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

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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. [47] 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.

Leaving his ill and ageing wife in a care home, a retired astronomer revisits one of their old coastal haunts, but after discovering a ring on the beach is soon haunted himself. [36]

Newman and Hogan return to talk about the last of the official run of the BBC’s Ghost Stories for Christmas, a film that Newman admits to having warmed to over several viewings and now regards as a fine piece of work. There is some discussion about the film and the actors, but the lion’s share of this commentary is devoted to screenwriter John Bowen and his canon of work as a screenwriter and novelist. Newman does identify the story here as a subtly developed vampire tale, and reveals that the lead character in Bowen’s 1984 novel The McGuffin was based directly on him when he was working as a film critic for the London listings magazine, City Limits (which I used to buy slavishly every week, I should note). Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee ‘Number 13 by MR James’ (2000, Eleanor Yule, 30 mins)

Lawrence Gordon Clark introductions (2012, 33 mins): introductions to The Stalls of Barchester, A Warning to the Curious and Lost Hearts previously recorded for the BFI’s DVD release 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. 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 Commentaries Recorded on Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968) & The Stalls of Barchester by Jon Dear After an infamous demonologist is ridiculed on a television programme, its producer soon finds herself targeted by malevolent supernatural forces. [22] I’m aware that many fans of the initial run of Ghost Stories feel that the later works do not hit the heights of the Lawrence Gordon Clark films or especially Jonathan Miller’s extraordinary series precursor. And while it’s hard to disagree, this does risk undervaluing films such as this and its immediate successor, Number 13 (see below). Purists may disagree, but for me, the new climax and ending invented here by writer Peter Harness is an effective expansion on James’s more explanatory (but still creepy) original. Luke Watson’s direction is also commendable, squeezing tension out of Fanshawe’s uncanny woodland encounters, particularly in the final scenes, and creating a genuine sense of wonder when he finds himself transported inside the magically restored Abbey in all its golden grandeur.

a b c d e f g h D'Amico, John (12 February 2014). "An Interview with Lawrence Gordon Clark, Master of Ghostly Horror". Smug Horror.Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee ‘A Warning to the Curious by MR James’ (2000, Eleanor Yule, 30 mins)