A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971)

Name: A Ghost Story for Christmas
Rating: 7.3

Rating: 7.3

Synopsis

A strand of annual British short television adaptations of classic ghost stories, referencing the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. First broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and revived in 2005 on BBC Four.

First Air Date: 1971-12-24

Last Air Date: 2025-12-24

Number of Seasons: 3

Number of Episodes: 30

Created By: Lawrence Gordon Clark

Networks: BBC One, BBC Television

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

David Pugh as John
Clive Swift as Dr. Black
David Burke as Gunton, Hotel Landlord
Ambrose Coghill as Colonel
Cyril Appleton as Master Procathro
Roger Milner as Vicar
John Hurt as James Parkin
Gemma Jones as Alice Parkin
Lesley Sharp as Hetty
Sophie Thompson as Carol

Seasons

Season 1 (1971)

Season 2 (2005)

Season 3 (2013)

Season 1 (1971)

The first season includes five adaptations of stories from the four books by M. R. James, published between 1904 and 1925. The The sixth film, The Signalman, is an adaptation of a story by Charles Dickens published in his magazine All the Year Round in 1866. The final two stories were based on original screenplays by Clive Exton and John Bowen.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: The Stalls of Barchester (1971-12-24)

An ambitious cleric murders an aged Archdeacon at Barchester Cathedral. However, he is soon being stalked by a sinister black cat and by a hooded figure both of whom seem to be embodiments of carvings on the cathedral's choir stalls.
Ep. 2: A Warning to the Curious (1972-12-24)

An amateur archaeologist travels to a remote seaside town in Norfolk to search for the lost crown of Anglia, but after unearthing it is haunted by a mysterious black figure.
Ep. 3: Lost Hearts (1973-12-25)

An orphan moves into the house of his uncle, but is disturbed by visions of a pair of ghostly children. Is their message a warning to be fearful of his uncle's obsession with immortality?
Ep. 4: Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974-12-23)

A respected theologian and his protégé unearth clues to find the hidden treasure of a disgraced monk in an abbey library. Should he have heeded his own advice not to go treasure hunting?
Ep. 5: The Ash-tree (1975-12-23)

An aristocrat inherits his family estate and is haunted by visions of his ancestor's role in a witchcraft trial.
Ep. 6: The Signalman (1976-12-22)

A railway signalman tells a curious traveller how he is being troubled by a ghostly spectre that seems to predict calamity.
Ep. 7: Stigma (1977-12-28)

Whilst clearing the ground for a new lawn, a family find a huge flat rock in their garden. It is so heavy it needs a crane to remove it. In doing so, they release a spirit which has terrible consequences for the family.
Ep. 8: The Ice House (1978-12-25)

The story concerns a health spa visited by Paul (John Stride) , strange incidents occur with members of staff whom Paul notices are all icy cold to the touch. The Brother and sister owners seem otherworldly , as do the residents, and they have a strange relationship with two vines.......
Ep. 9: A View From a Hill (2005-12-23)

A historian has a disturbing experience after borrowing a pair of binoculars belonging to a missing outcast and venturing up a notorious landmark.
Ep. 10: Number 13 (2006-12-22)

An academic researcher repudiates local superstitions surrounding a devilish house. However, repeated visions and noises during the night suggest he may be proved wrong.
Ep. 11: Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010-12-24)

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.
Ep. 12: The Tractate Middoth (2013-12-25)

A young librarian receives a request for an obscure Hebrew book from a sinister gentleman, unaware of its contents.
Ep. 13: The Dead Room (2018-12-24)

Aubrey Judd, veteran radio presenter of The Dead Room, soon realises that elements of his own past are not as dead and buried as he perhaps hoped.
Ep. 14: Martin's Close (2019-12-24)

Adaptation of a ghost story by MR James. 1684. John Martin is on trial for his life. Facing him, the infamous 'hanging judge' George Jeffreys. However, this is not a cut-and-dried murder case.
Ep. 15: The Mezzotint (2021-12-24)

1923. In the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of of an unknown country house with an imposing facade, a sweeping lawn - and, just perhaps, something else.
Ep. 16: Count Magnus (2022-12-24)

The inquisitive Mr Wraxhall discovers that a long-dead Swedish nobleman does not lie easy in his tomb.
Ep. 17: Lot No. 249 (2023-12-24)

An Oxford University student becomes obsessed with an ancient Egyptian mummy.
Ep. 18: Woman of Stone (2024-12-24)

Newlywed couple Jack and Laura move to a village where a legend says marble knight effigies in the church come alive on Christmas Eve. Jack dismisses it as folklore, but on Christmas Eve, he feels drawn to the church, leaving Laura alone.
Ep. 19: The Room in the Tower (2025-12-24)

For 15 years, Roger Winstanley has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: an invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time. Nightmare and waking life seem to finally collide when an invitation to the dreaded "room in the tower” becomes all too real…