''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a

strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline *Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa *Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street, ...

of annual

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

short

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s originally broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directed by

Lawrence Gordon Clark Lawrence Gordon Clark, is an English television director and producer, perhaps best known for his ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' series of mostly M. R. James ghost stories, which were broadcast annually by the BBC throughout the 1970s. These ar ...

and the films were all shot on 16 mm colour film. The remit behind the series was to provide a television adaptation of a classic

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

, in line with the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. Each instalment is a separate adaptation of a short story, ranges between 30 and 50 minutes in duration, and features well-known British actors such as

Clive Swift Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for ...

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best known ...

Edward Petherbridge Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''Ro ...

and

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...

. The first five are adaptations of ghost stories by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, Medieval studies, medievalist scholar and provost (education), provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was List of ...

, the sixth is based on a short story by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, and the two final instalments are original screenplays by

Clive Exton Clive Exton (11 April 1930 – 16 August 2007) was a British television and film screenwriter who wrote scripts for the series ''Poirot,'' ''Jeeves and Wooster,'' and ''Rosemary & Thyme.''John Bowen respectively. The stories were titled ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' in listings such as the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', although this did not appear on screen until '' The Signalman'' in 1976. An earlier black-and-white adaptation of M. R. James's

'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904). The story is named after a 1793 poem of the same name penned by Robert Burns. Plo ...

, directed by

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

and shown as part of the series ''

Omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...

'' in 1968, is often cited as an influence upon the production of the films, and is sometimes included as part of the series.Angelini, Sergio, . Retrieved 2010-7-7. The series was revived by the BBC in 2005 with a new set of ongoing adaptations, although these have been produced sporadically rather than annually.
A View from the Hill
' at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

. Retrieved 2010-7-7.

Production

Background

The first five films are adaptations of stories from the four books by M. R. James published between 1904 and 1925. The ghost stories of James, an English

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

scholar and Provost of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, were originally narrated as Christmas entertainments to friends and selected students.Pfaff, Richard W., "Montague Rhodes James",

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

(Online Edition).

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. September 2004

Retrieved 2010-08-15. The sixth film, ''The Signalman'', is an adaptation of a story by Charles Dickens published in his magazine '' All the Year Round'' in 1866. In its original context it was one of eight stories set around the fictional Mugby Junction and its branch lines. It was inspired by the

Staplehurst rail crash The Staplehurst rail crash was a derailment at Staplehurst, Kent, on 9 June 1865 at 3:13 pm. The South Eastern Railway Folkestone to London boat train derailed while crossing a viaduct where a length of track had been removed during engine ...

of June 1865, which Dickens himself survived, having attended to dying fellow passengers. He subsequently suffered panic disorders and flashbacks as a result. The final two stories were based on original screenplays, one by Clive Exton, who was an experienced television screenwriter, and the other by John Bowen, who was primarily known as a novelist and playwright, but also had extensive television experience, including adapting ''

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James. It was published in his book ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904). Plot summary The tale tells the story of the Rev. Justin Somerton, a scholar of medieval histo ...

'' earlier in the series.

Filming

Lawrence Gordon Clark had made his name as a BBC documentary director during the 1960s. ''The Stalls of Barchester'' was the first dramatic production he directed.Rigby, Jonathan, "Traces of Uneasiness: Lawrence Gordon Clark and ''The Stalls of Barchester''" in ''The M. R. James Collection'', BFI 2012 (BFIVD965) Clark recalled in an interview for the BFI's DVD release in 2012 that "the BBC at that time gave you the space to fail, and generously so too. They backed you up with marvellous technicians, art departments, film departments and so forth."Gordon Clark, Lawrence, interview for

I was itching to move into drama and knew I had exactly the source material I wanted. I'd discovered M.R. James at boarding school and loved him. So I met with Paul Fox, who was at the time Controller of BBC1. I brought a copy of M.R. James's ''Ghost Stories'' with me, with a bookmark stuck in " The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral". The fact that period drama always has been very popular at the BBC probably helped.

Clark recalls that "Paul Fox gave us a tiny budget ... and we set out to do a full-blooded drama on location. Budgets were really tiny, and we shot for ten days and brought the film in for about 8,000 pounds." Unusually for a

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importan ...

of the 1970s, each instalment was filmed entirely on location using

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

. As a result, the cameraman John McGlashan, who filmed the first five adaptations, was able to make use of night shoots and dark, shadowy interiors, which would not have been possible with the then-standard video-based studio interiors. Clark notes that McGlashan, and the sound recordist Dick Manton's contribution to the series "was every bit as great as mine". In an interview in 1995, Lawrence Gordon Clark stated that the stories "focus on suggestion. The aim, they say, is to chill rather than shock. Partly because television is not best suited to carrying off big-screen

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...

