was, you know,
quite rough.
And so this is mostly
made out of yak hair.
And because he's a sort
of mythical creature,
a magical creature,
we interspersed the hair
with gold thread.
So there was a little tiny bit
of twinkle.
MARK: Now, what about the eyes?
He's even got eyelashes here.
- VIN: Yep.
- MARK: And the mouth.
How do they work?
VIN: Well, they're operated
by animatronics.
And that was designed
by Tim Rose.
And Tim's come in.
Welcome, Tim.
Hello.
My speciality, what I've done
my entire life is
to take inanimate objects
and make them come alive,
so that you will forget
that I exist
and you think
that they are alive.
And I was hired by Vin Burnham
to do the mechanisms,
the internal bits for Aslan.
During the '80s, that was
the heyday of animatronics,
when we were the kings.
There was no CG around
to solve the effects.
Jim Henson brought
a load of his guys
from the New York shop over.
So we worked on
Great Muppet Caper,
Dark Crystal, Labyrinth...
Return Of The Jedi
in there as well.
I mean,
The Chronicles Of Narnia,
it was a TV show.
I had been working
on film budgets,
and I have never been able
to adjust my work
to the budget,
so I can say
that they got a very good deal.
Aslan, for that time, was
what we would refer to
as state-of-the-art.
You should be able to hear
somebody inside there.
- Say hello.
- WOMAN: Hello.
That doesn't sound like a lion
at all.
More like a lioness, I think.
What's it like in there?
This is Ailsa,
by the way, inside.
AILSA: Oh, one's in
one's own little world in here.
When I first met Vin,
she was working on
the sculpture of Aslan's head.
It had a majesty about it.
It had a presence about it.
And I just thought, "This is
going to be very exciting."
And...peeking out,
giving a quick waddle,
we should be able to see Todd.
- Hi, Todd.
- Hello.
You seem to me to have
the most difficult job of all.
- Is it unbearable?
- No. It's a balance job.
Ailsa and I,
it was sort of a marriage,
but I only ever saw her
from the back.
AILSA: I had control
of the head from inside,
working it.
I was in a standing position,
with the body
slightly inclined forward.
I had a backpack on,
and on that backpack
there were some handles
of which Todd had his arms,
and then his body was out,
more like a table plane,
table top.
And then he was the rear legs
of the lion.
TODD: It's still two people
in what is essentially
a pantomime horse -
much more sophisticated,
we all agreed.
The journey to it,
even to the rehearsal rooms,
there were people who were
coming down going,
"I'm not sure."
AILSA: We had time
to work out the process
of how Aslan
would in fact move.
TODD: How could we adjust it
so you see less of the person
and believe it's a cat?
Quite a long journey.
And there were moments
where you were going,
"Oh, dear."
But fundamentally, I think
the end result was one,
certainly for the audience,
where they went,
"That's Aslan."
We have come, Aslan.
Welcome, Peter,
Son of Adam.
Welcome, Susan and Lucy,
Daughters of Eve.
VIN: Seeing him on camera
was very reassuring
because you're never sure
until it's done.
But where is the fourth child?
When we first had the tapes
of Ronald Pickup's
interpretation and his voice,
it was so right.
It was just so right
for that character.
Can anything be done
to save Edmund?
All shall be done.
But it may be more difficult
than any of you can imagine.
You would have a little
earpiece in your ear
that was like a hearing aid,
and you'd have
Ronald Pickup's voice,
and it was timed to however
you were playing it.
It wasn't like you had to wait
for a gap, you know.
You just were talking to Aslan.
I show it to you...
...because you
are the first-born...
....and will be High King
over all the rest.
TODD: We were in it literally
for days. Once you're in,
you pretty much stay in.
So I had a bicycle seat
on a tripod
that was thrust in
so I could rest.
Ailsa had something
similar at the front
to try and give her some rest
from the weight of all that.
Our dressers
sometimes would put...
...would decorate
the inside of Aslan's cavity,
where I inhabit...
which I inhabited,
with some articles of interest!
They... Just bits of silliness.
Headlines. I could read the
cricket scores if I wanted to.
And we had headsets,
so we were talking to
each other
and we could be talked to.
But also we could get all sorts
of bits played in there
because it was hours and hours
and hours.
But how do I know
this promise will be kept?
(GROWLS)
SUSAN COOK:
I loved when he roared.
He really came alive for me
when that happened.
(ROARS)
The roar is a proper lion roar,
but there's a fair amount
of sort of - grr, grr -
grunting afterwards.
(GROWLS)
That's a tiger.
Cos it's more...
It's more vicious in a way.
- Muzzle him!
- (CHEERING)
BARBARA: There was a bit
I remember
when the awful,
awful, awful Witch
kills, or thinks she's killed,
Aslan.
You have lost your own life
and you have not saved his!
And I felt pain
because I'm a great
animal lover.
It was only as a Witch
that I could do it, really,
because, to me,
it was very, very real.
In that knowledge, Aslan...
...despair
and die...
(BOTH SOB)
But I felt ill afterwards.
I actually did not feel good
at all.
SOPHIE COOK:
There was no acting involved,
really, for us, in that.
It was so sad.
(CRYING)
Horrible muzzle.
Can't we take it off?
Aslan the puppet
had become Aslan for us.
We really had a relationship
with him.
I...knew
of the old incantation...
...but it has never been
put to the test...
...until now.
You took that risk,
to save Edmund.
Come.
We've a long journey to do.
You must ride on me.
Aslan comes back to life
and Lucy and Susan
get to ride on Aslan's back.
That was incredible.
(BOTH GASP)
Without Ailsa and I
inside the costume,
it was dead - you know, it just
didn't look like anything.
So it was realised
that we'd be harnessed up,
ready to fly...
Action.
...and flown
in front of greenscreen.
And Susan and Lucy
would ride us.
AILSA: They are actually
on our backs.
But the thing is,
they had their own flying rig
and Aslan had
his own flying rig.
Action!
And...one...two. Take-off.
SOPHIE WILCOX: We were up
in harnesses
for quite a long time.
We had to do a lot of,
you know, sort of oohs and ahs
and following our finger
and sort of pointing behind
as if we'd seen something.
And actually, I think
I quite...I quite liked it.
Oh, here's a moody one.
- Oh, wow.
- Action shot.
- Oh, my gosh.
- Oh!
(YELLING)
RICHARD: When we had to fight
with the animated creatures
at the end,
I think there would be
cardboard cut-outs
of what was there, but you just
had to use your imagination
in the hope that it looked,
you know, all right.
(YELLING)
JONATHAN: My wrist used to hurt
quite a lot
because the swords
were very heavy.
We'd had sword fighting
training
at the rehearsal rooms, but...
I think you can see it
sometimes, a sort of
Which is quite nice,
because you've basically got
two 14-, 15-year-old boys
wielding giant swords.
So it has a sort of
element of reality about it
about how heavy they are.
BARBARA: I don't remember
having a lot of people
to fight with,
and I think it was because
I was building myself up
to something technical,
which was my death, which is
where I had to fall backwards.
And Marilyn had built
this kind of trough
and there was a mattress or
something at the bottom of it.
(GROWLS)
And flop I went, and then
I put myself into a very
uncomfortable position.
I assumed she had
a broken back.
That worked quite well.
I thought,
"That's me out of the picture
now. I've finished."
I wanted more,
I wanted to go on. Oh, well.
- (ALL EXCLAIM)
- The parade!
How many times
did we do that parade?
- Quite a lot.
- It was spectacular.
But the colours
are extraordinary, aren't they?
SOPHIE COOK: I really remember
the last scenes
at Cair Paravel -
Manorbier Castle.
(CHATTER)
RICHARD: It was the end.
I mean, we did shoot them
at the end, and it was sunny.
We'd all become a family.
Not just the, you know,
the brothers and sisters,
but the whole crew.
(STRINGS PLAY SOFTLY)
JONATHAN: And it was like
sort of walking up the aisle
at a wedding or something,
because as you walked in,
the petals were dropping
from the ceiling
and the walls were clad
in the most beautiful cloth,
and there was gold everywhere.
But in the...in the sort of
congregation, if you like,
in the audience, were everybody
that we had worked with
and everyone that we'd done
amazing things with
over those months.
SOPHIE WILCOX:
We kind of had genuinely gone
on this Narnia journey,
and then to end it
at the castle, being crowned,
was really lovely.
Once a King or Queen in Narnia,
always a King or Queen.
Bear it well, Sons of Adam.
Bear it well,
Daughters of Eve.
It was a beautiful way
to finish.
(THEME MUSIC)
I hadn't watched The Lion,
The Witch And The Wardrobe
for many, many years,
and I did get my...try and
get my children to watch it,
but they weren't interested.
Um, but I did watch it again.
And actually,
the lovely thing was...
...was because
there has been that time
and we are now
sort of proper grown-ups,
um, you know, I'm able
to look back at it and go...
- Appreciate it.
- Yes.
The people! We were working
with such incredible people.
And for me, coming back here,
it reminds me about
the world that they created
for us. And we were just...
Basically,
Narnia was made real for us.
