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Click above image to download zipped mp3 of the introductory music (includes classic HTV West music)
The paths will take you to whichever time I choose.
Find the Nidus...Bring it to me... You will only see it in reflection,...shining brightly.
To retrieve the Nidus you must form a circle round it, then you will link hands and think of my eyes...think of my eyes...concentrate...
Three children would then be seen falling through time with rock swirling around them. So began the new story. "Into the Labyrinth" ran for three seasons, each lasting seven episodes in length. Each episode lasted approximately twenty four minutes. Sidney Sager wrote the music for this and for the equally excellent "Children of the Stones."
At last I have managed to get my hands on a copy of a long forgotten children's classic - INTO THE LABYRINTH. Alas I do not have the first three episodes in my possession, however with the grateful assistance of Robert Gross who kindly supplied me with episode summaries, I have been able to complete the story. The images are all from the video entitled "Into the Labyrinth II" (eps 4, 5, 6 and 7) and will hopefully jog some people's memories or take you back to those days when HTV used to produce some excellent children's television programs. Into the Labyrinth was an afternoon week day program on ITV (I forget which week day - help here required). I used to watch it after coming home from secondary school in 1980.
The series concerned the adventures of three children as they aided a good Sorcerer called Rothgo (played by Ron Moody) as he battled against an evil witch called Belor (played by Pamela Salem). The three children Phil (played by Simon Beal), Helen (played by Lisa Turner) and Terry (played by Simon Henderson) travelled through time as they searched for the Nidus. The Nidus was a power source of limitless energy that had been lost by Rothgo. He thus needed to locate it in order to prevent Belor from finding it and putting it to evil uses. Rothgo needs the Nidus to regain fully his powers. Every time Belor denies him the Nidus, Rothgo gets weaker. Belor can only possess the Nidus if Rothgo is no more. While he still lives she can access only a small amount of its power for her evil schemes. She thus seeks to deny Rothgo the power source as long as possible until he will fade away and leave her to reign supreme with the Nidus. Inside the Labyrinth the children found themselves in different time periods including ancient Greece, The Civil War and during the French Revolution. Every time they get close to the obtaining the Nidus, the cunningly disguised Belor would just get there first and cast it into the depths of time. Once more the children were thrown into the vortex of the Labyrinth in order to find it again. Only when Rothgo had the Nidus and Belor was denied it, could the good Sorcerer set things to right and send the children back to their own land and time.
This superb childrens adventure has now been long forgotten but still remains a classic and hence earns its place in The Little Gems.
Main Characters
Episode guide
Episode One
Terry and Helen, brother and sister, are playing hide-and-seek out in a weedy field. From out of a clear sky, a thunderbolt shrieks and rain begins to pour profusely. The two make a run for an old cave to take shelter. However, Helen notices that despite "all that rain, I'm not very wet." In the cave, they meet Phil, a slightly older and very bright teenager who had been frightening Terry all day as a prank. (Terry and Phil always had a bit of a tension, which is further developed in Series II.) The three are confronted by an ominous whisper, "Help me...." Terry and Helen are keen to leave, but Phil persuades them to venture on to see who might be in need.
They encounter Rothgo, who is trapped inside a huge block of stone, lying on the ground. The wizard tells them to place their hands in a ring on the stone and concentrate. Together with Rothgo's help, the three kids levitate the stone and release the old magician! Rothgo tries to persuade the kids to help him retrieve the Nidus, his magic talisman from Belor, who has hidden it away through the paths of the past. The kids are extremely reluctant: but with Helen's compassion and Phil's adventurous spirit, and the reluctant Terry's realization that he's outvoted, the three agree to journey through time and make the journey that the dying Rothgo, denied the Nidus, is too weak to journey himself. With Rothgo's help, the children create a labyrinth, forged from the paths of Rothgo's mind, which transport the children away.
Episode Two
The children arrive in the age of the ancient druids. They meet an old, grey-haired, long-bearded druid whose memory has been scrambled by a curse. He notices Phil, who is black, and realizes that Phil is the prophesied "dark warrior" who has come to challenge the tyrant Cynon, who has usurped his rightful throne as high priest of the druids. Cynon is aided and sponsored by Iliac, an evil woman with more than a passing resemblance to... Belor! Rothgo's eternal enemy! One by one, Belor manages to trap the children in a cave fortress.However, Cynon's own mother ridicules him, saying that he is a mere puppet. Embarrassed, Cynon defies Iliac, banishing her from his court, and orders the children brought before him by his giant, Caw. When the giant comes for the children, they are frightened, and Phil mutters, "We could use some of Rothgo's powers now," at which point the old bearded druid yells, "Aha! I am Rothgo!" and regains his memory. In the guise of the old druid, Rothgo aids Phil in successfully challenging and humiliating Cynon for the throne of the high priestship. When Phil ascends the throne, Terry and Helen notice in Phil's reflective shield that the Nidus is a jewel embedded in the throne! But, Iliac was already on the scene, disguised as Cynon's mother, reveals herself to be Belor, and denies the children the Nidus, kicking it on to another time.