, but mainly because they want to keep faith with the notion of a ghost story in its literary rather than cinematic tradition." Helen Wheatley notes that the best adaptations maintain the stories' "sense of decorum and restraint, ... withholding the full revelation of the supernatural until the very last moment, and centring on the ''suggestion'' of a ghostly presence rather than the horror of visceral excess and abjection."Wheatley, 55. Clark noted in a 2014 interview that he tried to make the second adaptation, ''A Warning to the Curious'' as "essentially, a silent film, with the tension building slowly throughout the visual images". After the success of the first two low-budget adaptations which had been largely independently produced by Clark, the stories came under the wing of the BBC's Drama Department, with a new producer, Rosemary Hill, and an increased budget.

Adaptation

The adaptations, although remaining true to the spirit of M.R. James, make alterations to suit the small screen - for example, ''A Warning to the Curious'' avoids the convoluted plot structure of M. R. James's original, opting for a more linear construction and reducing the number of narrators. In addition the central character, Paxton, is changed from a young fair-haired innocent who stumbles across the treasure to a middle-aged character driven by poverty to seek the treasure and acting in full awareness of what he is doing. After the first two adaptations, both by Clark, the tales were adapted by a number of playwrights and screenwriters. For ''The Treasure of Abbot Thomas'', Clark recalls John Bowen's script "took some liberties with the story—which made it for the better I think...It's really quite a funny story until it gets nasty, although the threat is always there. James has a mordant sense of humour, and it's good to translate that into cinematic terms when you can. I'd always wanted to do a medium scene, and John came up with a beauty." Clark is less complimentary of the adaptation of ''The Ash Tree'', which he felt didn't make Mistress Mothersole an effective villain, as a result of both his and adaptor David Rudkin's sympathy for witch trial victims; "We know so much about the hysteria of the witch trials and the ignorance and downright evil that fueled them that it was well-nigh impossible to portray her as James intended. Although, even he makes her a complicated character, hinting that she was popular with local farmers and the pagan fertility aspects that this implies. Frankly, I don't think the script quite did justice to the story, and maybe someone else should have a go at it." In his screenplay for '' The Signalman'' Andrew Davies adds scenes of the traveller's nightmare-plagued nights at an inn, and reinforces the ambiguity of the traveller-narrator by restructuring the ending and matching his facial features with those of the spectre. The film also makes use of visual and aural devices. For example, the appearance of the spectre is stressed by the vibrations of a bell in the

signalbox On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...

and a recurring red motif connects the signalman's memories of a train crash with the danger light attended by a ghostly figure. Clark's final ''Ghost Story for Christmas'', ''Stigma'', was an original story by Clive Exton filmed around the

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

s at

Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in t ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. He had wanted to film James' "

Count Magnus "Count Magnus" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, first published in 1904. It was included in his first collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot A traveller in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominou ...

", the teleplay of which had been written by

Basil Copper Basil Frederick Albert Copper (5 February 1924 – 3 April 2013) was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor. Mike Ashley, "Basil Copper", in David Pringle, ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers.''(London: ...

, but was unable to obtain the budget. Although he felt the substitute film was "effective", Clark had by this time left the BBC to go freelance, joining

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

, where he and Exton made another James adaptation ''

Casting the Runes "Casting the Runes" is a short story written by the English writer M.R. James. It was first published in 1911 as the fourth story in ''More Ghost Stories'', which was James' second collection of ghost story, ghost stories. Plot summary Mr. Edward ...

'' in 1979.
Casting the Runes
' at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Database. Retrieved 2010-7-7.

Locations

St Mary, Happisburgh, Norfolk - geograph

The filming of the adaptations took place at a variety of locations. Clark notes that James gave him "a wonderful excuse to discover...places where you could best impart tension and atmosphere."

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, where M. R. James set many of his stories, was the location for the two first films. ''The Stalls of Barchester'' was filmed at

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedral ...

and in the surrounding close. For ''A Warning to the Curious'', "Seaburgh" (a disguised version of

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

, Suffolk) was filmed on the coast of

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a ...

Waxham Waxham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sea Palling, in the North Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It lies on the north-east coast of the county. Buildings in the village include Waxham Hall, the 14t ...

, Holkham Gap,

Happisburgh Happisburgh () is a village civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is on the coast, to the east of a north–south road, the B1159 from Bacton on the coast to Stalham. It is a nucleated village. The nearest substantial to ...

