Radio Times: Review by:; Jane Rackham

From the moment you see Christopher Eccleston scrabbling about in a giant tin of Quality Street like a child in a ball pond, you’ll be transported into the magical world of the little people who live hidden beneath the floorboards, only venturing out to borrow things from the human beans upstairs.

Mary Norton’s books about the tiny people have been adapted for TV before, but the stories never fail to delight and, in the hands of a stellar cast like this one, they’re a pure joy.

Dive’s Aisling Loftus is the headstrong teenage borrower Arrietty Clock, who sneaks upstairs and is spotted by the lonely James (Charlie Hiscock). But just as they become friends, his formidable grandmother (Victoria Wood) evicts the “thieving little… vermin” and the Clocks are forced to escape to the oh-so-exciting big wide world, where Arrietty hooks up with a motorbike-riding tearaway called Spiller (Robert Sheehan).

Hot on their trail is Professor Mildeye (Stephen Fry), who’s determined to prove to his disbelieving scientific colleagues that Homo sapiens redactus do exist. It’s the sort of fun, heart-warming family drama you wish for every Christmas.

About this programme

Fantasy adventure based on Mary Norton's classic novel about a family of miniature people living beneath the floorboards of a house. Aisling Loftus plays teenage Borrower Arrietty, desperate to explore life beyond her hidden home, with Christopher Eccleston and Sharon Horgan as her parents. They are fiercely protective of their daughter - prompting her to sneak out one night into the house above, where she befriends lonely human boy James. And that is where their problems begin. Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood, Shaun Dooley and Robert Sheehan co-star.