- Yes, exactly that.
- It made our job so easy.
- No acting required.
- We were plonked into it...
No, there wasn't, was there?
It was literally
that they kind of...
- Because of their skill...
- Yeah. Totally.
- ...our life was easy.
- They focused on creating
that kind of magic
and that joy.
KERRY: I look back on this job
as being probably the happiest
acting job I've done.
He's not a tame lion, you know.
He's wild,
and he always will be.
I subsequently went on to
a show called Downton Abbey,
and one day the actor
Dan Stevens came up to me.
He literally had tears
in his eyes,
and I said, "What's the matter,
Dan?" And he said...
"...I've just found out
you were Mrs Beaver."
He just couldn't believe it.
Because he was that age,
you know.
He'd seen it as a child and it
had lodged in his head and...
That really makes me feel very
honoured, to be part of that.
(HORN BLOWS)
We are wanted.
(HORN CALL ECHOES)
- We are called.
- Yes, I feel it too.
Someone's dragging us.
Dragging us where?
(WHOOSHING)
Aslan's How!
- Oh, my goodness!
- Wow.
- Oh...
- Gosh.
- It's magnificent.
- Isn't it?
The view!
I don't remember it being
so panoramic. It's gorgeous.
SOPHIE WILCOX: It doesn't look
like the UK here.
It looks like Narnia.
It does look like
another world. Yeah.
PETER: The Stone Table!
Aslan's How,
as it's now called.
- (FAINT GROWL)
- SUSAN: I see him!
I see him now!
SOPHIE COOK:
How long had it been between
The Lion, The Witch And The
Wardrobe and Prince Caspian?
- It felt like...
- I think it was nearly a year.
- Yeah.
- It was nearly a year. Yeah.
We'd really grown up
in that year.
We had.
And I had ditched the cardigan.
- Yes.
- Thank God!
Our voices had broken.
Yes. Thankfully.
No more squeaky voices.
My hair had started
to go curly.
Oh, Aslan, I'm so glad...
...and so sorry.
I've been leading them wrongly
since we started.
I'm the only one
that hasn't grown at all.
Oh, really?
I was exactly the same height
as I am now, so, yes.
- You're all taller than me.
- Perfectly fully formed.
(LAUGHTER)
We were still
a work in progress!
Room for improvement.
(GROWLS)
SOPHIE WILCOX:
The director on Prince Caspian
was Alex Kirby.
Marilyn Fox had directed
The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe.
But I did understand
that she had quite enough,
and I got the job.
I think Alex was more focused
on the kind of action
and fighting scenes.
And there is a lot of fighting
in Prince Caspian.
The whole piece was
quite an exciting project -
extremely daunting
and challenging,
but very exciting.
ALAN: His approach was totally
different from what we'd had.
Even early on,
we were talking
much more about location work
and only using studios
when we absolutely had to.
SOPHIE COOK:
He had very big ideas
and wanted to increase
the scope
of what Marilyn had started.
He wanted to take that
and make it even bigger.
(GASPS) Stunning.
And that
is where Lucy sees Aslan!
Yes. And we don't believe you.
- And you don't believe me.
- No.
I've seen him. I've seen Aslan!
Oh, dear.
Where do you think you saw him?
Don't talk like a grown-up.
I don't think I saw him.
I know I saw him.
- All right, where?
- There.
And that's the way
he wants us to go.
From a location point of view,
I don't really think
I had acknowledged
- how sort of stunning it is.
- Spectacular.
I mean, it does look sort of
a little bit like New Zealand,
- doesn't it?
- Yes, it does.
- Miles from anywhere.
- Yeah.
How did they get
the crew up here?
I think we all walked.
I think we all walked.
We did a lot of walking
just to get up here!
- We did a lot of walking.
- Didn't we?
In Prince Caspian,
we did introduce Aslan's How.
We chose a location,
a place called Hawkstone Park.
The hill was
absolutely fantastic.
And underneath
and into the rocks
were these unbelievable caves,
which we used as
the grottos within Aslan's How.
You, I take it,
are Prince Caspian.
I am!
But I've no idea who you are.
No idea, Your Majesty?
King Edmund...
from the old time.
This is Peter, the High King.
Oh, Your Majesty!
You are very welcome here.
- Jean-Marc!
- Oh, wow.
You finally answered my call!
(LAUGHTER)
How are you doing?
Nice to see you.
- Oh!
- Nice to see you.
- You don't look any different.
- No.
Prince Caspian! Aw!
So lovely to see you.
- - Wow.
- You're looking so good!
Dr Cornelius!
What happened to my old nurse?
Gone, sire.
For years, she was
my only friend in this place.
Shall we begin our lessons?
I was 14 years of age,
and I was at Elmhurst Ballet
School and Performing Arts.
I actually auditioned for
The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe,
for the part of Edmund.
And then
the next year, they came back
and auditioned again.
And then we went through
a recall stage with...
I think there were
about 600 people
that were going for the role.
He who will one day
be King of Narnia
needs to know
the history of Narnia.
Of the White Witch
and the Kings and Queens
of Cair Paravel,
and the great Lion Aslan.
Hush!
I think my hair may have had
quite a role to play
in terms of visually
the casting for that.
It was even curlier
than it is now, and I think
much more fresh and golden!
RICHARD: I remember thinking
Jean-Marc was wonderful
as Prince Caspian,
because he had that energy
that we had in the first
series, that kind of freshness.
Prince Caspian is...
came from foreign parts,
sort of slightly Turkish,
Eastern European.
The colours are the kind of
Pre-Raphaelite colours
that we like so much,
which is the petrol green
and the berry reds,
and gold and oranges,
burnt orange and purple -
sort of like peacock's
feather colours, really.
And, um... So he was
a colourful little chap.
CORNELIUS: Your Highness!
Hurry, sire, hurry!
Hurry!
Here we have a photo album
that was put together
- by my sister...
- Aw!
...holding lots of memories.
- Oh, wow.
- Here we are.
Look, there's you!
And that beautiful...
- Castle in the background.
- Yes, on horseback.
- It looks so medieval.
- It's like a painting,
isn't it?
It's a beautiful picture.
You look so majestic.
You look like a prince.
- Thank you.
- A real prince.
I managed to stay on.
That was the main thing.
JEAN-MARC: I had to learn
to ride a horse.
I had six riding lessons.
By the second or third lesson,
I had to be up to a gallop.
I did have a pretty scary
experience
of being dragged along
by my horse, but survived that.
(THUNDER CRACKS)
But when I actually
got to do it for the show,
that actually felt
quite thrilling.
SOPHIE WILCOX: My gosh, look.
Look how beautiful you look!
- So you were...
- You do!
- You were 14.
- Utterly beautiful.
Look at your swordplay, yes.
- With no Botox!
- Not only your swordplay,
- but your line!
- Your posture is amazing.
You were
a natural swordfighter.
- Wow.
- Thank you. Yeah, that was...
- Amazing.
- Definitely no AI involved.
No. No.
Glenstorm!
Glenstorm!
(GALLOPING)
(WHINNIES)
Long live the King!
TODD: There's a character
called Glenstorm,
and I had the privilege
of being a front end of a horse
this time,
as opposed to the back end
of Aslan, which we still did!
And this beautiful
Lipizzaner stallion,
who just...
(HUFFS) ...you know,
would arrive and hit his marks.
He was better at hitting
his marks than I was, I think.
- It galloped down a path.
- Whoa, halt.
Stopped exactly on its mark.
Whoa.
And then we took that
into studio.
With masking tape,
we laid the line
of where the horse went
and deviated.
I run the masking tape line,
do the lines at the end.
Long live the King!
And then people animated
the two together
over the next months,
in order to get that one shot
and composite the two
together...
Long live the King!
...to give Glenstorm
the most astonishing entrance
of my career.
(WHINNIES)
ROBIN: I'm very proud of
that particular centaur shot,
purely because
it makes it real.
So in total,
we did four shots with a horse,
because there was
that one running up
and then we've got, uh,
Prince Caspian himself.
He actually steps on a box
and actually
gets onto the real horse.
Come...
...ride.
And I had to tell him
not to lean forward,
because I was going to remove
the head to put Todd on there.
JEAN-MARC:
I get onto the stallion.
It wasn't easy for me,
so they put
a little sort of step.
You can see me
sort of stepping up on it.
But once on the horse,
hopefully I look regal enough.
Come one, come all,
come one, come all
to the Dancing Lawn!
In order to resolve
the problem of...
...well, how now
does Glenstorm appear
without having to stick Todd
onto a Lipizzaner stallion
every shot...
...we created a horse body,
so front legs,
back legs and back.
I would kneel inside it...
...and my big toe
worked the tail.
So with my leg
I could swish the tail around,
and it would be enigmatic
and characterful
with my horse's tail.
AILSA: I was so happy for Todd,
and he pulled it off very well.
The King has called out
his army.
They will be here by dawn.
Hurrah! Let them come!
All I ask is that the King
will put me in the front line.
- Sire!
- In Prince Caspian,
we do have this rather strange,
fantastic invention
from CS Lewis - Reepicheep.
