Woman's Hour Drama –
MR James At Christmas
Christmas Eve Monday 24 to Friday 28 December
10.45-11.00am BBC RADIO 4 (Repeated 7:45-8:00pm)
Sir Derek Jacobi introduces five new, chilling dramatisations of MR James's
ghost stories, in this week's Woman's Hour Drama.
Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) was arguably the finest writer of ghost
stories England ever produced, influencing the likes of HP Lovecraft,
Ramsey Campbell and Stephen King, and his work has inspired numerous
film and TV adaptations. Many of his 30 or so tales were penned as
Christmas Eve entertainment and read aloud to gatherings of friends.
Across the week, cursed artefacts, quests for immortality, restless spirits
and pacts with the Devil come together to create a sense of foreboding and unease.
The week begins with a dramatisation of James's best-known – and most frequently
anthologised – story, Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad.
During a winter golfing holiday in Norfolk, Professor Parkins uncovers a whistle
from the site of a Templar preceptory. Back in his hotel room, fascinated by his
find, the professor raises the whistle to his lips, heedless of the terror it may
summon. The cast includes Jamie Glover, Nicholas Boulton, Rachel Atkins and Ben Onwukwe.
Christmas Day's story, on Tuesday, is The Tractate Middoth. The will of wealthy Dr Rant
is hidden in an obscure text in the archives of the British Library. He's devised a
particularly unpleasant surprise for the first of his relatives to track the book down.
Diligent curator David Garrett gets caught up in these machinations when he is sent to
the library's stacks to retrieve the manuscript. The cast includes Joseph Millson,
Joannah Tincey, John Rowe and Sam Dale.
Lost Hearts is Boxing Day's offering. Stephen Elliot, orphaned at the tender age of 12,
moves to his wealthy uncle's house in Lincolnshire, only to find himself troubled by
dreams of two ghostly figures. It transpires that they had been staying at the same house
when they met their untimely end. Is Stephen's uncle involved and, if so, could it have
something to do with his obsession with immortality? The cast includes James D'Arcy,
Sophie Roberts, Jordan Clarke, Peter Marinker and Katy Cavanagh.
The stories are dramatised by Chris Harrald and feature specially composed music
by Danish composer-in-residence, Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Producer Gemma Jenkins
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Replies
Anton Lesser, Carolyn Pickles, Susan Jameson, Ben Crowe and Simon Treves star in Thursday's
story – The Rose Garden. Mary and George Goodman are renovating an old house in rural Essex.
When they remove an ancient post from the back garden, it opens a doorway to the region's
turbulent past.
Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jan de Lukowicz, Simon Treves and Ben Onwukwe star in the final drama
of the week on Friday – Number 13. It's just after Christmas and Dr Anderson is on a research
trip to Denmark. He becomes curious about why his hotel doesn't include the number 13 in its
room listings, particularly as the room itself actually exists. It soon transpires that he
is the only one who can see the door. This would seem warning enough to most people, but
the curious academic is determined to see what lies within.
The stories are dramatised by Chris Harrald and feature specially composed music
by Danish composer-in-residence, Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Producer Gemma Jenkins
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A curious tradition - this British idea of ghost stories at Christmas ...