❉ Four terrific tales come to Blu-ray newly remastered from original film materials with a selection of new and archive extras.
3-disc Limited Edition Blu-ray box set containing 4 episodes, out on 5 December 2022 alongside the BFI horror season In Dreams are Monsters.
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 that terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come. For many fans they are still a traditional Christmas-time watch.
Previously released on DVD by the BFI – and among our all-time best-selling titles – these terrific tales come to Blu-ray newly remastered from original film materials. With extras including 2010’s Whistle and I’ll Come to You and a selection of new and archive extras this handsome set makes a perfect Christmas gift.
Included in Volume 1 are the first four instalments of the series:
Whistle and I’ll Come To You (1968): produced and directed by Jonathan Miller, original story by MR James, starring Michael Hordern, Ambrose Coghill, George Woodbridge
The Stalls of Barchester (1971): produced and directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, starring Robert Hardy, Clive Swift, Thelma Barlow
A Warning to the Curious (1972): written, directed and produced by Lawrence Gordon Clark, starring Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Julian Herington
Lost Hearts (1973): directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, starring Simon Gipps-Kent, Joseph O’Conor, James Mellor
Special features
❉ Newly remastered by the BFI
❉ 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 M R James’s chilling tale
❉ Jonathan Miller and Christopher Frayling interview (2012, 3 mins)
❉ Neil Brand reads M R 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 M R James-like raconteur of fireside Christmas ghost stories. Included on this release are The Stalls of Barchester and A Warning to the Curious
❉ Illustrated booklet with essays by Reggie Oliver, Jon Dear, Jonathan Rigby, Adam Easterbrook and Ramsey Campbell; credits and notes on the special features (First pressing only)
GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOLUME 2 is planned for release next December.
❉ GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOLUME 1 (3-disc Limited Edition Blu-ray box) out on 5 December 2022, RRP: £29.99. Pre-order from the BFI Shop.
❉ News source: BFI Publicity.
❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.
