[Inspector Abberline]

The Stalls of Barchester (1971)
At first the The Stalls of Barchester (1971) didn't really impress me, but with several re-watches the story and film definitely grew on me. I think it took awhile for the story to sink in, its not an obvious ghost story, well not to me, It has a rather convoluted plot that doesn't necessarily grab you instantly but if you take the time to re-watch the film the plot and its intricacies soon become apparent.( I may be a bit slow so that might explain that problem) The story originally appeared in the 1911 collection More Ghost Stories .It starts with Clive Swift as Dr. Black cataloguing the library at Barchester Cathedral in 1932,the librarian shows him a box that contains an old diary about the unexplained death Dr Haynes (Robert Hardy), Dr Haynes is an Archdeacon in waiting, waiting that is for the actual Archdeacon ,Harold Bennett as Archdeacon Pulteney to die, unfortunately for Dr Haynes ,Pulteney does expire till he's 90 years old and that's after he trips over a loose stair rod and tumbles down the stairs to his death.At first the maid is blamed for not reporting the missing stair rod that tripped Archdeacon Puitlteney .Lawrence Gordon Clark directed the first in this rather excellent series of mini movies, it was broadcast 24 December 1971.Clark came from a background of documentary film making which is no surprise as the direction and filming are very straight forward but most believable,it shows you don't need fancy camerawork or fast editing or loud noise or shit blowing up to make a good film, all you need is talent and 16mm camera.(Norwich cathedral was filmed on location with a 16mm) Also the cast is a wonderful mixture of sitcom actors Clive Swift ,Harold Bennett (young Mr Grace) soap actress Thelma Barlow and the great Robert Hardy.This is definitely one of the slower paced stories but once I had got my head around the tale it was a rewarding watch,