Anthony Head Credits

The Magic Door

Theatrical movie

Role: George
Released: filmed in 2003, the movie was unreleased until it was shown on UK television on March 4, 2007
Note: Previous titles included The Lonely Troll and Quest for the Kingdom: A Fairytale
Availability: currently available on DVD

Summary of Anthony Head's storyline: George lives in a country home with his wife Rachel and his children Sally and Liam. The children's mother appears to have recently died and they are still adjusting to living with their father and step-mother.

Raglin is a troll who has been banished to our world and can only return if he finds the magic door that will lead him back to his world. The time of his exile is almost up however, and the Fairy Princess orders Flip, an elf, to watch over Raglin to find out what Raglin is doing.

Outside of George's family's home, Raglin is looking through the trash to see if there is any food, preferably chicken. Sally sees him and calls out to him causing Raglin to run off, leaving the trash scattered on the ground. Rachel hears the noise and comes out to see the mess. She calls for George to join her. Sally tells them from her window that it was the troll but they don't believe her. George angrily calls for Liam and accuses him of causing the mess. Liam denies it and is upset that they don't believe him. George finally decides to do so but Rachel still thinks he is guilty, pointing out all the nasty tricks he has played recently, such as putting insects on her clothing mud on her clean wash. Liam storms back into the house.

Later, George and Rachel talk and she feels she may have overreacted. George points out that Liam has made life difficult for her but she says that he just misses his mother. She decides to go upstairs and talk to the children. Liam is tossing clothes in a bag to run away while Sally tries to talk him out of it. Rachel arrives to try and apologize but Liam will not accept it. He and Sally both complain about how their father always yells at them. George overhears this and promises his kids that he will try not to lose his temper so much and Rachel promises to try not to jump to conclusions. Liam reluctantly agrees to try and make things work.

The next day, Liam and Sally decide to set out to find the troll she has been seeing. Since they know he likes chicken, Liam decides to steal the freshly roasted chicken Rachel has made, saying he doesn't care if it upsets her. The trap for Raglin works and the two children meet the troll face to face. They end up spending the day with Raglin who tells them all about his exile and his attempts to find the magic door.

Meanwhile, Flip the elf has discovered that the Fairly Princess is being held captive by the Black Witch. The Back Witch has been disguising herself as the Fairy Princess and it is she who has been ordering him to follow Raglin.

Rachel discovers that her chicken is missing. The children are still with Raglin in the woods when they hear their father angrily calling for them. Lima realizes they have discovered the chicken is gone and the children head back home, promising to see Raglin again the next day. When they return home, George is furious with them that they broke the deal to try and make things work. The children try to say they can explain but George doesn't want to listen. He says that clearly things aren't going to work so maybe they need to try something else, like boarding school. Rachel tells the children to go upstairs and then tells George he is overreacting.

Sally and Liam decide to run away and go stay with Raglin in the woods. When Rachel goes to wake up the children the next morning, she realizes they are gone. She and George call the police who decide to search the woods. George insists on going with the searchers. Before he goes, he and Rachel both take the blame for what has happened. Rachel makes him promise to not be cross with the children when he finds them.

In the woods, Liam and Sally hide with Raglin when they hear the searchers, including their father, calling out for them. Sally spots Flip watching them and Raglin tells him that Flip has been following him. Liam comes up with a plan to catch Flip and make him tell them what he is up to.

The searchers are unsuccessful, to George's dismay. He was certain the children would be playing in the woods. The police inspector wants to stop for the day but George insists that they continue right up until dark. In the end, he must return home to Rachel to tell her that they didn't find the children. Later that night, George is unable to sleep, although Rachel tells him he needs rest to search again in the morning. They question once again if they were too hard on the children and Rachel thinks that maybe they shouldn't have made a big deal out of everything and just have given the children more time. They head to bed but George leaves a light on, just in case.

The next day, the search continues, again without success. The police inspector calls off the search for the day and tells George and Rachel they need to talk. He starts to ask questions indicating that the children did not simply run away. A police constable brings in a piece of clothing found in the woods. This causes George to remember the troll Sally claimed to have seen. They decide this must have been a tramp and that he might be involved. The police inspector tells them that they need to start widening the search beyond the woods.

Meanwhile, in the woods, the children and Raglin have successfully captured Flip, but he simply tries to play them off each other by telling the children that Raglin in planning to eat them. Flip convinces them to go with him to see the Fairy Princess (who Flip knows to be the Black Witch in disguise), saying that she can tell them the truth about Raglin. When they meet the Fairy Princess, Sally sees through the spell and recognizes her as a witch. The Black Witch attempts to attack the children but Sally shouts out and somehow blocks the attack. This causes a loud noise and bright lights to occur in the sky. This wakes up George and Rachel who, upon seeing the lights, decide to head into the woods once again.

At this point, the children, Raglin, Flip, the Black Witch and George and Rachel are all in the woods, either looking for or hiding from the others. Raglin runs into George and Rachel and George demands that Raglin tells him where the children are. Raglin insists he doesn't know but George doesn't believe him. Just then, the Black Witch arrives and freezes them all with her magic. Raglin, having magic of his own, is able to escape.

The next morning, George and Rachel wake up, only to find themselves tied to a tree surrounded by a pile of wood. The Black Witch informs them that their children are interfering with her plans. The children arrive and hide overlooking the scene. The Black Witch calls out that if they don't bring her Raglin, their father will burn. The children decide to go find Raglin for help.

Raglin has found the door as dozens of elves come through it, lead by Flip, who has changed allegiances and freed the Fairy Princess. Just as Raglin is about to go through, the children find him and beg for his help to rescue their father and Rachel. Raglin protests that he has been searching for the door for 2000 years and can't stop now. Disappointed, the children leave and Raglin guiltily watches.

The Black Witch decides she has waited long enough and starts her broom on fire in order to ignite the wood. George begs her to let Rachel go as he is the one she wants. Just then, Sally and Liam arrive and yell at her to stop. They tell her that Raglin has gone through the door. George and Rachel yell at the children to run, so the Black Witch covers their mouths with magic so they cannot speak.

Flip arrives to let the Black Witch know that he has freed the Fairy Princess and he has an army of elves with him to fight her. A battle ensues, which it appears the elves will lose. Liam has an idea and tells Sally to go untie their mum and dad (calling Rachel Mum for the first time). Sally sets off to do so, but is spotted by the Black Witch before she can finish. But when the Black Witch attempts to attack with magic, Liam arrives to use a mirror to bounce the magic back at her, causing the Black Witch to vanish. But she soon reappears and attacks again. But this time, Raglin finally shows up. He uses his magic to turn the Black Witch into various animals. Liam finally suggests that Raglin change her into something small. Once she is in the form of a mouse, Liam traps her in a conveniently found jar, stopping her from any further attacks.

Later a celebration of the Black Witch's defeat is held. Raglin realizes that he is already home and no longer needs to search for the door. Liam and Sally announce that they want to go home and he makes a point of including Rachel as part of the happy family unit.

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