Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmasseries was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s and spawned a long tradition of chilling tales, which terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come.
After the best-selling release of Volume One last year, this much-requested follow-up gives five more festive landmarks their Blu-ray debut, having been newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials. As well as two MR James adaptations, the series includes the celebrated version of Charles Dickens' The Signalman starring Denholm Elliott, as well as specially written stories set in the contemporary 1970s.These influential films, all but one directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, were written by some of the best scriptwriters working in British TV in the 1970s: John Bowen, David Rudkin, Andrew Davies and Clive Exton.
The Films:
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974, 37 min)
The Ash Tree (1975, 32 min)
The Signalman (1976, 39 min)
Stigma (1977, 32 min)
The Ice House (1978, 34 min)
Extras
Presented in High Definition
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…
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
Newly recorded audio commentary for The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by writer and TV historian Simon Farquhar
Newly recorded audio commentary for The Ash Tree by writer and TV historian Jon Dear, incorporating material from author and editor Johnny Mains
Newly recorded audio commentary for The Signalman by TV historian Jon Dear and actor and writer Mark Gatiss
Newly recorded audio commentaries for Stigma and The Ice House by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan
Spectres, Spirits and Haunted Treasure: Adapting MR James (2023, 17 mins): a newly commissioned video essay by Nic Wassell exploring some of the classic BBC adaptations of the work of MR James.
Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee - Number 13 (2000, 30 mins): Ronald Frame’s adaptation is brought to life by the horror maestro
Introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 39 mins): the director introduces The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, The Ash Tree, The Signalman, and Stigma
Illustrated booklet with archival essays by Alex Davidson, Dick Fiddy, Simon Farquhar and Helen Wheatley
