The Dark is Rising, a drama by Susan Cooper for BBC World Service.
Episode 3, The Signseeker.
Come through to us, Will.
We have been waiting for you.
In the snowy landscape on the windswept hillside, Will stood,
staring up at the carved panels of the two great closed doors towering before him.
By instinct Will placed his palms flat against the wood and the doors swung open beneath his hands.
The world Will Stanton had inhabited
since he was born seemed to whirl and break and come down again in a pattern that was not the same as before.
He peered ahead into the darkness and all at once sparks left and fire flared.
Oh wow!
Lighting up an enormous fireplace in the far wall and he realised he stood in a great hall.
What is this place?
And on either side of this enormous fireplace, two figures were waiting for him.
An old lady leaning on a stick.
Welcome, Will.
And tall man.
Come in, Will Stanton.
Will looked at the man and saw deep-set eyes,
an arched nose fierce as a hawk's beak in a sweep of wiry white hair.