My name is Reepicheep,
and I am unreservedly
at Your Majesty's disposal.
Warwick Davis came on set.
He was obviously
a big star at the time.
He'd done a big movie, Willow.
And yet he's just
this wonderful personality.
And he had this perfect energy
that suddenly
Reepicheep came to life.
Sire! King Peter!
- Ah! Reepicheep.
- Sire.
I should make
a very fine marshal.
(GIANT LAUGHS)
Warwick brought
an awful lot of himself
to that character.
The first time
I met Reepicheep
was astounding.
Some humans are afraid of mice.
I have observed it, sire.
And it might not be
quite fair to King Miraz
to have anything in sight
that might abate his courage.
Your Majesty is
the mirror of honour.
This is Reepicheep.
He's in the Aslan colours
of red and gold.
Scabbard on his belt.
And he's a very feisty mouse,
I think, Reepicheep.
I started off
with making Warwick a...
What's called a muscle suit,
so it's the actual shape
of a mouse.
And then, um, the fur is added.
So, I think it was
all in one costume,
but the tail came off.
That had, like, a bayonet
light-fitting thing
so we could take the tail off
because it was quite long
and got in the way.
So, he had a short, little
stubby tail
or no tail at all
if you didn't see it.
Who are these two strangers
you have brought
into our cousell?
CORNELIUS:
Perhaps your friends
would like to
speak for themselves.
Worshipful Master Doctor...
...I'm only a poor old woman.
(ALL EXCLAIM)
- Barbara Kellerman.
- SOPHIE WILCOX: Yes
RICHARD: Was she
sort of imposing,
having seen the first series
and seen her as the Witch?
- Yeah.
- When you met her,
what was that like?
Well, she is
the friendliest of...
She's very nice, actually,
that's the problem.
That is a problem!
But somehow,
she manages to switch it on.
- And those nails...
- SOPHIE WILCOX: Yes!
...I remember when she drew
her hand and just got...
- It was just... Yeah.
- I hear she got
a round of applause from
the crew after her first take.
- SOPHIE WILCOX: Wow. Wow.
- She did indeed, yeah.
And that was filmed
in the grotto, which is here.
- JEAN-MARC: Which is here.
- Yes.
Bless his handsome face!
There's no need to be afraid
of an old woman.
I have some...
...small, poor skill.
Nothing like yours,
Master Doctor.
Some... Some small skill in...
...spells.
BARBARA:
Paul Stone, the producer,
asked me to come back
for Prince Caspian and I said,
"Oh, she's dead!"
And he said,
"Yes, but, you know,
"I'd just like to carry
the thing of Jadis through,
"coming through the series."
So I said, "OK."
He said, "I'd like you to be
a witch in a cave."
I said, "OK.
Can I be an old hag?"
And he said, "Yeah, yeah!
Still a witch, still a witch!"
And we had such fun working
on the make-up for that.
Such fun!
You know,
the prosthetics of the nose
and bits of hair
coming out of the cheeks
and, you know,
all that sort of thing.
Whoever heard of a witch
who really died?
(RAISES VOICE)
You can always get them back!
It was a nice idea
to extend that character
through in a different form.
Hush!
GLENSTORM:
They stand exactly in our way.
(HORSE SNORTS IN DISTANCE)
King Miraz's camp
was formidable.
JONATHAN: As I walked down
to read the proclamation,
it just felt like
you were walking into
some sort of military camp.
It was brilliant.
ALAN: It is huge!
It was about
the size of a football field,
I would have thought.
(SHOUTING)
TONY HARDING: The camp
was quite impressive, yes.
Sadly, I had to burn
a large proportion of it down.
- (SHOUTING)
- (SWORDS CLASH)
There's a battle, and I think
it was Gareth Milne,
our stunt arranger,
he suggested,
"There's nothing like fire
"to actually heighten
the action."
Special Effects
set fire to it,
and they got carried away
and set fire to more
than we discussed!
When we did it, what I thought
was the rehearsal
was the shot.
So, we did this big scene,
which involved things
burning down,
and I was like, "So, are we
going to do it now?"
And they were like,
"No, no, we've just done it.
"We can't do it again,
because it's all burnt down."
This fire, once started,
just grew,
and I don't think
health and safety
was quite the same
as it is now!
And I just remember
this intense heat
just sort of
sweeping through us.
They just sort of
let the camera run,
and they obviously got
some great shots from it.
(SHOUTING)
TONY: Alan Spalding looked
quite worried at one point
because he had lots of props
in that fire sequence,
and I think, unfortunately,
some of them were damaged.
Alan wasn't happy.
(LAUGHS)
But it looked fantastic.
Aslan, this is Prince Caspian.
ASLAN: Welcome, Prince.
Do you feel yourself sufficient
to take up
the Kingship of Narnia?
I don't think I do, sir.
Good.
If you had felt sufficient,
it would have been proof
that you were not.
So, coming to the end of the
shoot of Prince Caspian was,
I think, an experience
that has obviously
always stayed with me.
I remember Narnia
with great fondness.
(EXHALES)
(EXHALES)
PETER: Goodbye, Aslan.
We're not coming back
into Narnia again, are we?
You are not,
and Susan is not.
SOPHIE COOK:
So, for Peter and Susan,
this is when we left Narnia.
This was the end
of the road, yes.
This is the last time
we were there.
Yeah, which was strange,
wasn't it?
Because it was, you know,
such a wonderful journey,
and we came of age.
SOPHIE COOK: It was
an epic moment, wasn't it?
And so much gratitude, though,
for being involved
in such a wonderful experience.
- It was. We were very lucky.
- Yeah.
And, you know,
lucky to have had
this opportunity to revisit it.
Yeah, it really felt like
we went to Narnia.
- Yeah.
- It really did.
- And now we're back.
- We're back!
- And your memory will live on.
- Yeah!
(ALL CHUCKLE)
RICHARD: Come on.
Why, it's just like
a house in England!
EUSTACE: I think it's empty.
(LAUGHS) Hello!
King Caspian!
Edmund and Lucy!
Oh, it's so good to see you!
SOPHIE: How are you?
How are you?
Aww! So nice to see you.
SAMUEL: And back here, as well.
- SOPHIE: I know, I know.
- JONATHAN: It's a good spot.
It's so tiny!
Yeah, well, we got taller.
- Yeah.
- I think!
Well, you certainly did.
MAN: Can't say... (MUMBLES)
(LAUGHTER)
DIRECTOR: OK, go again,
straight away. Here we go.
My name is Samuel West,
and I played King Caspian.
DIRECTOR: Take three,
after a false start.
Nice and quiet, everywhere!
Stand by.
When I think of shooting
that extraordinary story,
I think...
...there is always
one perfect summer,
and if you're lucky...
...you'll have one like that
to look back on.
I remember you teaching me
how to juggle,
- and I still do it.
- Oh, I'm so pleased!
And it impresses people.
I hope it does! I hope it does!
That's very good.
I remember, and you were
very patient with us, Sam.
- I bet I didn't need to be.
- Very patient.
- Very, very patient.
- Oh, that's good.
Yes, juggling
was a really important
- part of my life then.
- Yeah.
Because
I'd just finished university,
and I remember
learning to juggle
just before my final exams -
which was fatal.
- (ALL LAUGH)
- I did really badly.
I did so badly!
Shouldn't you have been,
like, learning...?
Yes, I certainly should, yeah.
How typical that Eustace
just wasn't even
at the station to meet us.
Oh, I didn't mind.
A bit of peace and quiet here
anyway in your room.
Look at that!
Isn't it beautiful?
SAMUEL: David and I
were the newbies,
and it's a really tricky job
for him,
because he has to come in
being an absolute arsehole.
(LAUGHS)
LUCY: She is a very Narnian
ship, though, isn't she?
Not still playing
that stupid game?
Narnia, yah!
My name is David Thwaites.
I played
Eustace Clarence Scrubb.
You know you made it all up!
- You're absolute liars!
- You worm! Go away!
This is my house
and I'll stay where I like!
I'd been watching The Lion,
The Witch And The Wardrobe,
like everybody else,
on a Sunday afternoon,
and enjoying it. And this was
just an audition that came up.
And, uncharacteristically,
I read the book,
because at that point
in my life,
I didn't really enjoy reading
very much at all.
And I remember
the opening line was,
"His name was
Eustace Clarence Scrubb,
"and he almost deserved it."
And I thought, "Oh,
this is pretty interesting."
But, you know, it was just
auditioning for a part
to be a sullen, grumpy
13-year-old, of which I was
extremely qualified.
YVETTE FIELDING:
I met up with Jonathan Scott,
Sophie Wilcox
and David Thwaites.
David, you're the new
member of the cast.
- What's it like?
- They wind me up for a joke.
- Yeah.
- Almost all the time, but...
...so does everyone!
- They play pranks on you?
- Oh, yes.
What sort of things do they do?
Nicking my camera.
SOPHIE:
I was expecting somebody
to come in and need
a bit of hand-holding,
cos, obviously, at that point,
I'm very mature,
because I'm 14 going on 15.
