Rectangular_businessman "The Storyteller" was a very important part of my childhood. Since I was a kid, I loved the way in which this series made a dark portrayal of fairy tales, in a sharp contrast with the colorful adaptations of such kind of stories I used to watch when I was a little kid.However, this series wasn't only dark, but it was also incredibly beautiful and captivating at the same time: In many ways, I think that it was thanks to this show that I started to appreciate the beauty of many other "dark" films and television shows that I saw in later years.Now that many so-called "dark" fairy tales have been released in the recent years (Like for example, that awful "Snow White and the Huntsman" and the "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters") I think that it would be good for young viewers to see a magical and inspiring series like this.10/10

pavta As many people already said - this series is a one of the nicest memories of my childhood. Honeltsly speaking, i hardly remember any content of stories today - 20 years later, but it's spooky and weird atmosphere are as alive and shivering like i watched it yesterday! There are only 4 things i remember in fact:1. the atmosphere 2. the face of the storyteller himself 3. the dog 4.the fact that it was the best children programme me and my friends ever watched. I will certainly get myself a DVD, put it on my "top 20 shelf", and watch it over and over again.

sirjonsnow Absolutely the best presentation on TV or movies of classical stories. If you want something magical you must see this. John Hurt is perfect as the storyteller as he retells the stories, often blending into them. Wonderful effects as paintings and shadows dance as the Storyteller enspells us. A definite must to own, especially if you have children, but a series *everyone* should see.

albertine simonet Despite its pedigree, the most interesting things about this series are not the animatronics or puppetry, which, while charming, are little more than sideshows, at least in the story I saw, A STORY SHORT. In fact, loathe though I am to admit it, the programme's chief pleasure lies in that most ancient art, storytelling.John Hurt, in Rowley Birken QC-mode, grotesque, medieval make-up, relates a story about story telling, seated by the fire, accompanied by a cynical dog. One winter's day, starving and poor, he spots a fellow beggar thrown out of the Royal Kitchen by the nasty cook. The Story Teller tricks this latter into giving them an excellent soup. Furious, the Cook pleads with the King for permission to boil the villain, but, pleased with the Story Teller's wit, the monarch offers him a reprieve - for 100 nights, he must tell the King a new story: if he fails to do so, he will hand him over to the cook.The story may be old, but it's told with great gusto. Anthony Minghella's script is excellently dramatic (as befits a playwright), witty, and with some disturbing concerns beneath the fun, such as fears for the self, or the culturally self-generating power of storytelling, linked to the continuation of ideological power. For a programme aimed at children, it is bracingly self-reflexive (with little nonsense about film being the new oral culture); despite the Americanised style, there is a charming sense of medieval bustle, its grotesqueness and arbitrary terror, as well as its magic and power.