There’s a well known habit in the world of film and television that, if you can’t find something new, remake a classic. Take Swallows and Amazons – author Arthur Ransome’s timeless coming of age tale set in the English Lake District – which was made into the hit family film in 1974 starring Virginia McKenna.
Now BBC Films and Harbour Pictures have seen fit to bring a new vision of it to the screen, featuring amongst others English stalwarts Rafe Spall and Harry Enfield. Whether they have captured the magic of the original remains to be seen, but, going by its trailer, things look promising for an evocative trip down memory lane.
Swallows and Amazons opens in the UK on the 19th August, 2016.