But actually, he didn't really
need any hand-holding at all.
He came in
very, very confidently
and I think did a brilliant job
of playing Eustace.
The water looks so wet
and the waves really look
as though they're going
up and down, up and down...
Don't!
You're making me seasick!
(WIND RISES)
Lucy, it is moving!
The sea! Smell the sea!
Stop it! Whatever silly game
you're playing, stop it!
LUCY: It's going to drag us in!
It's dragging us in!
EUSTACE: Stop it! Stop it!
Stop it! We're going to drown!
SAMUEL: I've got
a little surprise for you.
Oh, my goodness!
SAMUEL: Perhaps this will
refresh your memory.
- (EXCLAIMS)
- Oh, my God...!
SOPHIE: Dive in!
Isn't that beautiful?
And look! Look!
- Ohh!
- You match the sails.
I match the sails.
Don't stand against it,
you'll disappear.
- This is very fine, isn't it?
- It's beautiful.
This is one of the great props,
I think.
LUCY: It's going to drag us in!
It's dragging us in!
EUSTACE: Stop it! Stop it!
JONATHAN: It was rather awkward
when the three of us
were sort of bobbling along
through the sky
and then landing
in a huddle in front of it.
Do you remember?
We sort of... In that pit?
It was a bit like this...
Did they tell you to wave
your arms around?
I felt like,
was I being a heli...?
Was I trying to fly myself in
or something?
It's a shame, because
it's such a beautiful picture.
- This is where we first meet.
- JONATHAN: Yes.
- Just in here.
- On the crest of a wave!
- Literally, just in there.
- Yes.
EUSTACE: I know we're sinking!
Help!
A stuntman does the jump
off the Dawn Treader.
But then, of course, it cuts
to me in the tank at Ealing.
- Help!
- Help!
Caspian?
The ship! Get aboard quickly!
I'm not the world's
greatest swimmer,
and it's OK for Caspian
not to be, but I do, I think,
hit Sophie Wilcox on the head
at some point
- in that scene!
- Help!
SOPHIE: I think we looked
like we were all sort of
trying to drown each other,
rather than being
rescued by Sam!
Lucy! Edmund!
How wonderful to have you
back in Narnia!
- You're so grown up.
- You look just the same.
JONATHAN: It's such
a beautiful boat, as well.
SOPHIE: And it was
an amazing boat, wasn't it?
- None of this AI nonsense.
- Yeah, yeah.
None of this CG.
- No, they built the thing.
- Yeah.
CAPTAIN:
She's called the Dawn Treader,
and a beauty she is.
A lady, as sailors say -
her lines perfect,
her colours pure,
every spar, rope and pin
lovingly made.
ALAN: It was a huge challenge
for design
and it seemed impossible
to achieve, initially.
There was a lot of pressure
to do it
using static sets
and gimbals, and, um,
and I was very keen on actually
doing it for real as possible.
So, I actually wanted
to build a ship.
ALEX: One of
the earliest recces
I went on with Alan
was to Bristol Docks,
where they had the Carrie,
which was the sailing ship
the Dawn Treader was based on.
They'd already started building
and converting
this sailing ship
and I thought,
"Yes! We can actually
sail this thing...
"uh, hopefully!"
CASPIAN:
I am on a great mission.
On my coronation day,
I swore to Aslan
that once peace was established
in Narnia,
I would sail east for not less
than a year and a day.
ALEX: We based it
in Milford Haven.
From there,
we could actually take the ship
up and down
the actual coastline
of Pembrokeshire.
I do remember approaching it
out on the open water
and it felt like
being thrown back in time.
The whole unit was absolutely
gobsmacked by seeing it,
so that was
a big moment for me.
SAMUEL: It felt like home
as soon as we went onto it.
There was nothing
that you could see or touch
that didn't feel genuine.
The sailors that were
crewing it were proper sailors.
The ropes that were hoisting
the sails really hoisted them.
And although it had an engine,
we did sail.
They talk as though
it's the Queen Mary!
I've been on motorboats
and ferries
that were bigger than this!
Shooting on the Dawn Treader
was quite the experience.
I do remember some of us
being a bit queasy
some of those days.
Crew call would be
fairly early.
We would go out
on the support vessel.
There was no coming back
for lunch or breaks
or anything.
So, you were out
on the ocean all day,
and then,
when you got home at night,
you kept rocking.
Or, at least, I did.
SAILOR: Land ho!
CASPIAN:
The first of the Lone Islands!
LUCY: Oh, it's so long
since we saw them last!
Dawn Treader did take us
not only to Pembrokeshire,
but, actually,
to the Isles of Scilly.
Mainly, it was on Tresco,
and we used Bryher, as well.
We went there for a week
and they shot
almost constantly,
and then spread
those sequences
throughout
the different islands
so that it really does
look different.
How shall I know this
to be true?
First, by my face.
Secondly, within six guesses,
I know who you are.
It looks properly tropical
and it was properly hot.
And I think all of that helps
you feel that it is Narnia.
I, too, am Caspian,
lawful King of Narnia,
Lord of Cair Paravel and
Emperor of the Lone Islands.
By heaven, it is his father's
very voice and trick of speech!
I did use the beach on Tresco
for the Dufflepuds.
EDMUND: Are you sure
you didn't imagine it?
CHIEF: Stop!
No further, masters.
The Dufflepuds were,
at that time, invisible.
CHIEF:
There's 50 of us and more
with weapons in our fists.
DUFFLEPUD:
That's our chief, that is.
You can depend on what he says.
(BABBLE OF VOICES)
DAVID: I was super interested
in how the footprints
were established
in the sand there.
It was really clever.
I remember these boxes
that were dug, and then,
with a sort of hydraulic system
of air, it sort of sucked down
a little platform to create the
impression of the footprint.
I thought it was super cool.
And, of course,
that had to tie in
with the location
in North Wales.
Swords out, everyone.
If we put up a good front,
perhaps they'll parley.
It may be our only hope.
SOPHIE: The Magician's House!
It's a great piece
of location finding, isn't it?
It is.
I mean, the BBC
were always good at that,
but suddenly
to think of this place,
which is not very near
Television Centre,
and go, "I know!"
SOPHIE: But there is something
quite sort of Narnian
- about it, isn't it?
- SAMUEL: Exactly, exactly.
But at the same time, sort of
quintessentially English.
An English sort of Narnia!
A very English magic.
Shall we go in and have a look?
- What's it going to feel like?
- SOPHIE: I know! Exciting!
Oh, my goodness me!
And, look, look, look!
- It's a lion.
- Hello, Aslan.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, wow...
SOPHIE: Probably
out of all the locations,
the Magician's House is one
that I remember
really, really well.
It did genuinely feel
very, very magical.
(CREAKING)
They used a fish-eye
sort of lens,
didn't they, to make it...?
SAMUEL:
And lots of spooky music.
Yes.
Oh, but the creak! The creak
of the panelling and stuff,
and the stairs...
...stairs is very...
Oh, my goodness.
(CREAKING)
And here...
- ...was the Beard...
- SAMUEL: The Beard Mirror.
...Mirror!
SAMUEL: Yes, that's
in the book, isn't it?
- (CREAKING)
- Oh! The creak! The creak!
The creaks
are really getting me!
The last door on the right...
Oh, my goodness me! This...
This is the Magician's room,
isn't it?
And that was where
the book of spells was.
"A cure for warts."
"Wash your hands by moonlight
in a silver basin.
Well, really! How many people
have a basin
made out of silver?
- (GASPS)
- SAMUEL: It's a beautiful bed.
SOPHIE: Isn't it?
And you came up here
on your own.
I did. I was very brave.
Without any film crew
or anything!
(ALL LAUGH)
There they are - Dufflepuds!
I can't see anyone.
What are those strange
mushroom things?
They're feet!
Mostly, I remember
the location
because of Kenny Baker
and Jack Purvis
and their performance
as Dufflepuds.
- (CHEERING)
- I know your voice!
You're the Chief, aren't you?
And I'm extremely sorry
that we can't give you
the pleasure of seeing us
as we were
before we were uglified -
for you wouldn't believe
the difference!
You wouldn't believe
the difference!
(BABBLE OF VOICES AGREE)
DAVID: They were on trampolines
behind the hedge,
and we were in front,
and it was just a hoot.
JONATHAN: So, I have
something to show you, guys,
I found in the boot of my car.
- Oh, my God!
- Here we have...
...a Dufflepud foot!
- (SAMUEL AND SOPHIE EXCLAIM)
- SAMUEL: How on earth...?
SOPHIE: Look at the toenails!
JONATHAN: And the big, hairy
knuckles on the toes.
- This is beautiful.
- And then, of course,
it looks like a mushroom
when it's upside down.
There we are. It does look...
Oh, that's an amazing thing!
Oh, my goodness me.
So, did you teef this when...
...when we finished?!
How the hell
did you sneak that out?
- Just under your jumper.
- It was my souvenir.
Well, you must be the only
person with one, I imagine.
- There must be some around.
- Let me have a hold of that.
- Please. Let me have a hold.
