A Sting in the Tale (BBC) by request

The Beeb produces an annual Christmas-time horror/ghost/suspense series.

 

Here's the on efrom 2003, called:

 

A Sting in the Tale
Various authors
2003

A new series of five plays to send a chill up your spine.


1)  'No Conferring' by Jonathan Holloway  (Thursday 25th December 2003 @ 11:00 p.m.)

A Christmas bonding week in an isolated moorland cottage for the 'University Challenge' team from Bracewell College,
Cambridge, goes horribly wrong.

It is 1983, and the team from Bracewell College has won a place in the quarter finals of 'University Challenge'. The captain of the team, Derek Crowhurst, along with fellow team members Ernest Purefoy and Dilly Hayes, hope that a success will help take them closer to the media and political careers they all covet. However, the fourth team member, Donald Forester, unfashionable and awkward, is not well-liked by his fellow team members and Derek decides that a bonding week during the Christmas holidays will bring the team together.

The four trek to a remote cottage on Dartmoor, but when Donald reveals that his girlfriend has split up with him, the mood darkens. A glum Donald decides to stay at the cottage whilst the other three go across the moor for a few drinks at the local pub. Later, when Derek and Dilly eventually return, having left Ernest battling it out in a local quiz night at the pub, they can see no lights and all the windows seem to be smashed. What they find in the cottage will haunt them for the rest of their lives and, 20 years later, guilt and impossibility rise to the fore when a familiar face appears on 'University Challenge'.

With Damian Lynch [Derek Worsfield], Lydia Leonard [Dilly Hutchinson], Peter Darney [Donald Forester], Kenny Blyth [Ernest Pickering], and Jaimi Barbakoff [Emily].
With Bamber Gascoigne and Jeremy Paxman as themselves.

Directed by David Hunter


2)  'Myrtle, Mahonia and Rue' by Briony Glassco   (Thursday 1st January 2004 @ 11:00 p.m.)
A fairy story with a difference. A young landscape gardener decides on drastic action to escape her recurring nightmares.

With Rachel Atkins [Myrtle], Lydia Leonard [Getty], Benasori Kumalu [Mahonia], Sheri Taylor-Batiste [Rue]
Directed by Marc Beeby

3)  'Voices from Another Room' by Philip Martin   (Thursday 8th January 2004 @ 11:00 p.m.)

A story about ghosts, art, and the art of murder. An artist starts to hear voices; they talk about him, and there is the possibility of murder, involving him.

Neil Dudgeon played the victim, and Jenny Howe was his long-suffering girlfriend.
With Neil Dudgeon [Tom], Jenny Howe [Jane], Chris Moran [Richard], Katie McGuiness [Natalie], and Jaimi Barbakoff [Lily].

Music was by Tom Smail
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.

4)  'Sally Go Round the Moon' by Natalia Power   (Thursday 15th January 2004 @ 11:00 p.m.)
Are the pressures of her job the reason Sally is hearing the voice of a child which no-one else can hear? Or is she being haunted?

With Jaimi Barbakoff [Sally], Jessica Crossley [The Voice], Rachel Atkins [Laura], David Thorpe [Simon], Frances Jeater [The Old Lady / Hospital Receptionist], and Ioan Meredith [Mr. Stacey Wilson / The Bus Conductor].

Pianist and Musical Director was Clement Power
Directed by Pauline Harris

5)  'Ghosting' by Gregory Evans   (Thursday 22nd January 2004 @ 11:00 p.m.)
For a rising young novelist, ghost-writing seems to be the worst of all possible worlds. But when Michael agrees to ghost the autobiography of the super-model Vita, he finds her life dangerously seductive. How much will he risk for the book, and the woman?

With Jimi Mistry [Michael Hagen], Honeysuckle Weeks [Vita], Frances Jeater [Hildy], and Francine Stock [Francine Stock].

Directed by Ned Chaillet

 

 

 

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Replies

  • LOL
  • I never claimed to be a gentleman.  Ride em Cowboy!!
    • Oh, well ... blame my failing eyesight.. I read "Hold on to the BRIDE."

       

      :>P

  • Thank you Bob, I am already shaking in my boots..............................Elaine

    • Shake, shake, senora!

    • Jump in the saddle/ hold on to the bridle. :-)
    • I shall be a gentleman and refrain from remarking on that comment.  :>)
    • Missed this one, Thanks Bob!  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------  Rick
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