THE BORROWERS is a BBC TV miniseries from 1992 and, in my mind, the definitive adaptation of the Mary Norton novels. This is the series I grew up with and watched at an impressionable age and it still delights today with its simple but sophisticated special effects and the storyline which is full of warmth and wit.
Forget Jim Broadbent and (ugh) Christopher Eccleston, Ian Holm is the definitive Pod. He brings a real world-weariness to his role as the father of the borrowing family and I love his various asides and exasperated expressions. Penelope Wilton epitomises everybody's mother and is a delight, while Rebecca Callard epitomises Arrietty pretty much perfectly.
Sure, this series has dated a little, and the special effects have been superseded by modern-day CGI, but I think they still look fantastic and I wouldn't change a thing. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the British character actors as the villains (the trio of Sian Phillips, David Ryall, and Tony Haygarth is certainly one to beat) and the fact that the miniseries format means we get to see the borrowers actually, well, borrowing and living their lives as well as all the action you'd expect. This series is a real delight.
