BBC Ghost Stories (A Ghost Story for Christmas)

[McCrutchy]

2013 RELEASES



INDIVIDUAL RELEASE



RELATED WORKS



RELATED WORKS ON BLU-RAY



2012 RELEASES

This fall, the BFI, in collaboration with the BBC, will be making all twelve installments of Ghost Stories for Christmas available on DVD in the United Kingdom. The films will be released in five sets of 2-3 films, with each available separately, and shortly thereafter, collected in a boxed set.



INDIVIDUAL RELEASES

[McCrutchy]

Announcement and specs for Volumes One and Two:

BBC TV’s acclaimed Ghost Stories finally come to DVD
in five individual volumes and a box set from the BFI

The BFI will make all twelve of the classic BBC films from A Ghost Story for Christmas series available on DVD this year, with the first two volumes – each containing a double bill of chilling tales – released on 20 August.

The first release features Jonathan Miller’s Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968), with Sir Michael Hordern, paired with the 2010 adaptation of the same chilling tale, starring John Hurt and directed by Andy de Emmony. Released alongside it is a pairing of The Stalls of Barchester (1971), starring Robert Hardy and receiving its DVD premiere, and A Warning to the Curious (1972), with Peter Vaughan, both directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. Each set comes with numerous special features and illustrated booklets.

As a Christmas treat during the 1970s, the BBC screened adaptations of the classic ghost stories of MR James, the Cambridge academic and author of some of the most spine-tingling tales in the English language. Most of the instalments, which were broadcast to terrified viewers in the dead of winter, were directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, who has been interviewed for new introductions on these BFI releases.

With only three of the twelve tales previously released on DVD (by the BFI in 2002, and long since deleted), the films in this brilliant series have been high on many film and TV fans' 'most wanted' DVD lists. With a subtlety and style all of their own, they have been a major influence on recent British horror films, such as The Woman in Black, and have inspired screenwriters and filmmakers such as Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock).

The release of the first two Ghost Stories volumes is timed to mark the 150th anniversary of MR James’ birth on 1 August 1862.

Two more volumes, the first containing Lost Hearts, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas and The Ash Tree, and the second containing The Signalman (Andrew Davies’ adaptation of the Charles Dickens story), Stigma (written by Clive Exton) and The Ice House (written by John Bowen), will follow in September, while the fifth and final volume, containing the more recent instalments View from a Hill and Number 13, as well as a complete Ghost Stories for Christmas box set, will be released in October.
__________________________________________________ ______
VOLUME 1

Whistle and I’ll Come to You (Jonathan Miller, 1968)

When a sceptical professor, played with eccentric intensity in a brilliant performance by Michael Hordern, finds an old whistle on a Norfolk beach he unleashes a horrifying monster from the depths of his psyche.

Jonathan Miller’s (Beyond the Fringe, The Drinking Party, Alice in Wonderland) adaptation of MR James’ terrifying tale, made for BBC’s Omnibus series, uses the bleak Norfolk landscape, superbly photographed by Dick Bush, to instil a sense of isolation and unease.

Whistle and I’ll Come to You (Andy de Emmony, 2010)

In this recent rendering of MR James’s celebrated ghost story, the legendary John Hurt plays James Parkin, a lonely retiree who has left his wife in a nursing home. Troubled by this loss, he visits their old holiday haunt, but his discovery of a mysterious ring on the beach sparks a series of ghostly encounters and disturbing nightmares which refuse to disappear in the cold light of day. Atmospheric and emotive, this modern adaptation brings a fascinating new interpretation to an endlessly creepy yarn.

Special features
• Jonathan Miller and Christopher Frayling discuss Whistle and I’ll Come to You (BBC, 2012, 3 mins)
• MR James’ original story, ‘Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’, read by Neil Brand (2001, 42 mins)
• Introduction to Whistle and I’ll Come to You by horror writer Ramsey Campbell (2001, 16 mins)
• Ramsey Campbell reads his own MR James inspired story ‘The Guide’ (2001, 27 mins)

RRP £19.99 / Cat No: BFIV959 / Cert PG
UK / 1968 + 2010 / black and white & colour / English / 42 mins + 52 mins / DVD9 / Original aspect ratios 1.33:1 and 2:35.1 (16x9 anamorphic) | Dolby Digital mono audio 320kbps

__________________________________________________ ______
VOLUME 2

The Stalls of Barchester (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1971)

Whilst cataloguing the collections of Barchester Cathedral library, Dr Black (Clive Swift) stumbles across an intriguing box of papers belonging to a former Archdeacon Haynes (Robert Hardy), which has remained under lock and key since the nineteenth century. In it he discovers a hidden history of blood guilt and macabre supernatural revenge. With its superb cast and beautiful choral accompaniment by Norwich Cathedral choir, Lawrence Gordon Clark’s (Harry’s Game) evocative adaptation of MR James’ short story sparked the BBC’s popular Ghost Story for Christmas series of the 1970s.

A Warning to the Curious (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1972)

The second of Gordon Clark’s MR James adaptations features Peter Vaughan (Straw Dogs, Our Friends in the North) as a doomed amateur archaeologist who pays a terrible price for his curiosity about an ancient Saxon legend. John McGlashan’s extraordinary photography imbues the wide open Norfolk coastline with an uneasy sense of dread in this chilling re-working of James’ classic tale.

