[Inspector Abberline]

'Number 13' 2006
Directed by Pier Wilkie and continuing the series A Ghost Story for Christmas, Number 13 tells the story of a scholarly academic from Oxbridge called Professor Anderson played by Greg Wise. The BBc production values on anything nowadays is pretty damn good especially when it comes to period piece melodrama, if anybody can recreate an Edwardian or Victorian setting then the BBC are the go to people. Where as the original stories have that added quality of age and time to make them seem even more spooky than they did when they were first aired , the newer adaptations are having to rely on the directors skill in giving us the Goosebumps..Set mostly in the hotel Anderson is staying in, he insists on a room with a writing desk and a view, eventually after being shown several rooms by the landlord Gunton (David Burke) ,he finally settles for room no 12.The story of either an educated or a religious man coming face to face with the supernatural and having his beliefs either shattered or held up to scrutiny is something that occurs occasionally in M.R.James stories, it gives the viewer or reader someone to identify with,what would we do if faced with the similar dilemma. Anderson continues his research under the beady eye of Mr. Harrington, Cathedral Archivist played by the wonderful Paul Freeman,Anderson discovers some passages written about Bishop Walgrave a disgraced clergy in the 1660's and his association with a man called Nicholas Francken. But what is the banging and noises that keep Anderson awake at night, and who is room no 13?. Greg Wise is very good as the stiff upper lipped but very pompous academic, his snobbishness and aloofness to his fellow guests make him an unlikely hero for this tale of the supernatural.But by the end of the tale you find yourself feeling sorry for Anderson especially towards the end where he ends befriending his nemesis in the hotel a young salesman's Edward Jenkins played by Tom Burke,as they both confront what might be hiding in Number 13. Wilkie manages to cionvey a great sense of history within the story itself, the story of Walgrave and Francken make for a great back story as to what might of happened, its never explicit but just implies that they indulged in witchcraft and devil worship. A very worth while entry in the ghost story series, by the way can a lady suckle a rat on her teet.