- Oh, coming over.
- Oh, lovely.
- Does it fit?
Go on, try it on.
- Shall I?
- Yeah, of course.
- SAMUEL: Rude not to.
- SOPHIE: Really?
- Right.
- Oh, it suits you.
- Does it?
- Yeah.
- I need a pedicure.
- SAM: It's the latest
- thing in feet.
- SOPHIE: Right.
JONATHAN: She's pretty good.
SAMUEL:
Yeah, if they were painted,
those nails
would be gorgeous.
- How on earth did...? Hang on.
- What?
(SCREAMS AND LAUGHS)
- Nearly.
- (JONATHAN CHUCKLES)
- You're very agile.
- Do you think?
BOTH: Yeah.
It's not bad
for an old bird, is it?
I think you were
incorrectly cast.
Yeah.
- (GROWLING)
- Something like...
...a...dragon!
(LOW GROWLING)
It doesn't seem
to have seen me.
DAVID: A lot of the fun
of this part was being able to
turn into a dragon.
(GASPS)
EUSTACE: I'm a dragon!
Oh... No... I'm a dragon!
My head was in the lower neck
part of the costume.
And the head was an extension
that went up, considerably up,
along with then
the wonderful animatronics
on the eyes, the ears...
EUSTACE: And I've
a feeling it's going to be
a pretty lonely life here
as a dragon, all on my own.
(GROWLS SOFTLY) Oh, dear.
And the smoke
that came out of the nostrils.
DIRECTOR:
And to your left, Ailsa!
And up as high as you can go,
and smoke!
And I had the easy job, on
the other end of some cables.
I'm in a chair with
some controls or some levers,
and I'm doing
the head and neck...
Go back the other way
and smoke!
Back the other way.
TODD: ...while she's in pain,
sweating in
a very heavy costume.
(GROWLING)
It is not enough.
DAVID: Becoming human again
was an experience
because we shot that
in a cave, 30 feet down,
in a natural water spring
that was so cold,
the safety divers said
they'd never been in water
as cold as that.
And we did a sort of...
...a little test run where
I had the full wetsuit on,
just to see quite how cold
the water was.
And then, Alex said,
"For the scene,
"we're going to need you
to take the wetsuit top off
"and I need to see you
coming out of the water."
And it dawned on me that
that meant I would have to go
under the water in order to
come out of the water.
ALEX: I remember saying,
"You've got to
"count to ten slowly
underwater
"and then emerge."
(GROWLS)
Everybody was
quite concerned about this
because the water
was really, really cold.
But they had a car waiting by
and a golf club
fairly close by.
And when I finished the scene,
they were going to take me
to a hot shower.
My goodness!
He came up so fast!
DAVID: I think I got
a round of applause, actually,
when cut was called
and they whisked me off.
Thankfully, he was OK. (LAUGHS)
DAVID: When I watched
that scene again,
I felt like I wasn't acting.
That was rebirth, for sure.
(WIND HOWLS)
We're shipping water!
All hands! All hands!
Captain, what can I do?!
Get below to your cabin, child!
ALAN: There are two sequences,
the storm sequence
and the sea serpent,
that we really couldn't achieve
on the real ship.
So, we actually
took the back part
of the ship off and
the front part of the ship off,
and we mounted them
onto a gimbal,
and we set the gimbal
into the tank of the studio.
And we had tip tanks up high,
which sent jets of water down
onto the surface of the boat.
We had jets along the side of
the boat which fired waves up.
We had a wind machine
and we had water jets above
to create rain
falling on the boat.
DAVID: The boat would rock
back and forth and sideways
on a hydraulic system,
and we would just get flooded
with water.
EUSTACE:
I'm not risking my life!
- Do as you're told!
- Get to work, boy!
You open your mouth
to shout your first line
and it's immediately
full of water.
SOPHIE: I mean,
it was so much fun!
It's like the best water ride
at Chessington Adventures
that you could ever have!
- You must go to safety below!
- Nonsense!
There was no drying out
in between takes.
It was just,
"You're going to be wet
"for the duration of this,
"and you're wearing a large
carpet and it's dripping."
It was a fairly damp week.
And then we got
into the sea monster.
LUCY: I did see them.
- (GROWLING)
- They've gone!
(SNARLING)
(LUCY SCREAMS)
I wasn't quite sure whether
it was ever going to work!
Tony Harding had built
this fantastic monster
and we actually raised it
in the tank at Ealing.
OK, hold it there!
Dry the mouth.
TONY: I came up with
an idea that
the head would be similar
to one of those
deep-sea anglerfish.
Huge jaws, lots of teeth,
but on a long neck
so that it could leap up
and go over the top of
the boat.
The head was made
out of fibreglass
and the jaws were operated
by hydraulics.
And it took the best part
of a day
to rig it and shoot it.
OK, here we go! Stand by!
(SHOUTING)
Action!
- (WHIRRING HYDRAULICS)
- (SCREAMING)
I do remember
the teeth kept breaking off.
They were made of plastic.
"Hey, avoid the teeth.
Try not to hit the mouth!
"Go for the body!"
Because these teeth
would just sort of snap off.
(WIND HOWLS)
(THUNDERCLAP)
Special Effects built a model
which they shot
in the model stage.
The sea we created
by black polythene.
The black polythene
is flapped all around
by several assistants,
and we fire dry salt over it
to create the spray.
The model monster
was also built
by the same person
who built the full-size one.
The model monster leaps out
of the black polythene sea,
goes over the top of them...
- (GROWLING)
- Down!
...and then
flops over to the side.
Then we cut back to
the real one at Ealing.
Push, everyone!
- Argh, push!
- Push!
(GROWLING)
My name is Christopher Godwin,
and I was in The Voyage
Of The Dawn Treader
playing Lord Rhoop.
It was in the big tank
at Ealing
and Alex said, "We want to hear
a rather desperate wail."
So I walked off
into the shadows
and thought
about a desperate wail,
and when he said, "Action!",
I came out with something!
(MAN WAILS DESPERATELY)
(WAILS) Help me!
CHRISTOPHER GODWIN: And
then I plunged into the tank
and swam across.
However, on the first take,
we realised that something
had gone rather wrong,
because I was wearing
a false beard.
And it was in six pieces.
Two, uh, sideburns things.
There were two bits
of moustache,
a centre piece
and a bit underneath.
Your Majesty!
As I got there, not only was
Lord Rhoop clean-shaven,
but looking behind him,
there were six dead hamsters
in the water.
And... (LAUGHS)
...there was
an immediate cry of,
"Cut! Retrieve the hamsters
and dry them off!"
And I was re-bearded.
I realised that I couldn't swim
desperately.
I had to keep my head
out of the water.
This is the island
where Dreams come true!
Why, that's the island I've
been searching for all my life!
"When our Dreams come true."
And the crew said,
"Well, that's marvellous,
I can't wait."
And, uh... And then it becomes
clear that, actually,
the thing about dreams
is that most of the time,
you look forward to
waking up from them.
Uh, and that's not going
to happen to us.
Yeah, we go into
a very dark place indeed.
Not...not dreams.
Not daydreams, not desires.
But where your worst dreams,
your worst nightmares
come true!
I'm not going to tell you
what I saw,
but I did have
a very specific idea
of what it was,
and it motivated me
to keep talking,
possibly under my breath,
and to myself.
And if that comes across,
40 years later,
I'm very pleased,
because I was quite specific
about it.
LUCY: But what are they?
Beavers sitting on a table?
EDMUND:
No. It's a huge bird's nest.
Looks more like a haystack
to me.
- They will not fight, I think.
- Are they dead?
No, sire.
He is warm
and his pulse beats.
JONATHAN: Oh, look at
Aslan's Table. It was another
one of those Narnia moments
where you walked
around the corner
and in the middle of nowhere...
Was an enormous table!
The crew had created
this spectacular feast.
ALAN: The feast was all shot
in the Forest of Dean.
There's these places
called the Scowles,
and they're old
Roman lead mines.
But we couldn't find
anywhere level enough,
so we then put scaffolding
into the bottom
of one of these mines,
and then laid the feast out.
- JONATHAN: And then the Star.
- SOPHIE: Ah.
SAMUEL: "Once more,
tread the great dance."
Your actual Geoffrey Bayldon.
Look, actual Catweazle.
JONATHAN AND SOPHIE: Wow.
JONATHAN: That's legendary.
Every morning,
a bird brings me a fire-berry
from the valleys in the Sun.
And every fire-berry
takes a little off my age.
When I am as young as a child
that was born yesterday...
...I shall take my rising
again.
The final scenes
on the Edge of the World,
the one I remember
most vividly
was saying goodbye
to Reepicheep.
SAMUEL: They shot it, and
Reepicheep was paddling away
into the distance
and Alex called, "Cut!",
and turned to the focus puller
and said, "How was that?"
And the focus puller said,
"I don't know, chief,
I couldn't see my marks...!"
(LAUGHS)
He was just weeping.
ALEX: Once we'd completed
all our filming,
I came out of the studio,
and in a skip
was the head
of the Dawn Treader,
which is this beautiful dragon.
