The Signalman/A Warning To The Curious
 

Just ordered these two BBC Christmas ghost tales.....anyone seen them?
Any good?.....AND NO SPOILERS PLEASE!!!;)

Yes, both excellent. I shot a film on the same Steam Train Line used for The Signalman last year. Amazing place. The Box of Delights was shot there too.

That's what I like to hear my friend......;)

Yip - brilliant stuff reaper. Let us know what you think of them.

Will do mate......

Of the two I prefer The Signalman with a fine Denholm Elliott performance but both are well worth picking up for fans of atmospheric ghost stories.I recorded them off BBC 4 along with The Treasure Of Abbott Thomas,Stalls Of Barchester & Lost Hearts one of the most famous of the BBC M.R James adaptions (Though The Signalman is from a Charles Dicken's story)I'm hoping the BBC will release a boxset of all the stories including The Ash Tree (which I also have) and Stigma & The Ice House (both of which I've never seen)I also liked View From A Hill & Number 13 the recent BBC 4 M.R James adaptions (though the older ones were better)

Saw both of these when they were originally transmitted.

Ice House is extremely creepy, while Stigma has a fair amount of nudity... neither of them has been repeated ( to my knowledge ).

I agree the older BBC Ghost Stories were better though. I hope I'm not spoiling it too much for reaper when I say I think the ghost in The Signalman is one of the creepiest/ scariest ghostly creations ever! Unforgettable.

Whistle And I'll Come To You is another classic.

Totally agree with you mark - a collection of all the Beeb's ghost stories would make a fantastic box set.

I can't understand why the BBC are dragging their heels on this one.I gather the BBC 4 repeats & new M.R James adaptions were popular with viewers.:(

Recieved them today,I will let you know what I think shortly....;)

My father told me about another creepy BBC one-off I missed called The Lorelei starring Amanda Redman I think set in Wales.I also liked the Nigel Kneale adaption of The Woman In Black on ITV.

A warning to the curious is damn scary,as is the stalls of barchester,one scene in particular involving a clawed hand,thats all im gonna say.Can feel those goosepimples on me arms already.;)

They dont make 'em like this anymore,mores the pity!:(

I regard the Stalls Of Barchester as one of the more underrated adaptions.Robert Hardy was particularly good in this one & it does have some effective scares.

Watched the two of 'em and yes ,they're both enjoyable but I'd probably never watch 'em again,so I'll put them in the trades section if anyone's interested.
Of the two,I'd say Warning was the better,but Signal also had it's moments,especially the ghost at the tunnel.....:eek:

I've got these two (plus Whistle and I'll Come to You) "saved for later" in my amazon account (along with Box of Delights funnily enough which I just re-discovered y/day). Gonna buy when the nights start drawing in again (which, as we now have some decent weather in the UK should be in about 5 mins). On the same subject of spooky brit TV does anyone remember Armchair Thrillers - specifically the one called Quiet as a Nun? The bit with the faceless, uh, nun rocking in the chair is responsible for what was probably the biggest brown-trouser moment of my childhood. Still hasn't been released on DVD. Gah!

Stalls of barchester sounds interesting.

The BFI ghost stories are OOP & may cost you a bundle if you leave it too late.Whistle & I'll Come To You is pretty expensive now.Luckily I recorded them of BBC 4 & some will more than likely be on this year too.

Thanks Mark. I had that trouble with the Beiderbecke Collection. Bought 'Tapes' and 'Connection' for about a tenner then people started asking near to 100 quid for 'Affair' (in a non-prostitute way you understand :D). Had to wait about a year. Snapped it up, then they released a new box set. doh. I'll keep my beady eye on the prices and the Beeb :)

Shit! I seem to have unwittingly copied your avatar... sorry sir! I will find a new one a.s.a.p.!!

On the subject of these old, scary, brilliant Ghost tales for T.V. out of these 2 'A Warning...' would be my pick but it is bettered in every way by 'Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You', 'The Stalls Of Barchester', and, of course, the shitpant classic that is 'The Woman In Black'

Lost Hearts and The Ash Tree are another two classic Beeb ghost stories.

And The Stone Tape is superb. One of the best.

The Stone Tape-heard of this loads of times,what's it actually about?

It's about a team of scientists who take over an empty mansion for their experiments on recording techniques, who discover a disused room which seems to have something sinister hidden within its walls.

Won't give away any more reaps, but if you like 70s telly, creepy ghost stories and loads of atmosphere you should like this. I love it to bits.

Written by Nigel Kneale - it does have that sci fi / ghost story crossover feel to it, in the same kind of way as Quatermass And The Pit. Scared the shit out of me when I first saw it ( I was only 10 ) and it still creeps me out now!

Is it a full length film,or a short play-I felt a bit stung by AWTTC and TS....:(

It was a one off play made by the Beeb in 1972 and lasts 90 mins.

The BFI disc also has an audio commentary by Nigel Kneale and Kim Newman, as well as ROM printable scripts of Kneale's The Road and The Stone Tape - so ya get a bit more for yer money with this one!

90 mins is cool-no doubt a fortune on Amazon...it's OOP now is it not?

Yeah - seems to be....it's selling at ?30 upwards on Play, Amazon etc. but maybe it may crop up on ebay from time to time?

Yes the Stone Tape from BFI is getting pricey now.My wife picked up mine from Help The Aged for only ?3.00 a good while back.I picked up the first Carlton dvd boxed set of The Prisoner for a fiver from the same shop:D.No fan of TV horror should miss the Stone Tape however,It's a real tragedy Kneale's The Road was wiped & no longer exists.Several people on various forums have recommended the 1977 BBC series Supernatural to me.

The amount of goodies picked up in charity shops on here amazes me....I'm seriously going to have to trawl some....Help the aged?.....Help the Reaper....:D

I gather The Signalman is being repeated on BBC 4 if people have not seen it ,in early October.

It''s on thursday night on BBC 4 if anybody's keen to check it out.Denholm Elliott is excellent in it.

A real classic. I love these Ghost Stories For Christmas. I just need to wait for Stigma and Ice House to be transmitted and I'll have 'em all I think.

Same here they're the only two I need.The Dead Of Night episode "The Exorcism" was good last year.Hopefully more NEW goodies this christmas.A complete screening of the Supernatural series (1977) or the play The Lorelei would be nice.

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?

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!:cool:

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.

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.

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.

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

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/

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.

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.:mad: .The US sets are great value at around a tenner lasting over 5 hours each.

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?