Episode Three
The children arrive in the dungeon of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Helen goes off to stand lookout and is mysteriously abducted. Her abductor is Robin of Loxley, thinking he has taken the Sheriff's niece. Helen tells him and his wife, Marian, that she is not the sheriff's niece. Alas, the Sheriff had taken Robin's medallion which gave him his magical skill as an archer. Could the medallion be the Nidus? Helen wonders. Meanwhile, Phil and Terry are deceived by a false image of Rothgo, conjured by Belor. They are led into a trap. Realizing, though, that the "trap" is just a series of images and not real, Phil and Terry brave their way out. Helen succeeds in meeting the real Sheriff's niece, and when the two try to steal the Sheriff's medallion, he is greatly angered, as is Lady Elenor, lady of the castle (and Belor). The two escape back into the secret lair of Robin of Loxley, who himself has captured a magician with the idea that the magician might help them fight the sheriff. Helen immediately recognizes the magician as Rothgo! The new team plot to retrieve the medallion, and then Rothgo goes out in search of Terry and Phil. Rothgo finds them, and unites the three children. Robin of Loxley confronts the Sheriff with an arrow, and shoots bullseye! He hits the medallion which falls from the Sheriff's neck! The kids form a circle round the medallion, but... nothing happens.
Helen picks up the medallion and sees the Sheriff wielding a dagger! The
dagger is the Nidus! Too bad.... Belor has disguised herself as one of the
Sheriff's guards, and denies the Nidus before they even have a chance. A
bitterly disappointed Rothgo fades away and the children are kicked on to
another time.
The children arrive in a new time period - a time of magic and Genies. They immediately contact Rothgo to ask for advice but only Helen receives help in the form of a new power which will enable her to free anyone who has been imprisoned by Masrur. As they explore the caverns they find a large water jar, imprisoning Ali The Defender (as he likes to call himself). Ali is a prisoner of Masrur (the evil witch Belor in one of her many disguises). She has imprisoned many people in this time as she now rules the land of the Great Khalif who himself has been imprisoned somewhere in the caves. Ali the defender claims he has many soldiers who are hiding waiting for his command and leadership to strike at Masrur. Masrur has also imprisoned Rothgo who was a great wizard and friend of Ali.
Helen uses her new powers to release Ali. He explains to them about the evil Masrur and her guards. Meanwhile Belor disguised as Masrur is watching everything that is going on.
The Children and Ali are chased by the guards of Masrur. Ali escapes them but the children are chased into a cavern filled with toxic fumes. There Phil sees Rothgo's image fixed into a wall of rock. Helen frees him and the great wizard disperses the toxic fumes, thus saving the children. The children explain the problem and how they need his help to find the Nidus. Belor has it somewhere in a treasure chest but they need a special key to open it.
Belor hears of the children's escape and that Rothgo has been released. She thus decides to find them all for herself and so sets off into the caverns with her guards. Rothgo tricks Belor into fighting phantasms which drains her of her powers. Only when fighting Rothgo and the children does she reveal her true identity.
She fires lightening bolts at Rothgo and the children but they pass straight through the ghost like images. She summons help from her guards as she needs to rest urgently.
While Belor is resting, the children manage to steal the Key to the treasure room but during the attempt Helen and Phil are captured and immobilised by a Belor spell. Terry releases the genie from the Key and orders it to open the door to the treasure room. He then rushes inside to look for the Nidus.
Once Terry finds the Nidus, he rushes back to get the others so they can form a ring around it. Helen uses her powers to release herself and Phil from the spell of Belor. Meanwhile Rothgo and Belor engage in serious sword play. Whilst this is going on the children rush back to the treasure room to find the Nidus, only to find that Ali has stolen it and other treasures. Terry goes in search whilst Helen and Phil release the Khalif and the Princess who are imprisoned in a tapestry. Terry catches Ali and eventually gets the Nidus back. As the children start to join hands the Princess (Belor in disguise yet again) intervenes and shouts " I deny you the Nidus", The Nidus is instantly hurled through time and out of Rothgo's reach.
The episode ends as before with the children again travelling through time to another period in history.
Click below to see Episodes 5-7
Credits
HTV Group PLC 1980