Back to the Secret Garden

A made-for-TV sequel to The Secret Garden--Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved 1911 children's classic--Back to the Secret Garden takes viewers 30 years beyond the original tale, where heroine Mary Lennox (now called Lady Mary) is a headmistress of sorts at Misselthwaite Manor (the setting of The Secret Garden), which has been transformed into an orphanage. Leaving coworker Miss Sowerby (Joan Plowright) in charge of the children (and handing over the special garden key), Lady Mary takes a trip to the United States and through an exchange program finds a maudlin waif with a green thumb named Lizzie, while back at Misselthwaite, Miss Sowerby--who can't seem to find the secret entryway--puts in a new door, just in time for Lizzie's arrival. Shocked (after hearing Lady Mary's glowing description) to see the garden in shambles, Lizzy takes clandestine night walks to the garden, where a variety of cute animals try to coax Lizzie ("I'm just an orphan from Brooklyn") into helping. Eventually, Lizzie cooks up a plan, but not before prolonged scenes about Lizzie's relations with other orphans, melodramatic incidents, and even a romance between Miss Sowerby and an elderly gardener stretch the story out to painful lengths. Rather than go "back," viewers are advised to revisit the vastly superior 1993 The Secret Garden instead. Not recommended. (J. Williams)