Ghost Stories for Christmas Volume 1 (3 x Blu-ray discs)

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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, [11] [12] but also had extensive television experience, including adapting The Treasure of Abbot Thomas earlier in the series. Repeats of the original series on BBC Four at Christmas 2007 included The Haunted Airman, a new adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's novel The Haunting of Toby Jugg by Chris Durlacher, although this film was originally screened on 31 October 2006. [55] As we neared it, Henry Long felt, and I felt too, that there were what I can only call dim presences waiting for us, as well as a far more actual one attending us. Of Paxton's agitation all this time I can give you no adequate picture: he breathed like a hunted beast, and we could not either of us look at his face.” Farquhar, Simon (30 June 2015). "Ghosts of Christmas past: M.R. James, Lawrence Gordon Clark and A Ghost Story for Christmas". Sight & Sound . Retrieved 2 September 2016.

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". [51] Wheatley has commented that they heralded a divergence from the stage-inspired horror of the 1940s and 1950s to a more modern Gothic horror based in the present day, losing in the process the "aesthetic of restraint" evident in the original adaptations. [19] Residents at a health spa begin to suspect that a strange flower growing in an old ice house in the grounds may be the cause of a series of misfortunes. [5]A View From a Hill (2005, 39 mins, standard definition): a young museum curator, Fanshawe finds himself in possession of a pair binoculars that grant him a strange new ability. Ignoring all warnings about their necromantic creator, Fanshawe carries out his research, but the bloody past of the area is best left undisturbed…

A Warning to the Curious showcases the BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas slot at the top of its game. An overuse of a signature high-pitched electronic crescendo from avant-garde composer Gyorgi Ligerti's Atmospheres does come close to overstating the threat, but in the end never seriously detracts from what, even all these years after it was first screened, remains a gripping and genuinely chilling slice of supernatural storytelling. LOST HEARTS (1973) Newly recorded audio commentaries for Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968) and A Warning to the Curious by TV historian Jon Dear The first three Ghost Story for Christmas films plus both versions of Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968 and 2010) were remastered from the original film negatives by the BFI and released on Blu-ray disc as Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1 in December 2022. [62] Also on disc one there is an archive introduction presented by horror writer Ramsey Campbell, as well as Campbell reading his own M.R. James inspired story ‘The Guide’. It’s not the only reading you get on this disc either, as ‘Whistle and I’ll Come to You My Lad’, the original short story by James that the film is based on, is read by Neil Brand. There is also a short discussion between Miller and Christopher Frayling discussing the film itself. Almost as an afterthought the disc also contains the 2010 ‘Whistle and I’ll Come to You’ film, starring John Hurt. The only original special feature is a rather informative and enjoyable commentary from TV historian Jon Dear.

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Why is this special? Well these have been newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials. Ghost Stories for Christmas Vol 1 Blu-ray The Mezzotint, a ghost story for Christmas from M. R. James and Mark Gatiss, is announced". BBC Media Centre. 22 February 2021. 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. It begins with 11-year-old Stephen (Simon Gipps-Kent), dressed in respectable clothing and a Brunelian top hat, being transported through the Lincolnshire countryside to the stately home of his elderly cousin, Mr. Abney (Joseph O'Conor). As his carriage approaches the hall, Stephen briefly sees two wan-looking children (Christopher Davis and Michelle Foster) standing in a field, their arms slowly arching in a synchronised wave. Seconds later they are gone. Recently separated Paul (John Stride) has come to what appears to be an upmarket health spa, where he hopes to relax and come to terms with the pain of his recent marital breakup. The spa is run by the über-polite (and possibly incestual) brother and sister duo of Clovis (Geoffrey Burridge) and Jessica (Elizabeth Romilly), who devote a disproportionate amount of their time to ensuring Paul's wellbeing. Deep in the spacious grounds grow two unusual flowers that are impervious to hardship and have an intoxicating scent, behind which sits the spa's famed ice house, which Clovis and Jessica encourage an initially apprehensive Paul to investigate. Over the following nights, Paul's sleep is disturbed by a small hole in the window of his room, one that grows and shifts in shape to resemble that of the strongly scented flowers, and when he investigates the ice house one evening, he makes a deeply disturbing discovery.