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A Ghost Story for Christmas

A Ghost Story for Christmas
★ 7.3/10•1971•32m•15•Drama
Similars

Classic adaptations from the BBC

A strand of annual British short television adaptations of classic ghost stories, referencing the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. First broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and revived in 2005 on BBC Four.

Charles Dickens · Writer

Lawrence Gordon Clark · Writer

John Bowen · Writer

Robin Chapman · Writer

StatusReturning Series
Runtime32m
LanguageEN
First Air DateDec 24, 1971

Episodes

Episode 1 - The Stalls of BarchesterE145m

The Stalls of Barchester

An ambitious cleric murders an aged Archdeacon at Barchester Cathedral. However, he is soon being stalked by a sinister black cat and by a hooded figure both of whom seem to be embodiments of carvings on the cathedral's choir stalls.

Dec 24, 1971

Episode 2 - A Warning to the CuriousE250m

A Warning to the Curious

An amateur archaeologist travels to a remote seaside town in Norfolk to search for the lost crown of Anglia, but after unearthing it is haunted by a mysterious black figure.

Dec 24, 1972

Episode 3 - Lost HeartsE335m

Lost Hearts

An orphan moves into the house of his uncle, but is disturbed by visions of a pair of ghostly children. Is their message a warning to be fearful of his uncle's obsession with immortality?

Dec 25, 1973

Episode 4 - Treasure of Abbot ThomasE437m

Treasure of Abbot Thomas

A respected theologian and his protégé unearth clues to find the hidden treasure of a disgraced monk in an abbey library. Should he have heeded his own advice not to go treasure hunting?

Dec 23, 1974

Episode 5 - The Ash-treeE532m

The Ash-tree

An aristocrat inherits his family estate and is haunted by visions of his ancestor's role in a witchcraft trial.

Dec 23, 1975

Episode 6 - The SignalmanE638m

The Signalman

A railway signalman tells a curious traveller how he is being troubled by a ghostly spectre that seems to predict calamity.

Dec 22, 1976

Episode 7 - StigmaE732m

Stigma

Whilst clearing the ground for a new lawn, a family find a huge flat rock in their garden. It is so heavy it needs a crane to remove it. In doing so, they release a spirit which has terrible consequences for the family.

Dec 28, 1977

Episode 8 - The Ice HouseE834m

The Ice House

The story concerns a health spa visited by Paul (John Stride) , strange incidents occur with members of staff whom Paul notices are all icy cold to the touch. The Brother and sister owners seem otherworldly , as do the residents, and they have a strange relationship with two vines.......

Dec 25, 1978

Episode 9 - A View From a HillE939m

A View From a Hill

A historian has a disturbing experience after borrowing a pair of binoculars belonging to a missing outcast and venturing up a notorious landmark.

Dec 23, 2005

Episode 10 - Number 13E1040m

Number 13

An academic researcher repudiates local superstitions surrounding a devilish house. However, repeated visions and noises during the night suggest he may be proved wrong.

Dec 22, 2006

Episode 11 - Whistle and I'll Come to YouE1152m

Whistle and I'll Come to You

Leaving his ill and ageing wife in a care home, a retired astronomer revisits one of their old coastal haunts, but after discovering a ring on the beach is soon haunted himself.

Dec 24, 2010

Episode 12 - The Tractate MiddothE1235m

The Tractate Middoth

A young librarian receives a request for an obscure Hebrew book from a sinister gentleman, unaware of its contents.

Dec 25, 2013

Episode 13 - The Dead RoomE1328m

The Dead Room

Aubrey Judd, veteran radio presenter of The Dead Room, soon realises that elements of his own past are not as dead and buried as he perhaps hoped.

Dec 24, 2018

Episode 14 - Martin's CloseE1431m

Martin's Close

Adaptation of a ghost story by MR James. 1684. John Martin is on trial for his life. Facing him, the infamous 'hanging judge' George Jeffreys. However, this is not a cut-and-dried murder case.

Dec 24, 2019

Episode 15 - The MezzotintE1529m

The Mezzotint

1923. In the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of of an unknown country house with an imposing facade, a sweeping lawn - and, just perhaps, something else.

Dec 24, 2021

Episode 16 - Count MagnusE1630m

Count Magnus

The inquisitive Mr Wraxhall discovers that a long-dead Swedish nobleman does not lie easy in his tomb.

Dec 24, 2022

Episode 17 - Lot No. 249E1729m

Lot No. 249

An Oxford University student becomes obsessed with an ancient Egyptian mummy.

Dec 24, 2023

Episode 18 - Woman of StoneE1830m

Woman of Stone

Newlywed couple Jack and Laura move to a village where a legend says marble knight effigies in the church come alive on Christmas Eve. Jack dismisses it as folklore, but on Christmas Eve, he feels drawn to the church, leaving Laura alone.

Dec 24, 2024

Episode 19 - The Room in the TowerE1930m

The Room in the Tower

For 15 years, Roger Winstanley has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: an invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time. Nightmare and waking life seem to finally collide when an invitation to the dreaded "room in the tower” becomes all too real…

Dec 24, 2025

Recommendations

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Twilight Zone
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Dark Shadows
Kindred: The Embraced
Sanditon
Little Dorrit
Roots
Nancy Drew
The Secret of Crickley Hall
SkyMed
North & South
Downton Abbey
Dalziel and Pascoe
Ghost Whisperer
Chesapeake Shores
Showtrial
The Village
The Rainmaker
Dickensian

Similars

American Gothic
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50 States of Fright
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Dead Boy Detectives
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Rescue Me
Malaysian Ghost Stories
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The Ghost Bride
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The Lost Treasures