This is one of the greatest things the BBC has done. The Signalman was typical of the BBC's 'Ghost Story for Christmas' - windswept and lonely landscapes, very few characters, and use of subtle shocks. It was also untypical in that it was one of the only non-M.R. James tales used in the series, coming as it did from the pen of Charles Dickens.
It is the tale of a lonely Signalman in Edwardian England (I think, difficult to be sure of the exact time at which the adaption is set) who is haunted by an apparition who materialises just before a tragedy occurs on the line. A traveller, who is staying at an Inn nearby, tries to look at the situation rationally, telling the signalman that he is clearly a victim of his own imagination in this secluded and lonely spot. Of course, the 'spectre' is not in his imagination and the traveller is not able to prevent the final tragedy when the signalman is killed by a train.
The apparition itself, if you look at it with a cynical eye, is merely a person in a cloak and a blue cardboard face mask, but Boy is it effective! In fact, I would say it is infinitely more effective than any of the crap emanating from Hollywood in recent years, where subtlety is not encouraged. The two actors, Denholm Elliot and Bernard Lloyd are excellent. Elliot in particular is wonderful as the haunted signalman, helpless to know what to do in the face of forces beyond his limited understanding.
Overall, if you want to see how ghost stories can be done effectively without insulting the audience's intelligence, then watch this. The British Film Institute (BFI) have recently released in on DVD.
It is the tale of a lonely Signalman in Edwardian England (I think, difficult to be sure of the exact time at which the adaption is set) who is haunted by an apparition who materialises just before a tragedy occurs on the line. A traveller, who is staying at an Inn nearby, tries to look at the situation rationally, telling the signalman that he is clearly a victim of his own imagination in this secluded and lonely spot. Of course, the 'spectre' is not in his imagination and the traveller is not able to prevent the final tragedy when the signalman is killed by a train.
The apparition itself, if you look at it with a cynical eye, is merely a person in a cloak and a blue cardboard face mask, but Boy is it effective! In fact, I would say it is infinitely more effective than any of the crap emanating from Hollywood in recent years, where subtlety is not encouraged. The two actors, Denholm Elliot and Bernard Lloyd are excellent. Elliot in particular is wonderful as the haunted signalman, helpless to know what to do in the face of forces beyond his limited understanding.
Overall, if you want to see how ghost stories can be done effectively without insulting the audience's intelligence, then watch this. The British Film Institute (BFI) have recently released in on DVD.