.....Also, the BBC are well-known for creating high-quality historical dramas on small budgets.

I see what you're saying, but the latter is why I think they would make a good co-partner with Fox/Walden for filming....they would have the big bucks of the studios who would focus on the special effects for the movie but maybe with the BBC they would even things out with their knack for keeping the production high-quality and true to the source material, i.e. scriptwriting-wise? I probably don't make any sense. It's been a long day. If it was just the BBC making the miniseries, then I agree they don't have all of those glam special effects, besides I'd assume most of their budget is already going to making Dr. Who.

No, stateofgreen. BBC, like ABC (Australia) is what is called a quango rather than a company. That is to say, it is a quasi-autonomous non government organisation. BBC, like its Australian counterpart, runs at least partially on government (taxpayer-funded) handouts, and has to make business decisions with the rest.

Furthermore, having opted out of completing the series back in 1991 or 1992, exactly why would BBC take up the Narnia banner twenty years later? I know special effects are better, etc, but it is still getting sales for the BBC series it already has. How do I know? Well, when examining my DVD collection in the lead-up to VDT, I found out that my DVD copy of Silver Chair did not play. And yes, it was one bought through Amazon (USA) when DVD was new. So I hi'ed myself to the local ABC bookshop and organised another copy, with Australian zoning this time. And no, I didn't have to order it either.

On the other hand, I can't help see the wisdom of doing MN first when it is the first one of the Narnia series, when it has not been filmed in any shape or form beforehand, and when there is already a BBC SC version for die-hard fans to look at in the interim.

In MN, the characters spend a lot of time exploring with no express purpose, they have short term goals and motivations, and, towards the end of the book, the different subplots start to come together, but for much of the book their adventures seem random. It would be very hard to convey what's going on in the marketing materials. Given the public's general lack of interest in Narnia, I don't think people will show up just because it's the beginning of Narnia.

Then MN should be marketed on its own merits. By the way, I don't agree with your summation. If I were to write a brief summary of the plot I'd put it this way:

A boy, Digory Kirke, grieving over his mother's life-threatening disease, and forced to settle with relatives, finds refuge in Polly Plummer's neighbouring backyard. There they make friends but miscalculate on one of their exploits together, ending up in Uncle Andrew's study. The unscrupulous Uncle Andrew vanishes Polly, forcing Digory to go to her rescue.

They meet together in a strange puddle-strewn wood, where they discover each puddle represents a whole new world. Polly and Digory's adventures in one such puddle lead to disastrous consequences when Digory awakens Jadis, the last remaining descendant of a noble line, which has long descended into corruption and decay.

The more Digory and Polly try to escape the overbearing Jadis, the more trouble they bring about, including bringing her back to London, and from thence, an intrusion into the newly formed world of Narnia.

Like it? Well even if you don't, please don't despair. By all means, submit your own summary, as I am sure you could do a better job. Maybe this time around, we could actually control what goes into IMDb film summaries. Providing that MN really does get greenlit.

Thanks for explaining how the Beeb works. I did forget how it's funded.

Wagga, your summary was an accurate description of the plot, and, with a few dramatic flourishes, would work well on the back of a DVD cover, but it's much too long to be a marketing summary.

Those are 1 sentence long, if at all possible. One short paragraph at the most.

Compare that to this summary of Silver Chair (which is still pretty long as marketing summaries go):

Two English children are transported out of their dismal boarding school, into the magical land of Narnia, where the Narnians are baffled by the disappearance of their Crown Prince, Rilian. The children must find the lost prince and free him from an evil enchantment.

I'm not sure how you would fit a clear description of MN into 2 sentences.