Wells-next-the-Sea Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England. The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...

and on the

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limite ...

. Clark recalls filming in North Norfolk in late February, with consistently fine cold weather "with a slight winter haze which gave exactly the right depth and sense of mystery to the limitless vistas of the shoreline there." Later locations include Ormsby Hall and the Pelham Mausoleum at

Brocklesby __NOTOC__ Brocklesby is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from Habrough, south-west from Immingham, and is located close to the border of both North Lincolnshire and North ...

, Lincolnshire for ''Lost Hearts'',

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

, the

Orchardleigh Estate Orchardleigh (also spelled Orchardlea) is a country estate in Somerset, approximately two miles north of Frome, and on the southern edge of the village of Lullington, Somerset, Lullington. The privately held estate comprises a Victorian architect ...

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

and its 13th century church for ''The Treasure of Abbot Thomas'',

Prideaux Place Prideaux Place is a grade I listed Elizabethan country house in the parish of Padstow, Cornwall, England. It has been the home of the Prideaux family for over 400 years. The house was built in 1592 by Sir Nicholas Prideaux (1550–1627), a disti ...

near

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

for ''The Ash-Tree'' and the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

near

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

for ''The Signalman''. For ''The Signalman'', a replica Great Western Railway signal box was erected in the cutting on the

side of Bewdley Tunnel, and Highley signal box was used for the interior shots.

Music

Adam Scovell, analysing the aural aesthetics of the BBC Ghost Stories, notes that although Clark talks about "stock music", the early adaptations make use of what were then new,

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

classical works found in the BBC's gramophone library at

Egton House Egton House in Langham Street in Central London was home to BBC Radio 1 for many years from 1985 until 1996. Radio 1 moved to Yalding House on Great Portland Street in 1996, and Egton House was demolished in 2003 to make way for the Egton Wing of ...

- ''A Warning to the Curious'' uses

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

's ''

Atmosphères ''Atmosphères'' is a piece for orchestra, composed by György Ligeti in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre in favor of dense sound textures. After ''Apparitions'', it was the second piece Ligeti wrote to exploit what h ...

'' (1961) and ''

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

'' (1966) to signify the appearance of the ghost of William Ager, and the high, meandering flute part of another contemporary work,

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s thr ...

's ''Hyperion III'' (1966), is used in both this film and ''Lost Hearts''. ''Lost Hearts'' also makes use of

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

's ''

English Folk Song Suite ''English Folk Song Suite'' is one of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' most famous works. It was first published for the military band as ''Folk Song Suite'' and its premiere was given at Kneller Hall on 4 July 1923, conducted by Lt Hec ...

'' and the

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

music of the ghostly Italian boy, who plays the tune ''L'amour De Moi''. ''The Treasure of Abbot Thomas'' was the only entry in the series to have its own original score.

Geoffrey Burgon Geoffrey Alan Burgon (15 July 194121 September 2010) was an English composer best known for his television and film scores. Among his most recognisable works are ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' for film, and ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and '' ...

's score consists of an organ, two

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

s and various unconventional percussion instruments; according to Clark, a "mixture of evensong and bicycle chains".

Films

Original run (1971–1978)

With the exception of the final film, the tales were directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. The final episode was directed by Derek Lister.

Revival (2005–present)

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

revisited the series at Christmas 2004, and in 2005 began to produce new adaptations of stories by M. R. James, broadcast along with repeats of episodes from the original series.

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

premiered a new adaptation by

Neil Cross Neil Cross ( Neil Claude Gadd; born 9 February 1969) is a British novelist and scriptwriter, best known as the creator of the drama series ''Luther'' and ''Hard Sun''. He is also the showrunner for the TV adaptation of '' The Mosquito Coast'', ...

of M. R. James's

on Christmas Eve 2010.
Whistle and I'll come to You
' at

. Retrieved 2010-12-24. Mark Gatiss's adaptation of "

The Tractate Middoth "The Tractate Middoth" is a short ghost story by British author M. R. James. It was published in 1911 in '' More Ghost Stories'', James's second collection of ghost stories. Plot Mr. Garrett, an employee of a university library, searches for ...

", another story by M. R. James, was broadcast on BBC Two on Christmas Day 2013. This was followed by a documentary, ''M. R. James: Ghost Writer''. An original tale written and directed by Mark Gatiss entitled '' The Dead Room'' was broadcast on BBC Four on Christmas Eve 2018. Gatiss adapted and directed another James adaptation, "

Martin's Close "Martin's Close" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his 1911 collection '' More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary The story is presented as a report of a trial in the year 1684, before Judge Jeffreys. Squi ...