I said, "We can't do that!"
"Well, where's it going to go?"
So unbeknown to me,
the prop guys put it on a truck
and they sent it to Bristol,
and they delivered the head
of the Dawn Treader
to my garden
and plonked it on the drive!
And he lives there to this day.
I think Dawn Treader
is probably my favourite
of the three. It's such
a spectacular achievement.
ALAN: Dawn Treader
was a career high,
to actually build a ship
that goes to sea,
and, you know, I don't think
many people have managed
to do anything like that.
Did it really happen?
SAMUEL: When David Thwaites,
as Eustace,
takes their hands
at the end and said,
"Did it really happen?"...
...and the credits roll
on episode four,
it was teatime on Sunday,
the 24th of December, 1989,
and I was watching it live
with my mother and father...
...and I cried
for about two hours.
And my mother
didn't really understand
and like many mothers,
would rather her son
wasn't crying.
So, she said,
"What's the matter?"
And I...I couldn't work it out.
And I said, "I think that was
the end of my childhood.
"I think that draws a line
under it."
Even though I was 23 and a half
and I'd been to university.
I think I still
thought of myself
as the age of the children.
And I couldn't do that
any more.
I remember that moment
really clearly, um...
...as a rite of passage.
When you step back
somewhere like this,
it's so evocative
and it immediately feels -
it's such a weird thing,
is it immediately feels
like we've seen each other
sort of, I don't know,
last week or, like,
almost, like, that no...
- ...that no time has gone by.
- No.
I mean,
what amazing childhood...
(VOICE BREAKING) ...memories.
- And also...
- We met you!
I know. Aww!
JONATHAN: Let's have
a hot, sweaty hug.
SOPHIE: Let's have a...
- Oh, look!
- (ALL LAUGH)
- You're just the right size...
- Come into...! (LAUGHS)
A castle!
It must be Harfang!
Hot baths tonight!
- PUDDLEGLUM: Oh, yes.
- Wouldn't be too sure.
It's midday.
They'll be closing
the city gates soon.
- We've got to get there first.
- Well, hurry!
- David!
- Camilla!
CAMILLA: (LAUGHS)
How wonderful to see you!
- How are you? Mwah!
- Ohhh!
And flying into the studio,
direct from Narnia,
are Eustace and Jill,
played by David Thwaites
and Camilla Power.
In Narnia, all the flying
is done by magic,
but on Blue Peter, I'm afraid
that they have to use wires.
Thank you both for coming in.
It was the summer of 1990,
and I was 13.
And in a way,
there were lots of parallels
between being Jill
and being Camilla,
in that it was very much
a kind of rite of passage.
(SHOUTING)
ALL: Pole! Pole! Pole!
All right!
So my name's Jill Pole!
I thought this was supposed
to be a modern school
where everyone
was tolerant and respectful
of other people's rights!
I haven't even got a right
to my own name!
(ALL SHOUT)
I was so pleased
to have her on board,
and she worked so brilliantly
with David Thwaites, as well.
(GASPS)
Oh!
Eustace! I mean, Scrubb.
That's one more thing I hate
about this school -
being called by your surname.
She was terrific. Tremendous.
She towered over me.
She was about 15 feet tall,
or maybe I was
about three feet tall!
And she just had
a complete command
of what that role was.
I wish my parents had never
sent me to this place.
- It's horrible.
- Now, look here...
Oh, go away
and mind your own business!
I should have known
you'd be on their side.
We were quite similar
to Jill and Eustace in that,
you know, we kind of had
a bit of a "Who are you?",
you know, kind of rubbing up
against each other
kind of relationship.
And then,
as it sort of went on,
we became good friends.
(SHOUTING NEARBY)
- (SHOUTING FADES)
- (BIRDSONG)
Come on!
When we get to Narnia,
I end up on this cliff edge.
And as you can imagine,
it wasn't much of a cliff.
Come on, get away
from the e-e-edge!
It's shot low,
and there was a ledge.
And then there was a mattress
there that I rolled onto.
So it wasn't very dramatic.
I'd like to pretend
it was more heroic
than it really was.
CAMILLA: That was North Wales,
and we were
in the middle of nowhere.
It was very quiet.
It was beautiful.
(EXHALES)
Oh, no! Oh, no!
Aslan does blow Jill
off a cliff edge.
We filmed from the helicopter.
At one point,
we got a little bit too close
with the helicopter
and it actually blew
poor old Ailsa Berk
and Todd over!
Suddenly, fwooom!
And Todd and I,
we could not stay standing.
We just went...
...like a sack of potatoes
on the side.
I mean, you couldn't
make it up, could you?!
I wonder
where the thingummy's got to.
The Marsh-wiggle?
Hello!
That must be him over there.
One of the main characters
was Puddleglum.
Paul suggested Tom Baker.
I thought, "We'll be mightily
lucky to get hold of him."
But he read the script
and loved it!
Excuse me, but we didn't quite
catch your name.
My name is Puddleglum.
You're sure to forget it.
He's an extremely
experienced actor,
dealing with two actors
who were
way less experienced,
and also children.
And never made us
feel like children
and was always
so much fun to be around.
Never a moment
where he didn't make it fun.
I was just trying to catch
a few eels to make an eel stew.
Though I suppose I won't get
any and you wouldn't like it
- if I do.
- Why not?
- Boy...
...it's against reason that you
should like our victuals.
He used to call me
"little Milly",
and in the morning
I'd sort of go into
the make-up caravan
and he'd go,
"Good morning, little Milly,"
in this sort of
wonderful, resonant voice.
All we want to know is,
can you really help us
to find Prince Rilian?
Well, I don't know
if you'd call it help.
We're not likely to get very
far on a journey up north.
Not at this time of the year,
with winter coming on.
JUDY: Puddleglum
was a Marsh-wiggle
and his coat was covered in
freshwater mussel shells.
Pondweed. I got plastic weed
from an aquarium shop,
from a fish shop.
The hat is rather like the hat
of Gandalf, isn't it?
And as it turned out,
when we got to the location,
the shape of his cottage,
straw cottage,
was the same shape as his hat,
which was a miraculous thing.
We hadn't planned it.
ALAN: Puddleglum's hut -
we built it
on a flat area in North Wales,
in Snowdonia.
It looks like a marsh
but is actually quite high up.
If you two could try
to light the fire,
no harm in trying...
On the night that we finished
putting it up,
the locals set fire to it
and burnt it completely to
the ground.
Somebody coming home
from the pub
decided they didn't like it.
So we had to build it all
again.
ALEX: Alan didn't tell me,
and I turned up on the day
and it was all pristine.
ALAN: So we saved the day.
But it could have been...
...quite a disaster, really.
Look! There!
You can almost believe
that thing on top is a head.
And those things sticking out
on either side could be...
- ...ears!
- Don't stop! Keep walking.
Keep straight ahead!
Don't look at them.
Do not look at them.
(GRUNTS)
(ROARS)
Whatever you do, don't run!
They've seen us!
I remember filming that
sequence where the giants
throw the boulders down at us,
and we had to dodge them,
not because they would hurt us
if they hit us, but because
they wouldn't hurt us
if they hit us on camera.
PUDDLEGLUM: If one of
those rocks hits us...
EUSTACE: We'll be flattened!
There's no shelter!
Nowhere to hide!
We made some, um, very large
polystyrene boulders,
and we got as many crew members
as we could to throw boulders.
PUDDLEGLUM: Whatever you do,
don't panic!
It was just fun
playing dodgeball
with massive boulders.
They were... They were big.
Puddleglum!
There is an amusing story there
because we finished shooting
and we left the boulders there
for the following day.
And when we came, one of the
biggest boulders was missing.
And at a later stage
someone said
they'd found this great big
boulder in their front garden.
So some amusing person,
some comedian,
had pinched the boulder
and taken it.
How they carried it,
a mystery to me
because we had to get them
in a big low-loader.
You know, they were enormous.
There's someone coming.
We meet
the Lady of the Green Kirtle.
Why, good day to you,
travellers!
Some of you
are very young pilgrims
to be walking this rough waste.
And Barbara was on the back of
a horse,
and she was so beautiful.
I just remember thinking
as this little girl
she was just this wonderful,
sort of very elegant,
beautiful lady.
We're looking for
the ruined city of the giants.
The r-r-ruined city?
That is a strange place
to be seeking.
The day when everybody meets me
in the valley
was incredibly windy,
and it was not appropriate
for that character to go...
To move hair out of
her face or to go...
...you will find
the gentle giants
who are as mild, civil,
prudent and courteous
as the giants of Ettinsmoor
are foolish, savage and stupid.
So it tickled me,
but I couldn't move my hair.
The thing that I also remember
is that the horse I was on
was very lively,
and I was praying that it would
behave itself
because I was
two months pregnant
and I thought,
"Don't, don't..."
So there was all that going on,
but he behaved himself.
Begging your pardon, ma'am.
We don't know you or your
friend, your silent friend...
I am Richard Henders
and I played Prince Rilian.
