FROM TIME TO TIME

Extended Classification Information is available for this work. ECI may contain plot details and/or spoilers. Learn more » about ECI or Show details »

FROM TIME TO TIME is a mystery story based on a classic children's book. It is about a boy called Tolly, who in the 1940s goes to stay with his grandmother in her large country house. He starts to see the ghosts of his ancestors who lived there in the 19th Century and uncovers their story. The film was classified 'PG' because it contains mild threat.

Tolly sees a number of ghosts, some of them friendly and some of them hostile, creating the mild threat. When Tolly is scared though, he is always quickly reassured by other characters that the ghosts can't do anything to him, so this threat is brief, in keeping with the BBFC's Guidelines at 'PG' which state that, 'frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense'.

Towards the end of the film, there is a fire in the house which creates a lot of threat and suspense as two children have to escape through a maze of smoky chimneys and burning rooms, but neither of them gets hurt and the emphasis is more on their exciting escape than on them being scared.

The film ends with some sadness and a focus on bereavement as Tolly learns that his ghostly friends survived the fire but died not long afterwards of an illness, which is why they always appear to him as children. He sees the memorial plaque to them in the chapel. Then his mother arrives with the tragic news that his father has been killed in the war and Tolly sees his father's ghost. Bereavement is a difficult theme but in this film is handled in a sensitive way, suitable for younger viewers. Tolly's father's ghost is calm and reassuring and the emphasis is on people coping with their grief and focusing on the happy memories they have of lost loved ones.