", in 2019 for BBC Four. This was followed by his third M.R. James adaptation, "

The Mezzotint "The Mezzotint" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his first collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904). Plot summary Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum (implied to be Oxford), receives a mezz ...

", for BBC Two in 2021.

Critical reception

The critical reception of the films has been varied, but several are regarded as classic television ghost stories. Dick Fiddy of the British Film Institute notes that the late hour of their broadcasts, and the contrast with the rest of the bright lights of the television schedules during the Christmas period meant that the adaptations made such an impact;

They went out late at night, when television wasn't a 24-hour experience, probably watched by the dying embers of the fire before the viewer turned in for the night; the nightmarish quality of the stories would linger as they went to bed. Such conditions can magnify the power of the pieces, adding to their creepiness and helping the tales imbed themselves within impressionable minds.

Sarah Dempster, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2005, noted that "Perhaps the most surprising aspect ... is how little its adaptations ... have dated. They may boast the odd signifier of cheap 1970s telly – outlandish regional vowels, inappropriate eyeliner, a surfeit of depressed oboes – but lurking within their hushed cloisters and glum expanses of deserted coastline is a timelessness at odds with virtually everything written, or broadcast, before or since."Dempster, Sarah
Ghosts in the Machine
''

'', 17 December 2005 The production values have received particular praise. Helen Wheatley writes that "the series was shot on film on location, with much attention paid to the minutiae of period detail; ... it might be seen to visually prefigure the filmic stylishness and traditions of later literary adaptations such as ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

'' and '' The Jewel in the Crown''." However, she notes that, unlike those adaptations, the sinister tone of the period pieces could lend itself the label of a "feel bad" heritage television drama. ''The Signalman'' is perhaps the most critically acclaimed. Simon Farquhar suggests that the film is the first evidence of Andrew Davies's gift as an adaptor of literary fiction: "despite an extremely arduous shoot, Davies and Clarke's fog-wreathed, flame-crackling masterpiece manages something the production team could never have imagined: it's better than the book." Dave Rolinson notes that, while "the adaptation inevitably misses Dickens's nuanced and often unsettling prose, ... it achieves comparably skilful effects through visual language and sound, heightening theme and supernatural mood. ... The production heightens the story's crucial features of repetition and foreshadowing." Sergio Angelini writes about ''A Warning to the Curious'': "Of Clark's many adaptations of James's stories, this is perhaps the most varied in its use of landscape and the most visually arresting in its attempt to create an otherworldly atmosphere. ... Using long lenses to flatten the scenery and make the ghost indistinct in the background, John McGlashan's fine cinematography brilliantly conveys the ageless, ritualistic determinism of Ager's pursuit and signposts the inevitability of Paxton's demise." Angelini is less appreciative of ''The Ash Tree'', noting that the literal adaptation of the story's ending loses the atmosphere of earlier instalments: "While the creatures are certainly grotesque and threatening, compared with some of the other adaptations of the series, ''The Ash Tree'' does lose some power through this lack of ambiguity. The result overall remains satisfyingly unsettling, however, thanks also to Petherbridge's restrained, psychologically acute performance." The adaptations have had an influence on the work of the writer

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

. Interviewed in 2008, Gatiss said that ''Lost Hearts'' is his favourite adaptation because it is the one that frightened him as a child and that "I absolutely love ''The Treasure of Abbot Thomas''. The moment when Michael Bryant has found the treasure and ... is obviously losing his wits. He just says, rationally, 'It is a thing of slime, I think. Darkness and slime ...' There's also the fantastic scene where he thinks he's got away with it by putting the treasure back. The doctor is heading up the drive and he can't quite see him in the sunlight. Then it pauses to that amazing crane shot. ... Very spooky." The reception of the two later instalments, ''Stigma'' and ''The Ice House'', was decidedly critical. Most reviewers concluded that switching to original stories instead of adaptations was "misjudged". David Kerekes writes that ''The Ice House'' is almost "totally forgotten". Wheatley has commented that they heralded a divergence from the stage-inspired horror of the 1940s and 1950s to a more modern

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

horror based in the present day, losing in the process the "aesthetic of restraint" evident in the original adaptations. The BBC Four revival beginning in 2005 with ''A View from a Hill'' was greeted warmly by Sarah Dempster of ''

'', who stated that the programme was, "in every respect, a vintage ''Ghost Story for Christmas'' production. There are the powdery academics hamstrung by extreme social awkwardness. There is the bumbling protagonist bemused by a particular aspect of modern life. There are stunning, panoramic shots of a specific area of the British landscape (here, a heavily autumnal Suffolk). There is the determined lack of celebrity pizzazz. There is tweed. And there is, crucially, a single moment of heart-stopping, corner-of-the-eye horror that suggests life, for one powdery academic at least, will never be the same again."