It is actually me who's in
disguise as the Black Knight,
it's not a stuntperson,
so I'm riding Fury. Fury is
one of the Lloyds Bank horses
they used for Lloyds Bank.
But the armour
was quite a thing.
It had a sort of slit which
kept on disappearing higher
as I moved down the... Down
this very steep gully in Wales.
All I could really see
was the sky
and just had to hope
for the best.
I couldn't really hear anything
either,
so I just had to sit there,
you know?
A massive black tin can
on a horse.
On a very, very nice,
expensive horse.
We've done the silliest thing
in the world
coming here at all,
but now that we are here,
we must put a bold face on it.
JILL: That Marsh-wiggle
may be a wet blanket,
but he certainly
has plenty of pluck.
EUSTACE: And cheek.
PUDDLEGLUM: Ho there! Porter!
DAVID: I'm having
a rather ominous feeling
- as we approach the door.
- CAMILLA: Of course!
We never actually shot here,
did we?
Oh, spoiler alert.
Why didn't we film here,
Camilla?
Well, we were in Ealing
Studios, weren't we?
- That's right.
- And then the giants...
They were here,
but we were in a studio
looking at the ceiling.
DAVID: It's really quite
an extraordinary location.
It's so lovely to see it
in real life.
And remember,
don't look frightened.
CAMILLA: Do you think
if I knock...
- ...a giant will...?
- You first.
Let's see.
(KNOCKS)
Wow. I feel like a giant
- with that little door.
- Yeah. Let's go in.
Well, you'd best come in, then,
and get warm.
Come in, come in,
you little shrimps!
My name's Nick Brimble,
and I played the Porter.
I don't call him a giant porter
because he wasn't a giant.
He was the same size
as everybody else.
They were strange
little people.
Say you were out walking
in the countryside and you saw
a field with some
lovely little lambs in it.
You think they're really nice,
they're really sweet.
It doesn't stop you wanting
to eat roast lamb on Sunday.
EUSTACE: Please.
We're very hungry.
You'll get your vittles
soon enough, don't you worry.
I certainly was not working
with Tom Baker and the others,
because, of course,
I was a different size to them.
So I'm looking around and then
you're looking at a mark.
The encounter
at the giants' castle had to be
very carefully structured
and carefully thought out.
What was decided
with the giants was that
the giants were two and a half
times the size of humans.
ALEX: I had a series of little
puppets, and we placed them in
and then took them out
at the last minute.
ROBIN: And therefore the other
actors were able to know where
they were meant to be looking
for me to fit them together.
And Tom, a past master
at effects and chromakey
from Doctor Who,
knew exactly what to do
and where to look,
and everything else.
- Do you think it's for us?
- It might be.
First time I'm taller than you.
Been a while.
Oh! Wow.
Oh, wow. Look at that.
So this is the doll
that the giant nanny
gives Jill.
This is quite heavy.
That's the one you were given.
And this is the one they held.
Oh, of course. Well done, you.
NANNY: Now you've had a good
dinner and a lovely hot bath,
you should sleep like a trout,
my poppet.
(LAUGHS)
And when you wake tomorrow,
your clothes will be washed,
ironed
and all laid out,
with everything
a sweet little girl
could ever want to play with.
DAVID: But I don't think
that's all.
- DAVID: Oh, look at this.
- CAMILLA: Oh, my goodness.
- Oh!
- (THEY LAUGH)
A little worse for wear, but
we've all aged a little bit.
CAMILLA:
It's slightly terrifying.
Yeah, thanks.
I've actually gone cross-eyed
now, evidently.
But this is extraordinary.
And Puddleglum as well.
He's in better shape.
Actually, Tom is definitely
in better shape.
That's really fantastic.
Now, I don't know
if you remember,
but I think Tom
had mechanical legs
because the giants
used these, so...
Oh, that's right - for...
For when they carried us away.
Put me down! Put me down!
Put me down!
Keep still!
Not a frog, not a frog...
(PUDDLEGLUM MUMBLES)
(FOOTSTEPS)
I remember it was towards
the end of the shoot
for The Lion, The Witch
And The Wardrobe,
and Paul Stone,
who was the producer,
um, took me on one side
and he said,
"I think I would like you
to play the Giant Queen
"in The Silver Chair,
because after all,
"nobody saw who you were
in this, did they?"
And I went,
"Well, that's brilliant."
You know, "I've got
another job. Yes!"
QUEEN: Down!
LESLEY: And then he told me
some time later,
after it had gone out,
he said, "We've had a letter
from a little girl."
And she wrote in and she said,
"I just want to say that
"that giant queen
is Mrs Beaver."
And it was
because of the voice.
She clocked my voice.
I suppose it is recognisable.
And she... She'd worked it out.
We must be here for the autumn
feast tomorrow night.
We shall be back this evening.
One of my best memories is...
Onward!
LESLEY: Basically, it's a seat
with four poles, and you get
lifted up in the air.
And I remember thinking,
"Oh, they're never going to
lift me.
"I'm going to be too heavy."
But it was all good.
And it's just lovely
being held up in the air
like you're something special,
you know?
- A Marsh-wiggle!
- Come on!
Set the frog down.
Not a frog!
A respectawiggle Marsh-diggle.
Ah, oh!
- (WHISPERS) Tell him, Pole!
- I can't.
Wow, this is a...
Wow. Look at this.
EUSTACE: If you please, sir,
the Lady of the Green Kirtle
salutes you by us...
(MURMURING)
...and said
you'd like to have us
for your autumn feast.
So the last time
we were in this room,
- we were about to be eaten.
- That's right.
We were, weren't we?
The King and Queen
were over there, and they'd,
of course, been looking at
the small marionette...
Marionettes!
That's what they were called.
(GRUMBLES) They'll be the death
of me.
Are you preparing
for the feast tomorrow night?
- We are, young man.
- Oh, how exciting!
Look at this.
- The giants' kitchen.
- Yeah.
We worked on a replicated
version of this, didn't we?
Oversized.
Oversized replicated version
in the studio.
So there was also
the giant recipe book.
It describes human,
and it's "this elegant
little biped".
That sentence has always
sort of stayed with me.
I think that's
what triggered us
- to escape, right?
- Yes.
JILL READS: "This elegant
little biped
"has long been valued
as a delicacy.
"It forms a traditional part
of the autumn feast."
CAMILLA: So this is
the underworld.
DAVID: It was kind of
extraordinary. These guys were
really scary.
All join hands!
JILL: Oh, well, I would if I
could find anyone's hand.
When we go into the underworld,
that's Peak Cavern
in Derbyshire.
...invisible rivers
and who knows...
- (CRASH)
- (ALL SCREAM)
CAMILLA: There were two slides
built
and I wish that I'd been able
to go down them.
But, you know,
health and safety
probably wouldn't allow it.
So we had stunt doubles
who were dressed up as us,
who went down it.
PUDDLEGLUM: We must have fallen
a mile underground.
We'll never, never get back
to the surface.
You're underground
and it's dark and it's damp
and, um, you know,
it's a real cave.
Access was through
this extremely low dip.
But beyond, it was a completely
different world.
Now do you believe?
Look at them.
Well, if those chaps
don't teach me to take
a serious view of life,
I don't know what will.
One of the Rock Men
became a dear friend of mine
who I'm still in touch with
called John Carrigan.
And I think I was most excited
to chat with him
because he was also a stuntman
and a martial artist.
DAVID: And so I think I was
constantly challenging him
to wrestle or fight with me,
which was extremely,
extremely stupid.
Make you ready now
to come with me
to the Queen of the Deep Realm.
One thing that surprised me
about the production
was the sheer number of people.
It must have been over 100.
When I looked at all
the different cast members,
I thought, "This is more like
a feature film."
We had to wear this bodysuit
that looked like
everyone was pregnant.
Big boots and gloves.
And you can tell who I am
because my helmet looked like
a lemon squeezer.
It went up like this.
So there's only two of
those helmets in Narnia,
so whenever you see
one of those,
one of them
is definitely me.
And when I had my face cast,
they did a casting
and created a Narnian me.
And all these years later,
I still have
my Narnian me.
Is there any resemblance?
The back of him is getting
a little bit crusty, like me,
but I'll make sure he survives
a few more years.
- Look!
- Oh! Water!
When we come into the big
cavern of the underworld,
it's not Peak Cavern.
We were in North Wales
in this quarry,
which had been amazingly
illuminated by John Mason.
Stop! Stop!
DAVID: I just remember
it was so cold.
Everybody was so, so cold.
I don't know
where that quarry is located.
It might be the freezing centre
of the Earth.
And that water exists there
and we went out on the boat.
Now, the only way to get
the boat into the quarry
was to winch it down
from the top of the cliff.
The crane nearly fell over
the cliff, but didn't quite.
Cast off!
CAMILLA: We would clamber
onto the boat.
I think we had a walkie-talkie,
which Tom was in charge of,
and we'd be told
to do X, Y and Z,
and we'd just be basically
stuck in a boat
in the middle of a quarry,
in the middle of the night
in North Wales.
And then we had Bill Wallis,
who was the Warden
of the Underworld.
Warden!
