a b c d Hussey, Bill (18 December 2008). "Interview with Mark Gatiss: Part One". Horror Reanimated. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008 . Retrieved 30 December 2008. Newly recorded audio commentary for The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by writer and TV historian Simon Farquhar There's an almost Holmesian quality to Somerton and Peter's investigation, which peaks with the discovery of the hidden message and their dogged attempts to decode it, which is covered in a splendidly executed montage that screenwriter John Bowen apparently disliked. So well handled is this process and so convincing the performances of Bryant and Lavers that there were times when I forgot that I was watching a ghost story at all. Aside from Somerton's brief encounter with his own crippling vertigo on the monastery ramparts, the signs that the story will take a supernatural turn are teasingly oblique – a wine stain on a drawing, an indistinct shape on a photographic negative, a monk who may or may not be eavesdropping on their discussion. We're approaching the climactic scene before we learn, rather suddenly, that the treasure is reputed to be spiritually protected. In two programmes from the BBC's four-episode series from 2000, Christopher Lee plays M.R. James in his role of provost of King's College Cambridge at the dawn of the last century and relates two of his ghost stories to a small gathering of masters and students as they sit sipping sherry around a coal fire on Christmas Eve. Gold-tinted visuals of Lee and his attentive, over-privileged audience are intermittently peppered with stylised imagery from the tales themselves, none of which is a problem when you have a storyteller as compelling as Christopher Lee. A constant joy to listen to, he is also worth watching for his sometimes visually expressive delivery. Even the sinister notes of music do not detract from these very fine readings.

The Mezzotint, a ghost story for Christmas from M. R. James and Mark Gatiss, is announced". BBC Media Centre. 22 February 2021. 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. Spectres, Spirits & Haunted Treasure: Adapting M R James (2023, 17 mins): newly commissioned video essay by Nic Wassell exploring some of the classic BBC adaptations Kerekes, David (2003). Creeping Flesh: The Horror Fantasy Film Book. London: Headpress. ISBN 978-1-900486-36-1.Burton, Nigel (22 August 2007). "A Warning to the Curious in Aldeburgh, Suffolk: East Anglia's Ghost Trail". worldtravelblog.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010 . Retrieved 22 August 2010. Newly recorded audio commentary for The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by writer and broadcaster Simon Farquhar 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." [23] East Anglia, 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 and in the surrounding close. [24] For A Warning to the Curious, "Seaburgh" (a disguised version of Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was filmed on the coast of North Norfolk at Waxham, Holkham Gap, Happisburgh, Wells-next-the-Sea and on the North Norfolk Railway. [25] [26] 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." [17] Clark talks enthusiastically about what clearly remains a fondly remembered film, praising the work of writer Andrew Davies, cinematographer David Whitson and lead players Denholm Elliott and Bernard Lloyd (there's also an interesting titbit about Elliott not having learned his lines). His own analysis of the story, and particularly its subtext, is fascinating, and gives a good indication of why this film feels so thematically strong. 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.

An academic researcher repudiates local superstitions surrounding a devilish house in a cathedral city. However, repeated visions and noises during the night suggest he may be proved wrong. [34]All of the films in this collection have been remastered in 2K from the 16mm camera negatives held by the BBC Archive and are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Unusually for a Blu-ray, the films are presented in 1080i rather than 1080p, but this was standard at the BBC for some time even after HD became a production format standard. Sarah Dempster, writing in The Guardian 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." [48] 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 British Film Institute in 2002 and 2003. [57] [58] 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. [59] The supremely affable Clark, who directed seven of the BBC's Ghost Story for Christmasfilms, including three of the titles here, talks about how The Stalls of Barchesterallowed him to make the move from documentary to drama, his love of the writings of M.R. James, selecting his main location, casting Robert Hardy (also an M.R. James fan), and the importance of being able to frighten your audience.

Stewart, Helen (23 December 2013). "M. R. James and the tradition of Christmas ghost stories". BBC Arts and Culture . Retrieved 27 December 2013. Phillips-Jones, Richard (21 December 2016). "30 Things You Never Knew about A Ghost Story for Christmas". Spooky Isles. Newly recorded audio commentary forThe Treasure of Abbot Thomas by writer and TV historian Simon Farquhar 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. Writer and broadcaster Simon Farquhar takes an enthralling look at what he regards as one of the most interesting films in the Ghost Stories for Christmas series, delivering a commentary that is a blend of the factual, the observational, and the analytical. He’s clearly interviewed some of the personnel involved, and thus has stories related to the shoot that I’ve not heard elsewhere, and while he praises many aspects of the film, he’s also not above criticising elements that he feels don’t quite work. There is specific detail on writer John Bowen, director Lawrence Gordon Clark and score composer Geoffrey Burgon, and he shares a persuasive theory over what makes the first two entries in the series feel different from the films that followed. There’s also an interesting discussion on why Christmas should be a time to tell ghost stories, a question that rears its head in one of the later commentaries.

Ghostwatch (1992)

Stigma (1977): directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, original story by Clive Exton, starring Kate Binchy, Peter Bowles, Maxine Gordon Number 13 (2006, 40 mins): infuriated by the ghoulish noises made nightly by his neighbour, Professor Anderson is soon driven to investigate the diabolical secrets of the old hotel and mysteriously vanishing room 13 Campbell reads his own story, The Guide, which directly references James’s work. This was clearly shot at the same time as the introduction, and while Campbell is more animated in his reading here, the same problems with room acoustics remain. Attempts to provide visual variety with occasional cutaways of the book being read or imagery described (wheat in the wind, landscapes, etc.) add little, and the introduction of an oscillating sinister synthesiser note is equally ineffective. It does the job, but it really is worth getting your hands on the story and reading it yourself. 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. Optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired have been included for all five films, and on A View From the Hill, Number 13 and Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee in the special features. special features