Related works

Before Clark's films came under the remit of the BBC Drama Department it commissioned a Christmas play from

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

, an original ghost story called ''

The Stone Tape ''The Stone Tape'' is a 1972 British television horror drama film written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Michael Bates and Iain Cuthbertson. It was broadcast on BBC Two as a Christmas gho ...

'', broadcast on Christmas Day 1972. With its modern setting, this is not generally included under the heading of ''A Ghost Story for Christmas''Angelini, Sergio, . Retrieved 2012-12-31. and was originally intended as an episode of the anthology ''

Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Wi ...

''. Clark directed another story by M. R. James, ''Casting The Runes'' for the series ''Playhouse'', produced by

and first broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 24 April 1979. Adapted by Clive Exton, it reimagined the events of James's story taking place in a contemporary television studio. For Christmas 1979 the BBC produced a 70-minute-long adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic tale ''

Schalcken the Painter ''Schalcken the Painter'' is a British television horror film based on the 1839 story ''Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter'' by Sheridan Le Fanu, and stars Jeremy Clyde as Godfried Schalcken and Maurice Denham as Gerrit Dou. It ...

'', directed and adapted by

Leslie Megahey Norman Leslie Megahey (22 December 1944 – 27 August 2022) was a British television producer, director and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated ...

.
Schalcken The Painter
' at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. Retrieved 2010-7-7. Like the earlier ''Whistle and I'll Come to You'', the production was listed as part of the long-running BBC arts series ''

''. Repeats of the original series on BBC Four at Christmas 2007 included ''The Haunted Airman'', a new adaptation of

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series ...

's novel ''

The Haunting of Toby Jugg ''The Haunting of Toby Jugg'' is a 1948 psychological thriller novel on an occult theme by English writer Dennis Wheatley, incorporating his usual themes of satanic possession and madness, in what was at that time a fresh situation: a disabled Br ...

'' by Chris Durlacher, although this film was originally screened on 31 October 2006.
The Haunted Airman
' at

. Retrieved 2010-7-7. For Christmas 2008 an original three-part ghost story by

, ''

Crooked House ''Crooked House'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year. The action takes place in and near Lo ...

'', was produced instead, though Gatiss has cited the original adaptations as a key influence. ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...

'' (1898), a novella by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

(no relation to M. R. James), was adapted as a feature-length drama by

Sandy Welch Sandra Elizabeth "Sandy" Welch (born 6 December 1953 in Chester, Cheshire) is a British television writer and screenwriter. Welch is a graduate of the National Film and Television School. As a screenwriter, Welch has developed many serials fo ...

and broadcast on BBC One on 30 December 2009.
The Turn of the Screw
' at

. Retrieved 2011-09-24.

Home media

''A Warning to the Curious'', ''The Signalman'' and Miller's ''Whistle and I'll Come to You'' were released as individual VHS cassettes and Region 2 DVDs by the

in 2002 and 2003.Duguid, Mark, . Retrieved 2010-7-7. A number of the adaptations were made available in Region 4 format in Australia in 2011 and ''The Signalman'' is included as an extra on the Region 1 American DVD release of the 1995 BBC production of '' Hard Times''. For Christmas 2011, the BFI featured the complete 1970s films in their Mediatheque centres. The BFI released the complete set of ''Ghost Story for Christmas'' films plus related works such as both versions of ''Whistle and I'll Come to You'' on Region 2 DVD in 2012, in five volumes as well as a box set, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of M. R. James's birth. The following year, an expanded boxset featuring

Robert Powell Robert Powell (; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in ''Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) and its ...

and Michael Bryant narrating M. R. James in the series ''Classic Ghost Stories'' (1986) and ''Spine Chillers'' (1980) respectively. Mark Gatiss's films ''The Tractate Middoth'', ''The Dead Room'', ''Martin's Close'' and ''The Mezzotint'' were released together as "Ghost Stories" in October 2022. The first three ''Ghost Story for Christmas'' films plus both versions of ''Whistle and I'll Come to You'' (1968 and 2010) were

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

from the original film negatives by the BFI and released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

disc as ''Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1'' in December 2022.

References

;Bibliography * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Story For Christmas, A BBC television dramas 1971 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series British supernatural television shows Christmas television specials British horror fiction television series Adaptations of works by M. R. James Ghosts in television English-language television shows 1970s British anthology television series