* AluminumChristmasTrees: In an age where petticoats themselves are a novelty, modern readers might not understand why ''red'' petticoats were such a big deal. Red flannel petticoats (as opposed to white lawn or cotton ones) were considered a sign of poverty.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Aunt Emma's visit doesn't seem to serve the narrative. She's given a big introduction as if she'll be a major character, but then disappears off to India to work as a governess. She even gets a soundtrack shift.
* CantUnHearIt:
** Creator/JennyAgutter as Bobbie for many. In fact, she'd played the role in a 1968 BBC adaptation, and Lionel Jeffries couldn't see anyone else doing it better.
** Creator/BernardCribbins as Perks too.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Perks is one of the favourite characters, thanks to Creator/BernardCribbins' hilariously pompous performance in the film version. Even for those who have only read the books, he can be a lot of fun.
* HarsherInHindsight: Depending on what he wrote, the "fine book" written by Szezcpansky might fall under this, given...[[UsefulNotes/RedOctober well]]...
* {{Narm}}: Peter, in the film version, did kind of overreact to getting the train for Christmas. It's just really overdone.
* NarmCharm: Bobbie gliding around the room during her birthday. Some find it silly, yet others find it fits the tone of the scene.
* NightmareFuel:
** The landslide with the trees falling onto the tracks is quite a startling scene. Not to mention Bobbie refusing to get off the line until the train stops - and it only stops inches from her face.
** And "The Hound In The Red Jersey" portion. Jim breaks his leg while running through the tunnel and only narrowly escapes being crushed by the passing train.
* OneSceneWonder:
** Ruth, who only appears in the first ten minutes. She solidifies this by shouting "stairs, stairs, stairs!" as she climbs up the stairs.
** Also Aunt Emma, who has just one scene complete with a soundtrack shift. Unfortunately her scene is often edited out of broadcasts.
** The carriage driver who responds to everything with "I dare say."
* RetroactiveRecognition: Mrs. Viney is played by Creator/BrendaCowling, who would later be best known for playing Mrs. Lipton in ''Series/YouRangMLord''.
* StoicWoobie: Mother if you think about it. Her husband is jailed for something he didn't do, forcing her to uproot the family and move across counties, as well as then having to home school the children as well as taking on work as a writer just to make ends meet. She also falls ill with influenza. But the only time she's ever seen crying is when Bobbie catches her doing so in the dark the night of her birthday.
* TearJerker:
** Bobbie's sweet birthday celebration turns bittersweet when she says "wouldn't Daddy have loved this?" and later on she comes downstairs to find Mother crying by the fireplace.
** "Daddy! My daddy!"
* ValuesDissonance:
** The poem the mother writes to cheer up Jim is about Jim and his friends picking on the nerdy kid and seems to suggest that bullying is okay.
** Also, there's a long conversation between Peter and the physician in the book, where he tells Peter that he must be the "man of the house" because women are weak and delicate. It's completely fair for its time, but is very uncomfortable for many readers nowadays. In fact, it's actually a recognised form of child abuse called 'parentification' (although the term refers mainly to the family themselves putting this pressure on a child), where expecting a child to be a caretaker is going to have negative psychological consequences in the long run.
** Mother is annoyed at the children asking the Old Gentleman for help when she falls so ill she's bedridden, saying that telling others of their problems "isn't right". Modern readers and viewers would be disturbed by her expecting three children, the oldest of whom is only fifteen, to not ask friends for help. Admittedly the gentleman is a stranger.
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