The Midnight Folk is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield first published in 1927. It is about a boy, Kay Harker, who sets out to discover what became of a fortune stolen from his sea-faring great grandfather Aston Tirrold Harker (in reality, Aston Tirrold is a village in Oxfordshire). The treasure is also sought by a coven of witches who are also seeking it for their own ends. Kay's Governess Sylvia Daisy Pouncer is a member of the coven. The witches are led or guided by the wizard Abner Brown.
Kay Harker is aided in his quest by various talking animals, most notably Nibbins the cat, who used to be a witch's cat but has reformed. There are two other household cats: the main antagonist is Blackmalkin, and he is aided by the mysterious Greymalkin who takes his name from the witch's familiar in the opening scene of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Kay Harker experiences various adventures — sailing on the high seas, swimming with mermaids, flying on broomsticks. At one point in the novel he manages to see into the past.
The Midnight Folk was written as one piece. There were no chapter divisions. Division within the text was obtained by moving from prose to verse or even song in some places.
This two-part production was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sundays 10 and 17 December 2006, repeated on the following Saturdays and on BBC Radio 7 in December 2008. It was dramatised by Christopher William Hill, produced and directed by Tracey Neale, with music composed by Neil Brand. It features: Sam Salter, Nickolas Grace, Charles Dance (as Abner Brown), Deborah Findlay, Andrew Sachs, Liz Smith, Helena Breck, Jon Glover, Ewan Bailey, Ann Beach, Harry Myers, Graham Seed, Miranda Keeling, Bethan Walker, Mark Straker, Sam Dale, Ian Masters, Joseph Kloska and Christine Kavanagh.
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I am in my Sixties and i still enjoy it.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Rick