''Spine Chillers'' was the name of two separate supernatural television series, broadcast on the BBC.

1980s series

''Spine Chillers'' was a 1980 British children's supernatural television series produced by the

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...

team and broadcast on

BBC1 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, ...

. It featured readings of classic ghost and horror stories aimed at older children, and ran for 20 episodes of 10 minutes each.

Episodes and air dates

#' The Red Room' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

(17 November 1980) #'The Yellow Cat' by Michael Joseph, told by

John Woodvine John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. Early life Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Englan ...

(18 November 1980) #'The Music on the Hill' by

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...

, told by

Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he wa ...

(20 November 1980) #'

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 ...

' 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 ...

, told by Michael Bryant (21 November 1980) #'The Treasure in the Forest' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (24 November 1980) #'The Devil's Ape' by Barnard Stacey, told by John Woodvine (25 November 1980) #'

Sredni Vashtar "''Sredni Vashtar''" is a short story by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), written between 1900 and 1911 and first published in his 1912 short story collection ''The Chronicles of Clovis''. It has been adapted for opera, film, radio and television. Pl ...

' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (27 November 1980) #'

A School Story "A School Story" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his collection ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary ''More Ghost Stories'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1911. Some ...

' by M. R. James, told by Michael Bryant (28 November 1980) #'In the Avu Observatory' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (1 December 1980) #'The Running Companion' by

Philippa Pearce Ann Philippa Pearce OBE (22 January 1920 – 21 December 2006) was an English author of children's books. Best known of them is the time-slip novel ''Tom's Midnight Garden'', which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, as ...

, told by John Woodvine (2 December 1980) #'The Penance' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (4 December 1980) #'The Well' by

W. W. Jacobs William Wymark Jacobs (8 September 1863 – 1 September 1943) was an English author of short fiction and drama. His best remembered story is "The Monkey's Paw". He was born in Wapping, London, on 8 September 1863, the son of William Gage Jacobs ...

, told by Michael Bryant (5 December 1980) #'The Stolen Bacillus' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (8 December 1980) #'A Sin of Omission' by

Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes Ronald Henry Glynn Chetwynd-Hayes (30 May 1919 – 20 March 2001) was a British author, known best for his ghost and horror stories. Mike Ashley , ''Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction''. Elm Tree Books, . (p. 52-3)Chris Morgan, "Chetwynd-Ha ...

, told by John Woodvine (9 December 1980) #'

Gabriel-Ernest "Gabriel-Ernest" is a 1909 short story by British writer H. H. Munro, better known as Saki. The story was included in ''The Westminster Gazette'' and appears in the collection ''Reginald in Russia'' published by Methuen & Co. in 1910. Summary ...

' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (11 December 1980) #'The Diary of Mr Poynter' by M. R. James, told by Michael Bryant (12 December 1980) #'The Flowering of the Strange Orchid' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (15 December 1980) #'More Spinned Against' by

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...

, told by John Woodvine (16 December 1980) #'The Hounds of Fate' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (18 December 1980) #'Jerry Bundler' by W. W. Jacobs, told by Michael Bryant (19 December 1980)

2003 series

''Spine Chillers'' was also the name of a British series aimed at older viewers, a horror/comedy anthology first shown on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

in 2003. Season 1 comprised six episodes.

External links

*http://www.mausoleumclubforum.org.uk/ClassicGhostStoriesReview.pdf
''Spine Chillers''
(EOFFTV). * * British supernatural television shows 1980s British children's television series British fantasy television series 1980 British television series debuts 1980 British television series endings {{BBC-tv-prog-stub