| Author | Message | ||
     David_lees (David_lees) Username: David_lees Registered: 12-2011 Posted From: 2.96.205.185 |
Looks like we're getting more ghost stories for Christmas this year: Mark Gatiss will present a BBC Two documentary on the life and work of horror writer MR James this Christmas, alongside a drama adaptation of one of James’s short stories. Classic chiller The Tractate Middoth will be written and directed by Gatiss, bringing "his distinctive wit and sense of the macabre to bear on one of James's most thrilling tales, involving a disputed will, a race against time, and something very unpleasant lurking in the library". The accompanying documentary, Ghost Writer, sees Gatiss step into the mind of MR James. A long-time admirer of James, Mark will try to solve one of the great literary mysteries: how this donnish Victorian bachelor, conservative by nature and a devout Anglican, created tales that continue to chill readers a century on. Gatiss will journey from James's childhood home in Suffolk to Eton and on to King’s College, Cambridge, the two institutions where James spent most of his life, visiting ancient churches, moonlit quadrangles and echoing libraries along the way. Janice Hadlow, Controller of BBC Two, commented: "It’s a pleasure to bring Mark Gatiss back to BBC Two with a new look at one of Britain’s genre defining writers..." http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headlines/7168-mark-gatiss-brings-mr-james-documen tary-and-drama-to-bbc-two | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
This is great news! The more quality M.R. James adaptations we have the better. That's one of my favourite stories. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.237.187.186 |
Looking forward to this! | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.59.128 |
I only recently saw the shortish adaptation of "Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance", and thought it didn't do the original story fully justice. Curiously, nobody seems to want to tackle "Count Magnus", or am I missing something? | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.8.19.249 |
You aren't as far as I know, Hubert, though The Brides of Dracula lifts a scene. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 2.30.203.90 |
I think there was a Radio 4 play some years ago that set 'The Tractate Middoth' off the Cornish coast and included a cricket match. It was called 'The Scilly Middoth'. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.59.128 |
I have heard it was a question of Scilly or Charybdis. Imagine what great adaptations they could make out of "Martin's Close" or even "Wailing Well". |