The Signalman/A Warning To The Curious

[cloud]

I haven't seen the Dead Of Night or Supernatural series, mark. It looks like I've got loads to catch up on. By the way, there was also a MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION TV series in the '60s I think that had some M.R. James adaptions. I believe most are lost now though.

Here's my M.R. James/GSFC collection:

A Warning To The Curious
Whistle And I'll Come To You
The Signalman
The Stalls Of Barchester
The Treasure Of Abbott Thomas
The Ash Tree
Lost Hearts
Stigma
The Ice House
Number 13
A View From A Hill
Casting The Runes
Mr. Humphreys And His Inheritance
Night/Curse Of The Demon
4 x Christopher Lee Christmas Readings
3 x M.R. James Documentaries (The Corner Of The Retina, The Story Of The Ghost Story and A Pleasant Terror)

Any I'm missing?

[TALL DUDE]

Watched the ash tree last night.(cheers cloud.) Thoroughly enjoyable with a very creepy ending.."dead...and black." Yeuch!

This,and the treasure of abbot thomas are ones i hadnt seen in years,so abbot thomas tonight methinks!

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by TALL DUDE

Watched the ash tree last night.(cheers cloud.) Thoroughly enjoyable with a very creepy ending.."dead...and black." Yeuch!

This,and the treasure of abbot thomas are ones i hadnt seen in years,so abbot thomas tonight methinks!

I like the Stalls Of Barchester a great deal which features one of Robert Hardy's best performances IMHO.THe Ash Tree was pretty good too.I gather you have the Network release of Casting The Runes like me Cloud ?.I did not rate it one bit and found the short film included(Mr Humphreys & His Inheritance)far better.

[mark meakin]

Which of the recent M.R James BBC 4 adaptions did you like best Cloud.I thought A View From A Hill was the best myself.I'm surprised you missed The Dead Of Night episode Cloud as it was shown in last years season of stories.BTW what do you think of Nigel Kneales BEASTS ?.I bought the decent Network release & after wanting to see them for years I was hugely disappointed."Baby" was my favourite episode of the lot & I thought the play included as a extra "Murrain" was better than any of the others.I was only 8 when the series came out so I was not allowed to watch it.Not worth the wait though I can forgive Kneale anything after the excellent Stone Tape & Quatermass films.

[cloud]

I thought that Casting The Runes was massively underwhelming. The problem was setting it in the modern day. You look at others like WARNING and WHISTLE etc and they haven't aged one bit. Runes though looks ancient. It was reasonably entertaining though I guess. Mr. Humphreys was fantastic, especially the ending. Just a shame it wasn't 10 minutes longer though. That Network DVD is a stunner and belongs in everyone's collection, it's rare I've enjoyed the extras more than the film itself.

As for the new ones. I was disappointed with Number 13, that one left me cold. A View From A Hill though was creepy, those woods scenes and the transition between past and present were brilliantly done. I noticed they stopped at 2 episodes though, so I wonder if the beeb will start a 3rd GSFC season? I hope so.

I recently watched Beasts after getting the Network disc. On the whole I liked it but what I will say is it was very inconsistent. I was having a chat with Dracucarr about this recently and he like you was very underwhelmed by it. I think the problem is (as mentioned too in the booklet) is that each story is different and so there is no continuity or consistency. There are also very few likeable characters and it was done on the cheap.

The Baby had a good M.R. James kind of climax but was a tad dull for the most part I thought. Buddy Boy was my favourite of the series, The Dummy was entertaining enough but not great. Special Offer was a mixed bag, good but not great, What Big Teeth you have was very dull and During Barty's Party was so-so. So not great but alright. The bonus episode was the best of the bunch by a LONG shot! Do you know if the other 2 episodes are anywhere to be seen?

As for that Dead of Night series. I was in Mexico last Xmas so missed all the action, sadly.

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by cloud

. The bonus episode was the best of the bunch by a LONG shot! Do you know if the other episodes are anywhere to be seen?

No idea about the other two episodes in the ITV series but IMDB info here:-
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232216/episodes#season-1

[mark meakin]

This interesting link mentions some more decent sounding british tv supernatural plays & series from the past :-
http://uk.geocities.com/supernaturaltv/70to75.htm
This site carries The Stigma,one of the final two BBC christmas Ghost stories along with other rare tv stuff but I've not used them so I can't really recommend them.Perhaps someone on here has ?:-.
.http://raretelevision.com/

[cloud]

Thanks for the links.

Well if anyone is lacking any of those I listed above (apart from that released on DVD) and has any I'm lacking I'd be happy to do business . They're only TV recordings after all.

[mark meakin]

I know over on the Cult Movie Forums Cloud, you've mentioned how much you like real life paranormal series like Strange But True.As I mentioned on there,the US now have A Haunting availabe on region free boxed sets.Series 1 & 2 are in one set & I've bought my daughter that set & series 3 & 4 individually.I don't know if you saw A Haunting In Connecticut & A Haunting In Georgia but they are both being sold individually in extended 90 minute episodes & I've ordered those two.This series has genuinely creepy moments & the recent crop of PG-13 horror titles pale in comparison.I was however annoyed to discover the UK episodes on Discovery have had the original creepy voiceover replaced & the man's voice used now sounds as menacing as the Mr Kipling cake advert bloke. .The US sets are great value at around a tenner lasting over 5 hours each.

[cloud]

Ah yeah I remember you mentioning them. A tenner for two volumes is cheap. It's been on me wishlist for ages but I still ain't got round to buying it.

Have you been keeping up with Strange But True? on the Paranormal Channel?