GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOL. 2 (3 x Blu-ray)

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An original tale written and directed by Mark Gatiss entitled The Dead Room was broadcast on BBC Four on Christmas Eve 2018. [38] Gatiss adapted and directed another James adaptation, " Martin's Close", in 2019 for BBC Four. [39] This was followed by his third M.R. James adaptation, " The Mezzotint", for BBC Two in 2021, and his fourth, " Count Magnus", in 2022.

MR James’ original story, ‘Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’, read by Neil Brand (2001, 42 mins) When the Hollywood remake machine really got going a few years ago, I remember my partner asking me why they only ever chose to remake films that didn't need remaking instead of ones that had botched up a decent idea. It's about money, of course, and it's long since been established that you've an easier sell if you're trading on an already famous name. The same principle theoretically applies to television, at least if you're selling advertising space, but when it comes to the BBC, which in theory is not required to bow to the non-creative demands of companies hawking products, then the motives are less clear. I, for one, was certainly a little bemused by the decision to remake what remains to this day the finest made-for-TV ghost story. On the surface, there seemed to be no good reason for it beyond producing a version that was in colour, set in modern times, and whose image filled the by-then standard 16:9 frame (which it doesn't, as it happens, having a 2.35:1 aspect ratio). But I was nonetheless intrigued. A lot of film horror has washed under the bridge since Jonathan Miller's superb 1968 TV chiller, and it was just possible that a new take could still prove effective if it approached the source material from a different angle. It certainly does that. If like me you loved watching Ghost Stories for Christmas over the years then you’re in for a treat this Christmas.Newly recorded audio commentaries for The Stalls of Barchester and Lost Hearts by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan

One of four episodes screened by the BBC in December 2000, also under the title of Ghost Stories for Christmas, in which Christopher Lee plays M.R. James in his role as provost of King’s College Cambridge, as he reads Number 13 to a small gathering of students on the night of Christmas Eve at the rail end of the 19th Century. If you’ve seen any of the others in this series – and there are two in the first BFI Blu-ray collection – you’ll know what to expect, but given Lee’s considerable talent as an arresting storyteller, that’s in no way a criticism. An entertaining listen peppered with illustrative cutaways, it also gives those who have not read the James’s story the chance to compare it with the 2005 TV adaptation also featured on this disc. A View from the Hill (2005) (39:01) standard definition 1.78:1 The Stalls of Barchester". British Film Institute Database. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009 . Retrieved 22 August 2010. I have compared by BFI BD of Penda's Fen with the Severin release, and there's literally no way to detect the difference. I also compared my UK DVD of Robin Redbreast with the Severin BD. no difference in pitch.Regular series director Lawrence Gordon Clark here talks about lead actor Michael Bryant, the problems of securing the main location (no easy job a year after Pasolini had shot part of The Canterbury Talesthere), the changes made to M.R. James's original story, his disappointment at how the climatic horror elements played, and his relationship with screenwriter John Bowen.

A View From a Hill is one of M.R. James’s less widely known works (it’s certainly not in the first collection that I bought), but it bears a fair few of the author’s hallmarks, and there are strong similarities here to key early entries in the Ghost Stories for Christmas series. The basic premise of an academic who journeys to a rural location far from his home, and who inadvertently awakens supernatural forces through the acquisition of an old and possibly cursed artefact, is one you’ll also find at the core of more celebrated works like Whistle and I’ll Come to You and A Warning to the Curious. An eccentric professor finds a whistle carved from bone in a graveyard while on holiday in Norfolk. After blowing the whistle, he is troubled by terrible visions. [57]

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: ‘The Horse of the Invisible’ (1971)

After a young couple move into a remote country house in the middle of a stone circle workmen disturb an ancient menhir, unleashing a supernatural force. [5] Newly Recorded Commentaries Recorded on Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968) & The Stalls of Barchester by Jon Dear

For a good part of its running time it would, I think, be fair to describe The Treasure of Abbot Thomasmore as a detective story than a tale of the supernatural. I'd even go as far as to suggest that the investigative elements are, on the whole, more effectively realised than the ghost story that they only subtly suggest and belatedly give way to. 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. [9] 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." [17] An injured RAF Flight Lieutenant suffers from repeated horrific nightmares while recuperating at a remote mansion in Wales. However, he begins to suspect his psychiatrist or aunt may be responsible. [55]

Out of the Unknown: ‘To Lay a Ghost’ (1971)

This second Blu-ray volume of the BBC’s much-loved Ghost Stories for Christmas films effectively completes the set, containing as it does the final five entries in the original run of this once-a-yuletide series. The first three are once again based on short stories by that master of the supernatural, M.R. James, while the final two are original screenplays, the first by Clive Exton, the second by John Bowen, both of whom are writers of considerable repute. All except the final tale were directed by series maestro, Lawrence Gordon Clark.