Ghost Stories for Christmas (Expanded 6-Disc Collection Box Set) [DVD]

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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. In the region surrounding the Norfolk coastal town of Seaburg, legend has it that three Anglo Saxon crowns were once buried to protect England from invasion. The first was plundered by thieves, the second lost to the sea, but the third remains hidden somewhere beneath the local turf. For five generations, the members of a single family have dedicated their lives to protecting it, but the last of the line, William Ager, died without leaving an heir. Having read of the legend, middle-aged former clerk and amateur archaeologist Paxton (Peter Vaughan) arrives in Seaburg with the intention of locating and retrieving the crown, unaware that the spirit of William Ager continues to guard it from beyond the grave. 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 Clark's final Ghost Story for Christmas, Stigma, was an original story by Clive Exton filmed around the stone circles at Avebury, Wiltshire. He had wanted to film James' " Count Magnus", the teleplay of which had been written by Basil Copper, but was unable to obtain the budget. [17] [21] Although he felt the substitute film was "effective", Clark had by this time left the BBC to go freelance, joining Yorkshire Television, where he and Exton made another James adaptation Casting the Runes in 1979. [17] [22] Locations [ edit ] "It is a fine porch, isn't it?" St Mary's Church in Happisburgh, Norfolk, a film location in A Warning to the Curious.

From this point on, the film is in largely familiar haunted house territory, with a nightlight that repeatedly switches itself off of its own accord, an unflattering bust that seems to watch Parkin sleep, and an unseen figure that attempts to enter his room at night by loudly and aggressively rattling and banging the door. It's that last one that best symbolises the film's failure to recognise was made its source material so effective, with the troubling but too-familiar monster beyond the door – a seriously scaled down version of a terrifying sequence in Robert Wise's seminal The Haunting – no match for the original's more frightening suggestion that the entity was entering Parkin's room at night and sleeping in the adjacent bed. My house is 200 years old. If I looked in the corner and suddenly saw a man in 18th-century clothes just for a second, it’s not completely out of line with what physics teaches us. I think it’s more likely to be some sort of time thing than it is ghosts as it were. I love everything about [ghosts], and I love the storytelling tradition, and I love the idea of it. I’ll tell you what really fascinates me. I think ultimately the reason that the ghost story endures is that even if it’s a slightly pessimistic view of the afterlife, it means there is something more. Introduction to Lost Hearts, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas and The Ash Tree by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 11 mins, 11 mins, 8 mins) The school term has ended, and academic Professor Parkin arrives at a seaside inn on the East Anglian coast for a holiday of rambling and reading. While on one of his walks, he discovers a cemetery perched on the edge of a cliff that is in the process being reclaimed by the sea. Here he unearths an old whistle bearing a Latin inscription, which he translates and responds to, scorning its potentially supernatural overtones, but is soon given cause to question his long-held scepticism.Count Magnus has long been one of Gatiss’ favorite James stories so it’ll be excellent to see what he’s done with it. While the cycle has been particularly hard to find in North America, the good folks at BritBox have added all of the above, plus some other ghost stories, to their service. And on Christmas Eve Eve of this year, Count Magnus joins the ranks. A travelogue writer, Mr Wraxhall, becomes fascinated by the story of Count Magnus, the long-dead founder of a Swedish family who once made a journey to the Holy Land for less than holy reasons. [44] Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, says: “I’m delighted that Mark Gatiss has assembled such an outstanding cast to conjure up another unmissable ghost story for BBC Two and iPlayer this Christmas. The Mezzotint is classic M. R. James, and the perfect slice of horror to thrill us this festive season.” 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]

A decade after their release on DVD, the BFI have remastered the first four of the BBC’s much-loved Christmas supernatural tales on Blu-ray as GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS, VOLUME ONE, complete with all of the previous special features and new commentaries. An overjoyed Slarek revisits some of the finest TV hauntings, for the first time in high definition. Has working on Count Magnus and the other Christmas ghost stories changed your view on the supernatural?With the exception of the final film, the tales were directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. The final episode was directed by Derek Lister. [33] No. Newly recorded audio commentary for The Ash Tree by writer and TV historian Jon Dear, incorporating material from author and editor Johnny Mains Clark is less complimentary of the adaptation of The Ash Tree, which he felt didn't make Mistress Mothersole an effective villain, as a result of both his and adaptor David Rudkin's sympathy for witch trial victims; "We know so much about the hysteria of the witch trials and the ignorance and downright evil that fueled them that it was well-nigh impossible to portray her as James intended. Although, even he makes her a complicated character, hinting that she was popular with local farmers and the pagan fertility aspects that this implies. Frankly, I don't think the script quite did justice to the story, and maybe someone else should have a go at it." [17] Fisher, Mark (15 April 2007). "Bleak and Solemn ..." abstractdynamics.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010 . Retrieved 22 August 2010. Mark Gatiss's adaptation of " The Tractate Middoth", another story by M. R. James, was broadcast on BBC Two on Christmas Day 2013. This was followed by a documentary, M. R. James: Ghost Writer. [37]