TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN

Young Tom Long, quarantined away from his sick brother, goes to live for the summer with his Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan (James Wilby). Though good-intentioned, Tom's Aunt and Uncle have little experience in dealing with a growing boy and Tom finds himself dreading the coming months in their care. The apartment in which they live is grim and, to make matters worse, there's no garden in which to play. But something incredible happens to change Tom's summer and his life.

Every night, as Tom lies in bed, the old grandfather clock in the downstairs hall strikes - thirteen!! Tom investigates this mysterious occurrence and discovers that a magical transformation has taken place - the hall is different from usual. It seems to belong to another time - different furniture, different rooms leading off of it, even inhabitants from another age. But the most incredible discovery awaits Tom outside, where during the day there is nothing but a cramped garage, there is now a spacious, inviting, fantastic garden.

Each night Tom explores the garden and its mysteries. And nothing is more mysterious than Hatty, the lonely, lovely, young girl whom Tom meets there. Tom and Hatty form an intense bond which brings them close together but which, ultimately, breaks them apart. For, although Tom remains the same age in the garden, Hatty grows older - from a young girl into a young woman. She grows up and away from Tom.

Tom's desperate attempts to keep his relationship with Hatty ongoing cause him to become temporarily trapped in the past. After a series of adventures, Tom returns, reluctantly, to the present. But there is one more discovery left for Tom to make - the identity of the old woman who lives in the apartment above his Uncle and Aunt.

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