The Return of the Antelope

The book of the TV series recently shown on Sunday evenings. Watching the series I found myself captivated by the filming but disappointed in the weakness of the characterisation. The book allows all the characters to be more themselves: more evil, more frustrated, more eccentric, and somehow more real. The little people from Lilliput are genuinely distraught, less foot-stamping and toy like. Three Lilliputians, retracing the voyage of Gulliver in the Antelope, are wrecked on the rocks of the seaside town where Gerald and Philippa are on holiday with their eccentric grandfather. The children, aided unknowingly by grandfather, outwit the evil Mr Mincing who is determined to make his fortune by capturing the tiny explorers for a freak show. The story is well established in the Victorian period with early vacuum cleaners, steamships and grandfather Garstanton's photography as evidence. There is adventure, tension, intrigue and the battle between good and evil, satisfyingly won by the former. A most enjoyable tale.