Er... Mr Warden?
My name is Mullugutherum.
We'd listen to this wonderful
banter between Bill and Tom.
- Many have come down...
- I know.
- And few have returned...
- And few have returned
to the sunlit land.
I think Bill would have
a little cheeky bottle of red
in his little knapsack
in the bottom of the boat
to keep him going, which, um,
probably if I'd been 18,
I probably would have
joined him.
(GENTLE SPLASHING)
DAVID: The underworld town
that was created
at Ealing Studios was
a really impressive large set.
Multi-level, so much detail,
real scale to it.
ALEX: We used the tank again
that we'd used
on The Voyage Of
The Dawn Treader,
so I could film by looking down
actually onto the town.
(WHIP CRACKS)
ALAN: It actually occupied
two studios
just to get the depth
and the size,
and the set went actually down
into the tank,
so we got the full height.
ALEX: I just think that
we'd got to the stage where
we were coming to the end
of the story,
and Alan went for broke.
He just said, "Right, OK.
"Whatever you want, Alex,
let's do it."
(DOOR SLAMS)
Welcome, Overworlders.
Welcome to...
Oh, look.
- Richard.
- Richard. Looking very moody.
He had such intensity.
You can tell from this photo.
- His eyes, quite piercing.
- Yes. Very piercing.
I remember being pretty scared
of Richard as we were filming.
But stay, I cry you mercy.
I've seen you two children and
your strange governor before.
Rilian is completely bewitched.
Besotted.
Was it not you three that met
me on the borders of Ettinsmoor
when I rode there
by my Lady's side?
You mean you were the
Black Knight who never spoke?
I was.
I just played it...
I... I pretty much play
everything straight.
And I was quite
an intense young actor as well.
I played it as seriously
and as truthfully as I could
because I thought that
it needed to be scary.
We never did her any harm.
How dare you speak so
of the Queen?!
Insolent boy!
CAMILLA: I thought
he was brilliant.
When you're acting, it's an
energy exchange, you know.
And you have, you know,
when someone's very focused
and it just adds this whole
other edge to the scenes.
And he did it beautifully.
JILL: You sound to me as though
you'll be a wicked tyrant.
What? Is the little maid
a deep politician?
DAVID: When he grabs us,
he's grabbing us.
And when he's grabbing
Camilla's face,
he's grabbing her face.
Of course, no-one was hurt.
But there's a real dedication
to that performance
that made it very easy
to respond,
as terrified as we were.
I shall ride forth in arms,
slay my enemy's chief men,
and doubtless be
their crowned King
within four and twenty hours.
(QUIETLY) A bit rough luck
on them, isn't it?
ALEX: He physically grabbed
them and they were terrified,
and I could see it
on their face
and it was fantastic.
I just let...
Let it go.
I did not call cut.
- He's only a kid.
- Do you want to die instead?
Not especially.
But if it's a choice between me
and a child...
...you'd better kill me.
Ha... That's well spoken.
ALEX: I think a lot of
our audience
went and hid behind the sofa
at that point.
But there's nothing wrong
with that.
I was...
I wasn't against that.
EUSTACE: A silver chair.
JILL: It's beautiful!
The silver chair
was extraordinary
and it was beautifully designed
and built.
Come in, friends.
Going into that room
and seeing it lit like that,
it was stunning.
Please, quickly! Cut my bonds.
Please!
I beseech you!
I wanted to be really
restricted as well.
I said to Alex, "I want to feel
like I can't get out."
When I actually
destroy the chair...
...I think we only
had one take,
so it was, you know,
it was like do or die.
This is it.
If we muck this up,
then that's it.
So I ran at it and gave it a
good few goes with the sword.
TONY: When Rilian
is striking it with a sword,
each was a single shot.
So we cut a section out,
we put pyrotechnics there
to make sparks,
and he would hit it,
and that would come apart.
And that's how
it was destroyed.
RICHARD: It was good to do,
but it was quite...
By the end of it,
I really did want
to get out of there, you know,
and see the light.
Which...one...of...
...you...three...has...
...dared destroy
the silver chair?
Barbara has to turn into
a serpent
and the serpent
then has to be killed.
- (ROARS)
- Attention to the witch!
(HISSES)
That transition into the snake
took forever.
TONY: Make-up gradually
made her up to look greener
and more like a snake,
and ended up with a serpent
that we had made.
For me, it was a nightmare.
It was very difficult to do.
We had a long time trying
to line them both up
because the sizes of the witch
and the serpent
were completely different.
This very big, wobbly
rubber snake
that was thrown at me.
And I had to wrestle it as well
because obviously
it wouldn't support
its own weight.
I did think, "That really
does look like a rubber snake."
(HOWLS)
BARBARA: I was disappointed.
Going through
all that conversion,
um, wasn't worth it in terms of
the ultimate effect
that it had on the screen.
(HISSES)
It was a complex analogue, er,
method of doing it.
Not entirely successfully.
Nowadays, of course,
it would be a lot easier.
What's happening?!
The destruction
of the underworld caves system
was a lot of fun.
PUDDLEGLUM: The end of
her world indeed!
It's always fun
when things are dropping
and falling around you
and you've got to
mind out for
falling polystyrene
so that it doesn't
bonk you on the head
and then you have to reset
the whole thing.
It was a fantastic sequence.
Great fun.
Could still be there
shooting it
if somebody hadn't said cut.
TONY: The view was,
"This is it.
"We go for it."
And, um, what money was left
was spent on it,
making it look great.
It's Puddleglum!
It's the prince!
- It is Prince Rilian!
- (CHEERING)
ALEX: As we came to the end of
The Silver Chair,
I was pleased with
what we'd achieved.
CAMILLA: It's only in hindsight
I look back on it and go,
"How phenomenal everybody was."
And, you know, the level of
talent and technical ability
to realise that
was just extraordinary.
And as a child, it kind of
slightly goes over your head,
but as an adult you look back
and go,
"Bloody hell,
that was quite something."
(BREATHES OUT GENTLY)
DAVID: The Silver Chair was
a more complete experience
for me than the Dawn Treader.
I came in late to The Voyage
Of The Dawn Treader.
The Silver Chair I was in
from the get-go.
EUSTACE: Goodbye, Aslan!
(ROARS)
It was a great experience,
and it was sad
that it was ending,
because it didn't feel to me
like it was realistic
that The Last Battle
was going to be made.
There was talk at one stage,
wasn't there,
about them doing
The Last Battle?
There was, yeah.
And we all come back together?
And we all come back together.
I'm quite pleased
we didn't do that.
Well, we would have been
quite old.
Well, exactly.
I kind of felt like
we kind of edged into
teenagers, didn't we?
Like, I was 15 at the end.
- Were we both 15 at the end?
- Yeah.
- And then you - were you 16?
- We were turning 16.
I kind of feel like,
you know, we needed to go
and be teenagers.
ALEX: Paul Stone and I
had a conversation
about The Last Battle.
I read it very carefully
and it was just a step too far.
It's extreme fantasy.
And then Paul did go off to see
Christopher Tolkien
with a view to doing
The Hobbit,
and he met Christopher Tolkien
in the south of France,
and was quite astounded
because Christopher
had no television set,
wasn't aware of anything
that the BBC...even existed.
So wasn't at all interested
in letting The Hobbit go.
But it's a shame, really,
because I think we could have
done The Hobbit justice.
DAVID: Narnia had an extremely
large impact on
the trajectory of
where my life has gone.
As I got more interested
in the process
of how these productions
actually occurred,
I became more interested in
producing and the idea of that,
and through a series of events,
I found my way to the US
and to Los Angeles
and started a career,
um, on the producing side
of the film business
and have produced
a number of movies,
including Black Swan
and the Halloween reboot.
And if it hadn't been
for Narnia,
who knows if I would have
followed a path
into entertainment?
(THEME TUNE PLAYS)
Looking back now,
it was just magic.
The whole experience
was just magical.
And, uh, fondly remembered.
JONATHAN: I hadn't watched it
since, so meeting you,
that's the first time
I've watched it again.
It was quite...
There were a lot of things
that I had forgotten,
and so it was really nice to
watch it and be reminded of
what a phenomenal experience
it was,
how lucky we were to do it.
It absolutely astonishes me
and surprises me
that this piece
seems to have a legacy.
It delights me.
LESLEY: I just love it
when you hear
that kids have a series
to watch,
you know, at teatime
on a Sunday or whenever,
and it stays with them
for the rest of their life.
Narnia never leaves you,
does it? It's with us forever.
- That's it.
- Forever.
And even when you do
forget about it,
there's always somebody
that you meet.
- That's true.
- Not a week goes by.
And how lucky are we
to have had that
or be part of
that Narnian legacy?
- Amazing.
- So, so lucky.
- Yeah.
- So lucky.
Because, you know....
ALL: ...once a King or Queen
of Narnia,
always a King or Queen
of Narnia.
(THEY LAUGH)
- (SINGS THEME TUNE)
- Come on, let's go to the pub.
- Yeah.
- (LAUGHTER)
(CHATTER FADING)
(THEME TUNE PLAYS)