It was the first fully scripted colour production by Granada Television and was filmed almost entirely on location at a time when almost all TV drama was studio-bound.

It used editing techniques such as jump cuts to create a sense of disorientation and also to suggest that two time periods overlapped.

[1] Following the success of the novel, which had won the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Award for children's literature, there was much interest in turning the story into a TV series with three companies vying for the rights.

After the production was finished the stone was left in situ by the River Dovey below Bryn Hall but Rowlands added his name to the carving so that his work would not be mistaken for a real ancient monument.

[1] The title sequence featured a hand shadow depicting an owl in flight, photographs of the valley and a flickering candle along with sound effects.

The parts of the three main characters Gwyn, Roger and Alison were played by Michael Holden, Francis Wallis and Gillian Hills respectively.

The half-crazed gardener, Huw, tells Gwyn of an ancient legend and hints that the three teenagers may be in danger of re-enacting the story.

In the billiard room, Clive is astonished to see the wood panelling on the wall crumbling away to reveal a picture of a woman made of flowers.

Alison and Gwyn become closer as they walk up the mountain, while Roger is at home feeling increasingly depressed and expresses his desire to leave to Clive.

Huw explains that the legend was re-enacted by him, Bertram and Nancy and is now being enacted again by Gwyn, Roger and Alison and can only end in pain.

On opening the door, Roger finds a table full of paper owls – the same as Alison had been making, but these were put there by Nancy.

Finally, Roger manages to talk Alison out of her state by realising the pattern on the plates was of flowers, not owls.

The series failed to succeed, as Plummer later explained: "the jury in Munich found it 'deeply disturbing' and questioned whether it was not indeed reprehensible to offer such material to young people".

More recently, reviewer Kim Newman said "It's unthinkable that something as complex, ambiguous, difficult and strange as The Owl Service could be broadcast on British television in a prime time slot these days - let alone on ITV1 as a children's programme".

[9] Today, The Owl Service is considered by many to be a landmark in children's drama, and it has been hailed as a classic production, and daring in its presentation.

This resulted in Granada placing an end cap with a copyright date of 1978 which might have confused viewers who didn't realise it was actually produced nine years earlier.

Despite its success, The Owl Service was never issued on VHS, but was released on DVD in April 2008,[11] and on Blu-ray, remastered in HD, in October 2022.