BFI Releasing Ghost Stories For Christmas Vol. 1

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Press release!

GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOLUME 1



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

GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOLUME 2 is planned for release next December.

In Dreams are Monsters is a major two and a half month BFI UK-wide film and events season celebrating the horror genre on screen. Launched on 17 October, it continues until 31 December at BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, UK-wide cinemas and on BFI Player.
https://www.bfi.org.uk/in-dreams-are-monsters

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
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with essays by Reggie Oliver, Jon Dear, Jonathan Rigby, Adam Easterbrook and Ramsey Campbell; credits and notes on the special features
Product details
RRP: £29.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1476/ 12
UK / 1968-1973 / black and white, colour / 172 minutes (+ extras) / English language, with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 // 2 x BD50, 1 x BD25: 1080p/50i, 25fps, mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

WHERE TO BUY
Pre-order from the BFI Shop
https://shop.bfi.org.uk/ghost-storie...e-blu-ray.html

All BFI Blu-ray/DVD releases can be ordered from usual home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/

[f.ramses Member Find all posts View Profile Close f.ramses]

That's a pretty bad deal compared to the old DVD set which included all those episodes along with Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010), The Treasure of Abbott Thomas, The Ash Tree, The Signalman, Stigma, The Ice House, A View from a Hill, and Number 13 in the same set for about the same price. Maybe in 2024 they'll do one set with everything like they should have done with this one...

[Darcy Parker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Darcy Parker]

That's a pretty bad deal compared to the old DVD set which included all those episodes along with Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010), The Treasure of Abbott Thomas, The Ash Tree, The Signalman, Stigma, The Ice House, A View from a Hill, and Number 13 in the same set for about the same price. Maybe in 2024 they'll do one set with everything like they should have done with this one...

The cost of the new remastering may have made it necessary to issue fewer films in one set than the previous collection. I'd honestly bet on that, and possibly not having all the files fully remastered yet, possibly due to needing funds raised by this set to pay for those ones to be done.

[Ignatius Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ignatius]

The old DVDs were originally released in five volumes with a couple of films in each before being collected into a big set so I assume it's a similar story here. Nice to see them adding some new special features though. The DVDs looked pretty good all things considered but if the original elements are in decent shape these should look gorgeous. It's just a pity that the next set isn't coming until next year when the original DVD sets were released over a few consecutive months.