From Time to Time 2009

Near the end of World War II, Alex Etel as Tolly is picked up at a Manchester rail station by Allen Leech as Mr. Boggis. When he mentions the boy’s father David, Dugald Bruce Lockhart as David is described as missing in action, not confirmed dead, and Tolly heads to Christmas at Green Knowe. His grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow, Maggie Smith, explains that the family estate may have to be sold to cover debts. She recalls Mariah van Raymer, who nearly ruined them in the 1800s with gambling and extravagant spending, and she laments that past.

On his first night at Green Knowe, Mrs. Oldknow recounts the family line, tracing it to Thomas and Mariah’s eldest, Sefton, Douglas Booth as Sefton. That evening, Tolly glimpses a ghostly young girl, and the grandmother confirms she is Susan, the blind daughter of Lord Thomas Oldknow. The next day, while climbing a tree, Tolly finds an old spur in a hollow. Mrs. Oldknow identifies it as belonging to Sefton. The house also shelters tensions: Butler Christopher Villiers as Caxton warns about the African boy Jacob, Kwayedza Kureya as Jacob, who had been brought to the house by Captain Oldknow, a reminder of a complicated past.

Soon after, Tolly discovers that Green Knowe can act as a portal, letting him move between the present and the early 19th century. In this liminal space, some people from the past can see and speak to him, while others cannot. Susan, Eliza Bennett, can communicate with him across both eras, and she appears to guide him through unraveling family secrets that have slept for generations. Susan leads him into an adventure that includes a devastating fire, a tale of stolen jewels, and threats that the servant Fred Boggis might be sold into a press gang.

The quest leads to the discovery of a lost treasure, found with Susan’s help. She also confirms that Caxton was responsible for the fire, a revelation that sharpens the old family history. Green Knowe is saved, but the cost is heavy: Tolly learns that his father is a casualty of the war. In a turning moment, Mrs. Oldknow welcomes Tolly’s mother back into the family, and Tolly finds comfort when his father’s ghost appears to reassure him that everything will be all right.