Four classic BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas available on Blu-ray for the first time
Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas series was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s and spawned a long tradition of chilling tales, which terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come.
This much-requested release gives four landmarks of the series their Blu-ray debut, having been newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials. All based on classic short stories by acclaimed writer MR James, his atmospheric settings and creeping unease are eerily realised in these seminal dramas that unleash evil spirits that will haunt and unnerve.
The Films:
- Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)
- The Stalls of Barchester (1971)
- A Warning to the Curious (1972)
- Lost Hearts (1973)
- Newly remastered by the BFI and presented in High Definition (Limited Edition)
- Newly recorded audio commentaries for Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968) and A Warning to the Curious by TV historian Jon Dear
- Newly recorded audio commentaries for The Stalls of Barchester and Lost Hearts by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan
- Whistle and I’ll Come to You (2010, 52 mins): John Hurt stars in this 2010 interpretation of MR James’s chilling tale
- Jonathan Miller and Christopher Frayling interview (2012, 3 mins)
- Neil Brand reads MR James’s original story (2001, 42 mins, audio only)
- Ramsey Campbell on MR James (2001, 16 mins)
- Ramsey Campbell reads The Guide (2001, 27 mins)
- Introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 33 mins total): the director of seven of the BBC’s classic A Ghost Story For Christmas episodes discusses his part in the first three instalments he directed
- Ghost Stories For Christmas with Christopher Lee (2000, 60 mins total): BBC Scotland’s ‘talking-head horror’ series starring the iconic actor as an MR James-like raconteur of fireside Christmas ghost stories. Included on this release are The Stalls of Barchester and A Warning to the Curious