Special features
• Introduction to The Stalls of Barchester by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 10 mins)
• Introduction to A Warning to the Curious by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 12 mins)
• Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee – ‘The Stalls of Barchester by MR James’ (Eleanor Yule, 2000, 30 mins): Christopher Lee recreates MR James’ famous soirees, at which the antiquary would read his tales of the supernatural to eager undergraduates.
• Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee – ‘A Warning to the Curious by MR James’ (Eleanor Yule, 2000, 30 mins): Christopher Lee plays MR James in this dramatic reconstruction of one of the author’s famous Christmas readings.

RRP £19.99 / Cat No: BFIV959 / Cert PG
UK / 1971 + 1972 / colour / English / 45 mins + 50 mins / DVD9 / Original aspect ratios 1.33:1 / Dolby Digital mono audio 320kbps

[HotRats]

Pricey for DVD but they're a hell of a lot cheaper than the deleted copies sell for and some effort is being put into the extras. These are all some of the very best of television, except maybe the 2010 version of Whistle which is still worth seeing for John Hurt. Nice to see a couple of Christopher Lee's series, hope the other two episodes will be on later discs

[bgart13]

Two things with these:

- I asked the BFI when the news came out a couple of months ago about these whether they'd be available on blu-ray. They said it would be entirely dependent on what was provided to them. After the first two dvds were announced with covers, etc., I asked about a bd update, which they stated would not be happening. This suggests the BBC did not provide HD masters, which is a shame as they really ought to dig up the original 16mm film elements and do 'em up right (and preserve them as well). This is entirely too bad, because I'd love to see these in HD.

- I also asked last week or so whether the boxset would have anything additional or different from the individual releases, and I was told that they have no plans to do anything different with the contents.

Here's what the original cover images looked like for the first two discs. Seems they changed the titles slightly too:



Also, it seems the BBFC has changed the ratings to 12 instead of PG. The BBFC's site says so, too.

[HotRats]

Hope its just an incomplete listing but A Warning To The Curious doesn't seem to mention the story reading by Michael Hordern that was on the old disc

[James78]

Here's an email from the BFI:

Hi,

The original negatives are in the BBC archive. It's not a question of the negatives not surviving, it's more to do with whether they have been scanned in order to create a new HD master which in this case they have not. We (the BFI) have licensed the films from the BBC and therefore it is their decision as to whether they are going to create new HD masters and in turn supply them to us. Sadly that is not the case.

Best regards,

Ben

[grahams76]

Network's Hammer House Of Horror blu-ray set is brilliant.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by grahams76

Network's Hammer House Of Horror blu-ray set is brilliant.

I haven’t upgraded. There has just been too much to buy lately!

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I haven’t upgraded. There has just been too much to buy lately!

Grahams76 is right - I also have Network's Hammer House blu-ray set and it is excellent, should you decide to upgrade one day.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by CV19

Grahams76 is right - I also have Network's Hammer House blu-ray set and it is excellent, should you decide to upgrade one day.

Cheers Carl. I wonder if the 70’s ‘Thriller‘ tv series will get a Blu-ray upgrade?

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Cheers Carl. I wonder if the 70’s ‘Thriller‘ tv series will get a Blu-ray upgrade?

Would that be the Armchair Thriller series? I'd snap that up in an instant if that ever made it to blu-ray.

[James78]

Originally Posted by CV19

Grahams76 is right - I also have Network's Hammer House blu-ray set and it is excellent, should you decide to upgrade one day.

I agree. Definitely upgrade Steedeel. The restoration is beautiful.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by James78

I agree. Definitely upgrade Steedeel. The restoration is beautiful.

Cheers James, I might ask for it for Christmas.

[vortexx]

Does anyone know if there will be a new Ghost Story for Christmas this year?

[Kieran Seymour]

Originally Posted by vortexx

Does anyone know if there will be a new Ghost Story for Christmas this year?

One was written but they couldn't make it for 2020 reasons. Hopefully next year.

[vortexx]

Originally Posted by Kieran Seymour

One was written but they couldn't make it for 2020 reasons. Hopefully next year.

Totally understandable regarding this year. The fact they have a story/script is a good sign though. I would hate if they completely stopped as we have nothing quite like it in the USA or Canada.

Off topic but for people who like ghost stories, there is one that is on YouTube from a show called 'Way Out hosted by Roald Dahl. The pilot is pretty eerie and it's called Dissolve to Black. Check it out. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to ever be released on home video along with the 13 other episodes.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by vortexx

Off topic but for people who like ghost stories, there is one that is on YouTube from a show called 'Way Out hosted by Roald Dahl. The pilot is pretty eerie and it's called Dissolve to Black. Check it out. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to ever be released on home video along with the 13 other episodes.

Not really off-topic, as there has been discussion these past few months about other ghost story TV series.

Thanks for posting about 'Way Out. Have looked into this series, and a book was written about it (it's available on Amazon).

[Thebunk]

Could kind soul tell me if these are truly region locked (I guess specifically the BBC 6 disc set)?

[kwisatzhaderach]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Could kind soul tell me if these are truly region locked (I guess specifically the BBC 6 disc set)?

The 6 disc set I own is region 2 locked.

[vortexx]

There is an adaptation of William Hope Hodgeson's A Voice in the Night, which isn't exactly a ghost story but falls into the category of what was called "ghost stories" when it was published. It is on YouTube but everyone says it is too dark. I have a 16mm print of it but my telecine died. It was made for the show Suspicion.
Another Hodson ghost story was adopted and was a proposed pilot for a psychic detective series that never was bought, called the Wishing Room. I had this on 16mm and made a VHS copy at some point. It wasn't particularly creepy though.
Another that I had on 16mm was A.M. Burrage's playmates which might qualify as creepy for TV for it's time. I sold this as well after making a copy. I still have A Voice in the Night though, but never watched it.

You may find these all on YouTube.